Artificial intelligence startup Ex-Human has filed a lawsuit against Apple in a California federal court following the removal of its applications, Botify AI and Photify AI, from the Apple App Store.
The company alleges that the decision was unjustified, lacked clear evidence, and resulted in significant financial losses.
According to court claims and reports cited by the San Francisco Business Times, Ex-Human said Apple removed the apps after citing “dishonest or fraudulent activity” without providing detailed explanations or specific violations of App Store rules.
Ex-Human stated in its complaint that the takedown caused approximately $500,000 in lost revenue. The company also reported that Botify AI generated about $330,000 in monthly revenue, while Photify AI generated around $100,000 per month before removal.
The company argued that Apple’s action was inconsistent with its earlier position, noting that Apple’s App Store business development team had previously described Ex-Human as a “high-growth developer.”
Ex-Human further alleged that Apple’s decision may have been influenced by competition with its own artificial intelligence product, Image Playground. The lawsuit states that Apple “targeted its applications in an attempt to suppress competition,” although no direct evidence has been publicly presented to support this claim.
Apple has not issued a detailed public response to the lawsuit as of the time of reporting. The company typically does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
The removal of Botify AI and Photify AI followed concerns raised in a report by MIT Technology Review. The report stated that some chatbots on Botify AI, including characters that claimed to be under 18, engaged in sexually explicit conversations. Ex-Human acknowledged that its moderation systems failed to prevent such content from appearing, but said the issue was more of a gap in the filtering systems that had since been addressed.
Photify AI also came under scrutiny for generating images of real individuals in revealing clothing without their consent. The app allowed users to create altered images using artificial intelligence tools, raising concerns about privacy and consent.
Both apps remain available on the Google Play Store. Ex-Human continues to operate its AI systems through application programming interfaces (APIs), which are licensed to third parties, including the dating platform Grindr.
Apple has in recent years increased enforcement of its App Store guidelines, particularly in relation to sexual content, safety issues involving minors, and non-consensual imagery.
It is not yet clear when the court will hear the case or whether Apple will file a formal response in detail.
