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The Verge
5 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
The cursed world of AI kiss and hug apps
Doomscroll on TikTok long enough, and you'll come across an ad for AI video apps. In one ad, a stereotypically nerdy girl puckishly smirks as she uploads a picture of herself and her much more handsome crush. Boom — suddenly, thanks to AI, they're smooching. In another, I'm shown a woman in a blouse and jeans. Do I want to know what she looks like in a blue bikini? Psst. There's an app for that. The ad then shows me the woman in said blue bikini. These apps aren't peddling the digital nudes many people associate with AI deepfakes, which are proliferating in their own right on app stores. Slapped together by opportunistic developers and sprinkled with subscription fees and microtransactions, they're all pitching tools to help you make benign fantasies a bit more tangible — but the results feel more cursed than magical. AI video ads link out to apps with titles like VideoAI, and DreamVid, made by companies you've probably never heard of — a short perusal of Apple's App Store brings up roughly two dozen options. Despite their titillating promotional material, they feature plenty of innocuous video templates. By uploading one or two photos and hitting a 'generate' button, you can change your hair color, hold up a sign, or hug Goku from Dragon Ball Z. But for every one of those, there are several other subtly disturbing or sort of gross ones. In the DreamVid app, there's an Enhance option that lets you give a person bigger breasts. In the preview, a blonde with a B cup is shown getting an automatic boob job, smiling playfully as she jiggles her new DD size. The AI Dancing category in the same app has scantily clad women suggestively swaying their hips. It's a mix that feels calculated. Just when you think there's too many bikinis and breasts, you'll see templates featuring cuddly AI cats, Studio Ghibli-style filters, and wholesome grandmas to hug. At the same time, when you look at DreamVid's AI outfit-of-the-day option, six of 12 outfits are some form of bikini or bathing suit. The rest include skimpy maid outfits, lingerie, a schoolgirl uniform, and gothic lolita cosplay. Only the wedding dress and cheongsam are relatively benign. None of them are aimed at creating pictures of men. In the ads, the videos generated are in that hazy category of 'real enough' to make you uncomfortable yet curious enough to download. Try it yourself and you'll see the telltale AI cracks appear. Kissing looks awkward — like how a toddler imagines kissing, faces and lips rhythmically smooshing together. (The few that attempt French kissing prove AI really doesn't know what to do with tongues yet.) Hugs look stiff, with dubious limb and hand placements. If the photos don't line up, hilarious zoom effects ensue as AI tries to match up bodies. Clothing, hair, accessories, and facial features often morph in and out of existence mid-video. AI systems have a long-standing racial bias issue, and pairing up subjects of different races seems to confuse these apps. My non-Asian celebrity crushes sometimes spontaneously developed Asian features when I joined them in a video. Other times, the app morphed my features into more Eurocentric ones to match my spouse. I don't know whether to laugh or cry that multiple AI apps insist that kissing parties should generally be the same race. I do, however, feel insulted when it generates a video of my spouse proposing to me — but has them turn away and propose to a random, spontaneously appearing white woman instead. None of this comes for free. The majority of apps charge microtransaction fees and subscriptions that range from $2.99 to $7.99 per week or $49.99 to $69.99 annually, providing limited credits that you can spend to generate videos. It's a financial model similar to that of AI nudes apps, even if the content is different. If you're curious about where those funds are going, one deep dive into the Videa: AI Video Maker app traced its origins to a company called Pure Yazlim Limited Sirketi that's based out of Istanbul, Turkey. is run by a company called NineG, which describes itself as 'non-gaming app publishing' on its barebones website. Its app store listing also touts the Mozart AI song generator, art generator Plum AI, an AI font creator, and, randomly, Reel TV — a Quibi-esque app for short dramas. DreamVid is run by Shenzhen iMyFone Technology which also has a suite of what seems to be productivity and utility apps, plus a Studio Ghibi generator. The Verge reached out to both NineG and iMyFone but didn't receive a response. In exchange, you get something infinitely simpler and more permissive than all-purpose video generators like OpenAI's Sora. You can theoretically produce a kiss on Sora, but only after crafting a text prompt describing what you want, uploading photos for the tool to work with, and clicking through pop-ups asking if you're over 18 and have consent to use the material you're uploading — and even then, Sora flagged me smooching Edward Cullen as a potential policy violation. Google's Veo is much the same. I tried the Edward Cullen kiss test, and Veo refused, saying it would reject prompts that are sexually