Investigation Exposes Deepfake Apps in App Stores

A new investigation by the Tech Transparency Project has revealed that search functions and advertising systems in Apple's App Store and Google Play are directing users to apps capable of generating nonconsensual deepfake images, including nude alterations of real people's photos, despite platform policies prohibiting such content.

The report, released this week, examined searches using terms like "nudify," "undress," and "deepnude." In testing across both stores, approximately 40 percent of the top 10 results for these queries led to apps that use artificial intelligence to digitally remove clothing from images, create explicit videos, or produce sexualized chatbots featuring individuals' likenesses. For instance, a search for "deepfake" on the App Store surfaced an advertisement for Face Swap Video by DuoFace, which allows users to overlay a person's face from a photo onto a video, including explicit ones, without restrictions.

Both platforms also featured paid ads for such apps in search results. In Google's Play Store, sponsored carousels included promotions for tools that generate nude or scantily clad imagery. Apple's App Store, which controls all its advertising, returned...