Apple Removed AI-Powered Nude App Promoted via Paid Meta Campaign
According to WIRED, the app Kromix posed as a photo editing tool but allowed the creation of sexual videos featuring real people. Meta ran 32 ads targeted exclusively at men, one of which featured a high-ranking American female politician in a pornographic video.
Apple has removed from the App Store Kromix, an app that, according to a WIRED report, allowed the creation of AI-based pornographic deepfakes of real people. According to the report, Meta ran a campaign for the app, and one of the ads featured a woman who resembled a high-ranking American politician.
"We have always strictly prohibited apps designed to create, distribute, or consume pornography," Apple told WIRED. "'Undressing' apps are against our App Store guidelines, and we act aggressively to identify and remove apps, as well as the developer accounts behind them, that attempt to circumvent our processes and policies."
According to the WIRED website, the Kromix app presented itself as an AI image styler, but one of its video ads stated that it had no restrictions, that all characters were real people, and that it was an AI that men actually use. In that same ad, a woman resembling a high-ranking American politician was seen against the background of the US flag and the presidential standard, alongside the caption "What if she moved?". She then winked, and the ad transitioned to a scene where a woman with the same face appears in a pornographic video.
According to the report, both companies, Meta and Apple, took action after WIRED reached out to them for comment: Apple removed Kromix from the store, and Meta took down the campaign. The campaign included 32 ads targeted only at male users.
Apple responded by saying that Kromix added the prohibited content and capabilities after passing the initial App Store review. This is similar to the response Apple provided last month after San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu demanded it remove eight "undressing" apps from the store.
WIRED also reported that Kromix is not the only app of this type that Apple has recently removed following an inquiry from the site. In another investigation, WIRED found that several problematic ads on Meta led to MaskAI, an app in Apple's store that similarly allowed users to upload photos and swap people's faces into sexual situations. Apple also removed MaskAI after WIRED reached out for comment.