suggestive, nonconsensual acts, or those that promote harmful stereotypes. On these other apps, you don't even need to come up with the idea — just upload a couple of pictures, and the system will deliver what you want. Simple apps for creating deepfaked nudes have produced numerous instances of clear harm, including widespread harassment of women and teen girls. Some of these incidents have led to lawsuits and arrests. There are also legal efforts to crack down on AI-generated nudes and unauthorized 'digital replicas' of real people, including the recently signed Take It Down Act, the No Fakes Act, and a bill passed by the New York State Senate. These apps are unlikely to fall under the purview of anti-deepfake porn laws, though the frequent appearances of celebrities — offered templates that let you make out with both Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Timothee Chalamet — make their status under digital replica rules shakier. For now, they sit in a murky zone between app store and platform moderation policies. Major tech companies have lagged on removing even sexually explicit AI generators, and the status of anything milder on their platforms seems nebulous. Google spokesperson Danielle Cohen tells The Verge that the Google Play Store doesn't allow apps that contain content or services that could be intended as sexually gratifying, and companies aren't allowed to use sexually explicit ads (including AI-generated ones) to direct people to their Play Store listings. Apple's App Store guidelines state apps shouldn't contain content that is 'offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy.' Provided examples include 'mean-spirited' content, as well as 'explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.' There are no rules about ads for these apps. I sent Meta an example of an ad for a kiss and hug AI app I found on Instagram Reels. In response, Meta spokesperson Faith Eischen told The Verge, 'We have clear rules against nudity and sexual exploitation, including non-consensual intimate imagery — both real and AI-generated — and we've removed the shared piece of content for breaking our rules.' Eischen also noted that Meta removes such ads when notified, disables accounts responsible for them, and blocks links to sites hosting such apps. The Verge reached out to TikTok about its policies but didn't receive a response. While it's fraught to create sexually charged images of celebrities, it overlaps with the existing territory of fan art and meme-ification. Many of these apps' functions, though, tread in more uncomfortable territory. While it might not be overly pornographic, it's creepy to deepfake yourself kissing someone. It would be even creepier to do it to a friend or acquaintance who didn't consent to it. But it's also not really clear what the average user is looking for — most reviews are simply complaining about the microtransactions. Moderating this sort of content is kind of like whack-a-mole. had plenty of 'use AI to kiss your crush' ads several weeks ago. Now, all the ones I bookmarked have disappeared from social media. Within the app itself, I can no longer generate any kind of kissing video. Instead, the app moved on to ads of a suburban mom twerking, before they, too, were subsequently removed. Experimenting with AI video apps wasn't always creepy. Few people would object if everyone was using them to generate heartwarming videos of kids hugging their grandparents; you could argue that it's weird to want to do this, but it's not inherently wrong or illegal. But the fun or arguably helpful use cases are mixed in almost inextricably with the creepy stuff. Changing my hair is a pretty unobjectionable process, but it's unsettling to swap my own face onto a model 'dancing' while wearing cat ears, a plunging crop top that shows off her midriff and bra, hot pants, and lacy garters. (Leonardo DiCaprio's face on the model is perhaps less disturbing than simply unhinged.) Conversely, I've had genderqueer friends say they privately used AI templates that let them see what they'd look like as a different gender, and it helped them figure out their feelings. Even the kissing templates could have fairly innocuous uses — you could be a fiction writer seeking inspiration for a romance novel. In that case, what's the difference between drawing your own fan art and using an AI video generator? Perhaps, you're trying to process something and need a little visual help — and that's how I ended up deepfaking my dead parents. In a plot stolen straight from The Farewell, my mom died before my grandmother, and my family decided not to tell her out of fear she'd drop dead from shock. But whereas that film dealt in regular white lies, my family decided to update its deception for the modern era. When my grandma started lamenting that my mom had stopped calling, a cousin asked me if there was any chance that I, a tech reporter, could use AI to create video messages of my mother. That would, my cousin said, give my dementia-addled grandma some sense of peace. At the time, I told her it wasn't possible. Three years later, I finally generated the deepfake she requested while testing these apps. It was eerie how much it looked like my mom, except when she smiled. My real mother was self-conscious