UK watchdog bans ads for AI tools accused of sexualising women

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned five social media adverts for AI companion, image-generation and video-generation apps, saying they promoted the sexualisation and objectification of women.

The adverts appeared on Meta platforms and included material that the watchdog said relied on harmful gender stereotypes. One advertisement for an AI companion app used a sexualised image of a girl under 18. Other adverts encouraged users to upload photographs of someone they knew, including a “crush”, and generate sexually explicit videos.

The ASA said many of the adverts promoted the creation of explicit content from real women’s images without their consent. It identified advertisements for tools including Animcha, Nexaipic, KH31 DD22, Rusto AI and PictoPop. The regulator said one Animcha advert presented a synthetic female character who could be customised and instructed, combining sexualised imagery with childlike clothing and objects.

Two Nexaipic adverts invited users to upload an image of a “crush” and generate sexualised videos, according to the ASA. An advert for KH31 DD22 showed a clothed woman being transformed into a topless video, while Rusto AI adverts encouraged the creation of sexualised videos from photographs. PictoPop used sexualised imagery, including a depiction of a woman in a submissive position, the watchdog said.

Nicky Baker of the ASA said the adverts had the potential to cause “real-world harm” and that the regulator took a firm line on material likely to cause serious or widespread offence. The ASA said the adverts were identified through its AI-powered Active Ad Monitoring System, which searches for material that may breach UK advertising rules.

Meta had removed the adverts before the ASA issued its rulings for violating the platform’s own policies. The ASA said none of the app creators responded to its enquiries. It added that changes to UK law banning apps used to create non-consensual deepfake nude imagery would be considered alongside its advertising rules in future investigations, and that potentially illegal adverts could be referred to platforms or law enforcement.