Meta sues AI ‘nudify’ app Crush AI for advertising on its platforms

ILLUSTRATION - 16 May 2024, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schwerin: ILLUSTRATION - The apps Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp can be seen on the display of a smartphone in front of the logo of the Meta internet company. The internet programs belong to Meta, the umbrella brand of the Facebook Group. The European Commission is opening proceedings against the Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta on suspicion of violations of the protection of minors. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa (Photo by Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images) | Image Credits:Jens Büttner/picture alliance / Getty Images Meta has sued the maker of a popular AI “nudify” app, Crush AI, that reportedly ran thousands of ads across Meta’s platforms. In addition to the lawsuit, Meta says it’s taking new measures to crack down on other apps like Crush AI.

In a lawsuit filed in Hong Kong, Meta alleged Joy Timeline HK, the entity behind Crush AI, attempted to circumvent the company’s review process to distribute ads for AI nudify services. Meta said in a blog post that it repeatedly removed ads by the entity for violating its policies, but claims Joy Timeline HK continued to place additional ads anyway. Crush AI, which uses generative AI to make fake, sexually explicit images of real people without their consent, reportedly ran more than 8,000 ads for its “AI undresser” services on Meta’s platform in the first two weeks of 2025, according to the author of the Faked Up newsletter, Alexios Mantzarlis. In a January report, Mantzarlis claimed that Crush AI’s websites received roughly 90% of their traffic from either Facebook or Instagram, and that he flagged several of these websites to Meta. Crush AI reportedly evaded Meta’s ad review processes by setting up dozens of advertiser accounts and frequently changed domain names.

Many of Crush AI’s advertiser accounts, according to Mantzarlis, were named “Eraser Annyone’s Clothes” followed by different numbers. At one point, Crush AI even had a Facebook page promoting its service. Facebook and Instagram are hardly the only platforms dealing with such challenges. As social media companies like X and Meta race to add generative AI to their apps, they’ve also struggled to moderate how AI tools can make their platforms unsafe for users, particularly minors. Researchers have found that links to AI undressing apps soared in 2024 on platforms like X and Reddit, and on YouTube, millions of people were reportedly served ads for such apps.

In response to this growing problem, Meta and TikTok have banned keyword searches for AI nudify apps, but getting these services off their platforms entirely has proven challenging. In a blog post, Meta said it has developed new technology to specifically identify ads for AI nudify or undressing services “even when the ads themselves don’t include nudity.” The company said it is now using matching technology to help find and remove copycat ads more quickly, and has expanded the list of terms, phrases and emoji that are flagged by its systems. Meta said it is also applying the tactics it has traditionally used to disrupt networks of bad actors to these new networks of accounts running ads for AI nudify services. Since the start of 2025, Meta said, it has disrupted four separate networks promoting these services. Story Continues Outside of its apps, the company said it will begin sharing information about AI nudify apps through Tech Coalition’s Lantern program, a collective effort between Google, Meta, Snap and other companies to prevent child sexual exploitation online.

Meta says it has provided more than 3,800 unique URLs with this network since March. On the legislative front, Meta said it would “continue to support legislation that empowers parents to oversee and approve their teens’ app downloads.” The company previously supported the US Take It Down Act, and said it’s now working with lawmakers to implement it. View Comments