of her underbite. AI mom's teeth were perfect. All I could see were the ways that AI had failed to capture my mother's essence. I thought my cousin would feel the same way. Instead, the text I got in response was four hearts interspersed with several exclamation marks and crying face emojis. For her, the horrible deepfake was comforting. My mom would've hated this AI version of herself, and yet in the days after creating it, I found myself replaying it over and over — if only because spotting what the AI got wrong reminded me that I hadn't forgotten the real her. I found myself replaying it over and over — if only because spotting what the AI got wrong reminded me that I hadn't forgotten the real her. After that, I deepfaked my dad hugging me at my wedding. Some little girls dream of their fathers walking them down the aisle. Mine died before that day ever came, and I didn't make it to his deathbed in time for a proper goodbye. I wondered if deepfaking dad would give me a sense of closure. I used the last good photo I had of him, taken a few days before he passed, and a solo photo of me from my wedding. The AI did a horrible job. For one, it interpreted my dad's beanie as a thick shock of black hair. In my family, we teased him for his thin combover and fivehead — which, in his broken English, he insisted was proof he was a true 'egghead.' I tried again and got a slightly better result. Still, the pattern on his sweater changed. His facial features morphed into someone who looked close, but ultimately wasn't my dad. Even so, it made me cry. The AI got so many things wrong, but it was good enough to sketch the shape of my longing. This, too, I sent to my cousin, who replied back with even more crying emoji. AI evangelists tout this as a positive use case for AI. Wouldn't it be nice to reanimate your dead loved ones? Before deepfaking my parents, I'd have scoffed and said this is a dystopian premise that denies the humanity of our mortality. But all I can say now is that grief is a strange beast. I'd be lying if I said that I found comfort in these deepfakes, but I can't deny that a part of me was moved. I'm also no longer inclined to describe this as a bad way to use AI; it's just weird. Perhaps the question isn't whether these apps are inherently harmful or what platforms should do when they appear. Maybe it's a matter of asking what we're hoping to see of ourselves reflected in them.
Associated Press
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Big Update in DreamVid V1.2.0: New AI Tech Makes Anyone a Co-Star in Your Video
NEW YORK, N.Y., May 9, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The well-known AI visual creation platform iMyFone DreamVid is proud to introduce its latest breakthrough feature, 'Come to Life.' This innovative technology allows users to bring any character from a photo—whether it's a lost loved one, a favorite anime character, or a celebrity crush—into a real video for lifelike interaction. What once existed only in dreams is now a reality. With just a single photo and a short video, 'Come to Life' uses advanced facial recognition and motion synthesis technology to animate static characters and seamlessly integrate them into video footage. It opens up new possibilities for reliving treasured memories or fulfilling long-held fantasies. 'DreamVid's mission has always been to bridge the gap between imagination and reality,' said DreamVid developer Rusty. REDEFINING AI IMAGE-TO-VIDEO: MEET 'COME TO LIFE' This revolutionary feature lets you easily insert a person from a static image into your video and generate stunning animated interactions. No editing skills required. Just follow three simple steps: WHAT'S NEW IN DREAMVID V1.2.0? DreamVid is an all-in-one AI content creation platform that combines text-to-image and image-to-video technology. With the new V1.2.0 update, you can now enjoy even more creative features alongside 'Come to Life,' including: WHY CHOOSE DREAMVID? DreamVid is known for its high-quality results and ease of use. You don't need AI experience or editing background, just upload and create. Key benefits include: ABOUT IMYFONE iMyFone is a pioneer in the field of AI visual content creation. It has always been committed to providing powerful and easy-to-use creative tools, applying AI technology to visual storytelling, and helping users create compelling content in the simplest way possible. NEWS SOURCE: iMyFone Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, iMyFone DreamVid, Video Artificial Intelligence, Techology, Software, Apps, Content Creation, Consumer Technology, ai hug, ai kiss, ai hugging, ai kissing, image to video ai, face swap, animate photo, studio ghibli style, NEW YORK, N.Y. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (iMyFone) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P126087 APNF0325A To view the original version, visit: © 2025 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. RIGHTS GRANTED FOR REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY LEGITIMATE MEDIA OUTLET - SUCH AS NEWSPAPER, BROADCAST OR TRADE PERIODICAL. MAY NOT BE USED ON ANY NON-MEDIA WEBSITE PROMOTING PR OR MARKETING SERVICES OR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). Content below is unrelated to this news story.
