Apple's WWDC 2026 keynote had an uninvited audience. As developers and press filed into Apple Park's visitor center in Cupertino on June 8, protesters from two advocacy groups showed up with a pointed message for the company's incoming CEO John Ternus: clean up the App Store.
Protest Groups and Their Demands
The groups—UltraViolet, a women's advocacy organisation, and Heat Initiative, which holds tech companies accountable for enabling child sexual abuse—set up a large sign outside the campus reading "Apple is powered by child sexual abuse." A separate sign directed a question straight at Ternus: "What will you do?"
47 Nudify Apps, $117 Million, and Grok at the Centre of It All
The protest, reported by The Verge, targets so-called "nudify" apps—tools that use AI to digitally remove clothing from photos of real people. Pamphlets distributed at the event, citing data from the Tech Transparency Project, claim at least 47 such apps are currently available on the App Store. Apple has allegedly earned a minimum of $117 million from these apps, with an estimated $35 million-plus attributed to xAI's Grok alone.
Grok became one of the most high-profile cases earlier this year when it emerged that users were generating nonconsensual sexualised deepfakes through the app. Despite the backlash, it remains on the App Store. Apple's own guidelines should, in principle, block such apps—but enforcement has clearly been inconsistent.
Apple Once Had a Plan to Scan iCloud for Abuse Material—Then Scrapped It
The protesters also want Apple to act on child sexual abuse material stored in iCloud. Apple previously announced a system to scan for such content, but pulled the plan citing privacy concerns.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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