Deepfakes Are Going Mainstream Thanks To AI Kissing Apps

Forbes

Ads for apps that use AI to create fake videos of people kissing anyone they want are flooding social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rashishrivastava/2025/01/16/ai-kissing-apps-are-taking-deepfakes-mainstream/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, AI kissing apps are taking deepfakes mainstream.

00:07Meta and TikTok have run thousands of ads for apps that use AI to generate fake kissing videos of people,

00:14allowing users to upload photos of any two people and let AI convert them into a video of them kissing.

00:21The apps are being marketed as tools that would allow you to instantly, quote,

00:25kiss anyone you want, no consent required.

00:29Similar in concept to so-called AI notifier apps that produce non-consensual deepfake pornography,

00:36these AI kissing apps create believable videos of people doing something they didn't do.

00:41And the ease at which they do it is a concerning habitualization of deepfake imagery.

00:47While the ads are not sexually explicit like the deluge of AI-generated pornographic content

00:53that has engulfed social media platforms like Instagram, Reddit, and YouTube,

00:57they can be equally dangerous, according to Hayley McNamara,

01:01an executive at the National Center for Sexual Exploitation.

01:05McNamara told Forbes, quote,

01:08It does not have to be explicit to be exploitative.

01:11If it's crossing boundaries to do something offline, to do something without their consent,

01:15kissing, undressing, etc., then it's also crossing boundaries to do that online.

01:22A Forbes review found that Meta has displayed over 2,500 ads

01:26for so-called AI kissing apps across Instagram and Facebook.

01:30About 1,000 are currently active.

01:33TikTok has shown about 1,000 ads to millions of users in European countries,

01:37according to its ad library.

01:39TikTok's ad library doesn't include ads shown to its U.S.-based users.

01:44Most of these ads depict celebrities like Scarlett Johansson,

01:47Emma Watson, and Gal Gadot kissing one another.

01:51Others show videos of random people kissing,

01:54touting that AI could let you, quote,

01:56kiss your ex, and, quote, kiss your crush.

01:59It's unclear whether the people in videos are real or generated by AI.

02:04Johansson, Watson, and Gadot did not respond to requests for comment.

02:08Futurism first reported the spread of these ads across social media platforms.

02:13Meta is also promoting so-called, quote,

02:15AI hugging apps, ads for which show AI-generated videos of children

02:20hugging cartoon characters like Dora the Explorer, Mickey Mouse, and Tom and Jerry.

02:25Some, like a video showing a young girl hugging an older man,

02:28promise parents that AI-powered apps could allow their children to, quote,

02:32hug grandparents they never met.

02:35A Forbes search found that the social media giant

02:37has run about 1,200 AI hugging app ads.

02:40Over 300 are still alive.

02:43AI-generated videos of people kissing and hugging

02:46are already circulating across social media.

02:49A video depicting Taylor Swift hugging Kim Jong-un

02:52has about 30 million views on Instagram.

02:55In late December, a deepfake video of Elon Musk

02:58and Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni kissing went viral on X.

03:03Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts told Forbes that these AI kissing ads

03:07do not violate the company's policies.

03:10While nudity, sexual explicit and sexually suggestive content

03:13are against Meta's advertising standards,

03:16and Meta does not permit ads that, quote,

03:18display, advocate for, or coordinate sexual acts with non-consenting parties,

03:23videos of kissing and hugging are permitted.

03:26After being contacted by Forbes,

03:28TikTok removed the ads for violating its policies.

03:31The video-sharing platform requires advertisers

03:34to get consent from public or private figures represented in their ads,

03:38even if the ads are AI-generated.

03:40This, according to TikTok spokesperson Ariana Decelliers.

03:45The companies behind these video generators

03:47appear to be based outside the United States,

03:49in countries like the United Arab Emirates, Italy, and China,

03:53according to their websites.

03:55The apps are available for free on Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store,

03:59and already have millions of downloads.

04:01The AI kissing feature is a part of a broader suite

04:04of AI-based photo-editing capabilities across the apps,

04:07like touching up old photos, turning still images into videos,

04:11and predicting what two people's future babies would look like.

04:14Apple and Google did not respond to comment requests.

04:18For full coverage, check out Rashi Srivastava's piece on Forbes.com.

04:24This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:26Thanks for tuning in.

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