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Network of 400+ Apps and Domains Posing as Pet Photo and Workout Tools Hid Sexual Deepfake Generators, WIRED Reports

Bot Mutiny | November 2, 2026

WIRED reported in a new investigation that more than 400 connected apps and domains, many presenting themselves as everyday services such as language tuition or AI workout coaches, secretly loaded, under certain conditions, a web interface for generating sexually explicit AI deepfakes of people from uploaded photos. In its investigation, WIRED said the apps were distributed through Apple's and Google's app stores and promoted with video ads on Meta's Facebook and Instagram. WIRED noted that all three companies say their policies do not allow harmful deepfake content.

How the apps worked

WIRED described one example, a "pet portrait" app called Viefur, in which about $4 buys 130 digital coins that turn pet photos into an "anthropomorphic portrait." According to the report, that was cover for what appears to be the app's real purpose: creating sexually abusive deepfake images.

Paul Bouchaud, a lead researcher at the nonprofit AI Forensics who investigated the network, told WIRED that each time an app is downloaded it contacts a server with information such as where the user came from, the language and a unique identifier, and the server replies whether to show the explicit or the non-explicit version. One apparent trigger for the explicit version, Bouchaud said, is downloading the app after clicking an associated ad on Meta's platforms.

WIRED reported that the hidden web interface contains dozens of pornographic deepfake video and image templates, lets users upload images of people to insert into sexual scenes, and sells "diamonds" for generating content. It said the scenes include depictions of sexual violence. Maël Le Touz, a staff threat researcher at the security firm Infoblox, identified almost 500 linked domains.

Scale and reach

Bouchaud's analysis of domain registrations found the apps began appearing toward the end of 2025, with a spike in spring 2026. At one point about 30 such app-websites were being registered each week, he said, and 27 were live on Google's Play Store in September. Those apps had been downloaded more than 350,000 times collectively, and many were rated suitable for all age groups, according to his research as described by WIRED. One of the most popular, DiffAI, was created in December 2025 and downloaded more than 100,000 times from the Play Store.

Researchers found the network by following links from thousands of video ads containing explicit deepfake content on Meta's platforms. Since the start of 2026, Bouchaud's research has found tens of thousands of explicit deepfake ads linked to the network, WIRED said. WIRED has separately reported that hundreds of ads on Meta contained AI-generated child sexual abuse material, and that those ads have prompted regulator investigations around the world. Bot Mutiny has also reported on nudify apps downloaded by researchers' 13-year-old test accounts from the Apple and Google stores and on infrastructure providers serving deepfake abuse sites.

Who is behind it

WIRED said the apps and domains appear to be run by Chinese developers and a Hong Kong registered entity called KeLing Technology Limited, based on its review of web domains and how the services operate. Email addresses linked to the entity did not respond to WIRED's requests for comment. After being contacted, public connections between KeLing Technology Limited and the deepfake tools appeared to be erased, WIRED said. Bouchaud said: "This is an organized, commercially run operation: One operator behind hundreds of disposable apps and domains, cloaked to pass App Store review and pushed through tens of thousands of Meta ads under fake payer names."

What Apple, Google and Meta said

Apple removed 19 apps from its App Store, including Viefur, after WIRED asked about the activity and shared associated domains. Apple spokesperson Adam Dema said: "We review every app before it's published, and these apps complied with our rules when we reviewed them. After approval, their developers changed the website the app pulls its content from, replacing what we approved with pornographic content, and promoted it through pornographic ads hosted on a third-party platform." Apple said it has suspended tens of thousands of apps for such "bait-and-switch" tactics over the last year and recently updated its App Store rules to further restrict nudify tools.

Google did not respond to WIRED's request for comment, though WIRED said it had removed the majority of the apps before being contacted. DiffAI was removed from the Play Store shortly before WIRED contacted Google.

Meta said it banned KeLing Technology Limited from advertising in 2025 after the company failed to comply with a cease and desist letter, which Meta declined to share citing legal reasons. A Meta spokesperson said: "We have strict rules against promoting nudify apps and work aggressively to keep this material off our services." After WIRED shared the 400-plus domains, Meta said it had shared more than 3,000 associated ads, two-thirds of which it had already removed. Meta later told WIRED it had taken action against 11,600 ad accounts, more than 4,700 business pages, 5,200 users and 15,000 pages linked to the domains, and had blocked 209 apps from advertising on its platforms.

Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, told WIRED that tech companies need to answer questions about where money generated from the apps goes. WIRED said that as it finished reporting, similar ads and apps continued to be published.