Meta Ran Ads For App That Could 'Nudify' Women, Apple Pulls It From App Store After Investigation
Meta has come under scrutiny after running advertisements for AI applications capable of generating sexually explicit deepfakes from photographs of real people. The investigation focused particularly on Kromix, an app marketed as an AI image and video creation tool but which allowed users to upload photographs and place individuals into sexual scenarios without their consent. Some advertisements explicitly promoted the ability to manipulate images of real women, including an ad featuring a deepfake resembling a prominent female US politician.
The advertisements appeared across Meta platforms despite the company’s policies prohibiting nonconsensual intimate imagery, sexual content in advertising and the promotion of so called “nudify” services. Some campaigns had been active between November 2025 and August 2026 and reached users in the United States, United Kingdom and numerous European countries. The incident is particularly significant because Meta had previously announced new AI based systems intended to detect and prevent advertisements promoting nudification tools.
Kromix was also available through Apple’s App Store. Although its public presentation characterized it as an AI image styling application, its functionality reportedly enabled paying users to upload photographs and generate explicit or highly problematic sexual scenarios. Apple said that the prohibited functionality appeared to have been added after the application had passed its original App Store review. The company reiterated that applications designed for pornography, nudification or nonconsensual intimate imagery violate its guidelines.
The investigation identified another application, MaskAI, which similarly allowed photographs of real people to be uploaded and their faces inserted into sexual situations. Both Meta and Apple acted following inquiries from WIRED. Meta removed the offending advertisements from its advertising library, while Apple removed the applications from the App Store.
The case highlights continuing weaknesses in automated moderation systems used by major technology platforms. Critics argue that Meta’s increasing reliance on AI based advertising review, alongside reduced human moderation, has allowed clearly prohibited campaigns to pass through its systems. It also demonstrates how developers can present applications as conventional AI photo or video tools in app stores while advertising significantly more explicit capabilities elsewhere.
