San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has given Apple and Google 28 days to explain why “nudify” apps — tools that use AI to generate fake nude images from ordinary photos — are still available in their app stores, after issuing formal legal letters on 17 July 2026. It’s the third round of pressure Chiu’s office has applied since January, and the first with a hard deadline attached. For anyone whose income depends on a public-facing photo presence, it’s worth understanding what’s actually changing.
What the letters say
Chiu’s office argues that under California law, a company that “knowingly facilitates” or “recklessly aids or abets” the creation of nonconsensual deepfake pornography can face liability — and that a 2025 California statute goes further, letting victims bring civil claims directly against the platforms that hosted the tools used against them. The letters follow earlier warnings sent to Apple and Google in January and April 2026 that went, in Chiu’s telling, largely unaddressed. He has publicly estimated the two companies have collected “millions of dollars in fees” from apps of this kind.
Both companies say they’ve already acted: Apple has removed three apps and terminated the associated developer accounts, and Google says all five apps named in earlier correspondence have been suspended. Chiu’s office maintains dozens more remain listed under different names.
Why this matters more for creators than most people
Nudify tools have historically targeted celebrities, but the underlying mechanism doesn’t care who the photo is of — any publicly accessible image is usable input. That makes anyone who maintains a public promotional photo presence, which is most of the job for an OnlyFans creator, a much more exposed target than the general public. A marketing photo posted to Instagram or X to drive traffic to a paid page can, in minutes, be run through one of these tools without the creator’s knowledge or consent.
This is a different threat to the impersonation and catfishing scams we’ve covered before, where someone pretends to be a creator to scam fans. Here, the creator’s own likeness is the product being manipulated, and current federal proposals like the NO FAKES Act are still working their way through Congress rather than offering protection today. California’s civil-liability route, by contrast, is already law.
What to actually do about it
- Report any AI-generated nonconsensual image of yourself directly to the platform hosting it and to the app store if it names or links a specific generation tool — both Apple and Google have takedown channels for this category.
- Keep dated screenshots and URLs before reporting; they’re what any future civil claim, in California or elsewhere, would rely on.
- If you’re a California resident, or the app or its operator has a California connection, the 2025 statute may give you a direct civil claim against the platform that hosted the tool, not just the individual who made the image — worth raising with a solicitor if it happens to you.
- Watch for equivalent state and federal moves; several other states are drafting similar facilitator-liability language modelled on California’s.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. If you believe you have been the target of nonconsensual AI-generated imagery, consider consulting a solicitor or attorney with experience in this area.