Associated Press
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
DreamVid: AI Kissing & Hugging Video Generator Taking Over Social Media, loved by over 10 Millions of Users
NEW YORK, N.Y., March 11, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — If you've been scrolling through TikTok lately, you might have noticed a new interesting trend – AI Kiss and Hug. Many creators are sharing videos of themselves kissing their idols, favorite anime characters, or hugging their childhood selves and lost loved ones. These content has quickly gone viral across social media, gained massive engagement and millions of likes. This trend was kicked off by iMyFone DreamVid, a powerful AI image-to-video tool and free AI kissing & hugging video generator. In just a few months, DreamVid has attracted tens of millions of loyal users, becoming a global phenomenon AI creative tool. 'In today's fast-paced digital world, emotional expression is often overlooked,' says DreamVid's Creative Director. 'We're glad that DreamVid gives pepole a new and unique way to express their emotions and preserve meaningful moments.' HOW TO CREATE AI KISSING & HUGGING VIDEOS FOR FREE Download DreamVid (Available on iOS, Android, and Web) Choose the 'AI Kiss' or 'AI Hug' feature Upload two solo photos or one photo of two people together Tap 'Generate' to instantly create your AI kiss or hug video POPULAR AI KISSING & HUGGING IDEAS Kiss or hug your idol or favorite anime character: Create a dream moment with celebrity or interact across dimensions with a fiction character. Time travel conversation: Hug your past self and relive cherished memories. Express longing: Hug your loved ones who have passed away. Long-distance love: Kiss and hug your girl(boy) friend, no matter the distance, feel each other's warmth. Sweet fantasies of a crush: Create an intimate video with your crush. Hug your pet: Relive memories with a lost pet. WHY HAS DREAMVID BECOME SO SUCCESSFUL? DreamVid has quickly gained popularity, not only because it accurately captures the emotional needs of its users but also rely on its powerful AI technology. Now, It has become the best AI kiss and hug generator. DreamVid also offers the following unique advantages: Easy to use, no learning curve: With rich preset templates, anyone can create content with just one click, no professional knowledge required. Accurate recognition, natural and real: DreamVid uses advanced facial recognition technology to deliver smooth, realistic AI effects. Unlike other products that may cause issues like 'distorted facial features' or 'skin tone changes,' DreamVid is dedinitely your superior choice. Multi-device support: Available on iOS, Android, and web platforms, DreamVid allows users to unleash their creativity anytime, anywhere. About iMyFone iMyFone is committed to developing innovative AI tools that empower creativity. DreamVid as its flagship AI image-to-video product, has helped millions of users turn photos into expressive, emotionally rich videos. Whether for entertainment, nostalgia, or exploring the limitless potential of AI, DreamVid is your ultimate creative companion. Try DreamVid Now and Bring Your Emotions to Life with AI! Web Version MEDIA ONLY CONTACT Luis Mendiate [email protected] Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, iMyFone DreamVid: AI Kissing and; Hugging Video Generator, ai hug, ai kiss, ai hugging, ai kissing, ai kissing video generator, image to video ai, face swap, animate photo, ai to make old photos move, NEW YORK, N.Y. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (iMyFone) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P124673 APNF0325A
