Meta has sued the maker of a preferred AI “nudify” app, Crush AI, that reportedly ran 1000’s of advertisements throughout Meta’s platforms. Along with the lawsuit, Meta says it’s taking new measures to crack down on different apps like Crush AI.

In a lawsuit filed in Hong Kong, Meta alleged Pleasure Timeline HK, the entity behind Crush AI, tried to bypass the corporate’s evaluation course of to distribute advertisements for AI nudify providers. Meta mentioned in a weblog submit that it repeatedly eliminated advertisements by the entity for violating its insurance policies, however claims Pleasure Timeline HK continued to put extra advertisements anyway.

Crush AI, which makes use of generative AI to make faux, sexually specific photographs of actual folks with out their consent, reportedly ran more than 8,000 ads for its “AI undresser” services on Meta’s platform within the first two weeks of 2025, in accordance with the writer of the Faked Up e-newsletter, Alexios Mantzarlis. In a January report, Mantzarlis claimed that Crush AI’s web sites obtained roughly 90% of their site visitors from both Fb or Instagram, and that he flagged a number of of those web sites to Meta.

Crush AI reportedly evaded Meta’s advert evaluation processes by establishing dozens of advertiser accounts and incessantly modified domains. A lot of Crush AI’s advertiser accounts, in accordance with Mantzarlis, have been named “Eraser Annyone’s Garments” adopted by completely different numbers. At one level, Crush AI even had a Fb web page selling its service.

Fb and Instagram are hardly the one platforms coping with such challenges. As social media firms like X and Meta race so as to add generative AI to their apps, they’ve additionally struggled to average how AI instruments could make their platforms unsafe for customers, notably minors.

Researchers have discovered that hyperlinks to AI undressing apps soared in 2024 on platforms like X and Reddit, and on YouTube, thousands and thousands of individuals have been reportedly served ads for such apps. In response to this rising downside, Meta and TikTok have banned keyword searches for AI nudify apps, however getting these providers off their platforms solely has confirmed difficult.

In a weblog submit, Meta mentioned it has developed new expertise to particularly establish advertisements for AI nudify or undressing providers “even when the advertisements themselves don’t embody nudity.” The corporate mentioned it’s now utilizing matching expertise to assist discover and take away copycat advertisements extra shortly, and has expanded the record of phrases, phrases and emoji which are flagged by its methods.

Meta mentioned it’s also making use of the techniques it has historically used to disrupt networks of unhealthy actors to those new networks of accounts operating advertisements for AI nudify providers. For the reason that begin of 2025, Meta mentioned, it has disrupted 4 separate networks selling these providers.

Outdoors of its apps, the corporate mentioned it can start sharing details about AI nudify apps by way of Tech Coalition’s Lantern program, a collective effort between Google, Meta, Snap and different firms to forestall youngster sexual exploitation on-line. Meta says it has offered greater than 3,800 distinctive URLs with this community since March.

On the legislative entrance, Meta mentioned it will “proceed to support legislation that empowers dad and mom to supervise and approve their teenagers’ app downloads.” The corporate beforehand supported the US Take It Down Act, and mentioned it’s now working with lawmakers to implement it.