400 AI Apps Were Hiding Sexual Deepfake Tools in Apple and Google Stores
A Wired investigation has uncovered a network of more than 400 connected domains and applications that masqueraded as everyday AI services—pet photo editors, language tutors, fitness coaches—to distribute tools capable of generating sexually explicit images and videos from real people's photographs. Published Monday, the report reveals how developers bypassed app store reviews using sophisticated cloaking techniques and how shared infrastructure pointed to a coordinated operation, possibly linked to Chinese-language developers.
The app Viefur, for instance, appeared in stores as a pet portrait editor that transformed animal photos into humanized characters. Behind that harmless interface, however, researchers found access to tools capable of placing people in sexually explicit and violent scenarios. The templates included labels like "bedroom rape" and "threatening knife"—scenarios of sexual assault and weapon threats. According to the investigation, the network had been circulating for about a year and had passed review by both Apple and Google, despite explicit policies prohibiting content of this type on both platforms.
How the cloaking worked
The sophistication of the scheme lay in how the apps behaved differently depending on who accessed them. Upon installation, the apps contacted remote servers that collected information such as the user's language, referral source, and a unique identifier. The server then decided whether to show the advertised features or load a hidden interface with explicit deepfake generators.
Someone downloading the app normally would find nothing suspicious. But anyone arriving through a specific ad on Facebook or Instagram would access the hidden functionality. Researchers traced thousands of ads promoting sexually abusive deepfakes to apps distributed through the App Store and Google Play. The ads were primarily served on Meta's platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
The apps charged digital credits through Apple Pay and Google Pay to generate the abusive images from photos sent by users. Several of the apps had ratings suitable for all ages—meaning minors could access them without restrictions.
The scale of the operation
Paul Bouchaud, lead researcher at the nonprofit AI Forensics, found that 27 related apps were active on Google Play in September and had accumulated more than 350,000 combined downloads. One of them, called DiffAI, had over 100,000 Play Store downloads before being removed by Google, shortly before Wired contacted the company. A user review on the Play Store stated explicitly: "This app contains templates for creating CSAM and other types of pornographic material. It performs no age verification."
Maël Le Touz, a threat researcher at cybersecurity firm Infoblox, mapped nearly 500 domains linked to the network. The apps shared identical JavaScript configurations, encryption keys, and ad trackers, indicating a coordinated operation rather than a collection of unrelated developers. The infrastructure included Chinese hosting and technical connections to a company registered in Hong Kong called KeLing Technology Limited.
Platform responses
Apple removed 19 apps, including Viefur, after Wired shared the investigation's details. An Apple spokesperson, Adam Dema, stated that the apps complied with App Store rules during initial reviews, but developers later altered the websites feeding content. According to the company, it suspended tens of thousands of apps over the past year for similar bait-and-switch maneuvers and tightened rules against abusive content generation tools.
Google removed most of the flagged titles before being directly contacted by Wired, but did not respond to a request for comment. Meta, for its part, said it had already banned KeLing Technology Limited in 2025, after sending a cease-and-desist letter. After receiving the researchers' dossier, the platform took action against 11,600 ad accounts, approximately 4,700 business pages, and blocked 209 apps from its advertising platform.
Why it matters
The case exposes a structural flaw in the app ecosystem: app store review platforms inspect the application at install time, but the abusive content generation happens on remote servers that are only accessed under specific conditions. This means that Apple and Google's review, however thorough, cannot inspect remotely hosted code—and malicious developers know this.
The issue is not only technical but social. Tools that generate non-consensual sexual deepfakes are recognized by digital rights researchers as one of the most damaging forms of technological abuse, with devastating effects on victims, often minors. The presence of templates named "bedroom rape" in apps available on official storefronts raises serious questions about the effectiveness of current containment mechanisms.
Although Apple and Google removed the apps after the report, Wired reported that similar promotional campaigns and mirrored apps continued appearing on the platforms as the reporting concluded—suggesting the problem is systemic and removal is a game of cat and mouse that tends to perpetuate itself.
Sources: Wired, AppleInsider, Silicon Report
✓ Independent sources cross-checked and verified before publishing
