Posted by Prabhat Sharma – Director, Trust & Safety, Play, Android & Chrome
Rapid advances in generative AI are creating opportunities for developers to create new immersive and engaging app experiences for users everywhere. In this time of rapid change, we are excited to empower developers to create innovative, high-quality apps while simultaneously safe and trusted experience people expect from Google Play. Our goal is to Make AI useful for everyonethereby enriching the app ecosystem and improving the user experience.
Ensuring security of apps with generative AI features
Over the past year, we’ve expanded our review capabilities to address new complexities that come with apps with generative AI features. We’re using new technology like Large Language Models (LLMs) to quickly analyze app submissions, including large amounts of text, to identify potential issues like sexual content or hate speech and flag them for closer review by people across our global team. This combination of human expertise and increased AI efficiency helps us improve the app review experience for developers and create a safer app environment for everyone.
In addition, we have strengthened the existing Play strategy policy to address emerging concerns and feedback from users and developers, and keep pace with evolving technologies like generative AI. For example, last October we shared that all Generative AI apps should provide users with a way to report or flag offensive content without having to leave the app.
Building apps responsibly with generative AI features
Google Play policies, which have long been a foundation of our user safety efforts, are deeply rooted in ongoing collaboration between Play and developers. They provide a framework for responsible app development and help ensure that Play remains a trusted platform globally. Because Generative AI is still in its early stages, we’ve received feedback from developers seeking clarity around the requirements for apps on Play that feature AI-generated content. Today, we’re responding to that feedback and providing guidance to help developers improve the quality and safety of AI-powered apps, avoid potential issues or delays in app submissions, promote trust among users, and contribute to a thriving and responsible app ecosystem on Google Play:
- View Google Play's policy: Google Play policies help us provide a safe and high-quality experience. That's why we don't allow apps that contain generative AI that could be inappropriate or harmful to users. Check out our AI Generated Content Policy Make sure your apps meet these requirements to avoid being rejected or removed from Google Play.
- In particular, apps that generate content using AI must:
- Give users a way to report or flag offensive contentMonitoring and prioritizing user feedback is especially important for apps with generative AI features, where user interactions directly shape the content and experience.
- Promote your app responsibly: Advertising your app is an important tool in growing your business, and it's critical to do so in a way that is safe and respectful to users. Ultimately, you're responsible for how your app is marketed and advertised, so review your marketing materials to ensure that your ads accurately represent your app's capabilities and that all ads and promotional content associated with your app, across all platforms, comply with our App Promotion RequirementsFor example, by advertising your app for a inappropriate usage scenario may lead to its removal from Google Play.
- Test AI tools and models thoroughly: You are responsible for the experience in your apps, so it is critical that you understand the underlying AI tools and models used to create media and ensure that these tools are trustworthy and that the outputs are aligned with Google Play policies and respect user safety and privacy. Be sure to test your apps in different user scenarios and protect them from prompts that could manipulate your generative AI to create harmful or offensive content. For example, you can use our closed testing feature that allows you to share early versions of your app and ask for specific feedback on whether your users are getting the generated results they expect.
- This deep learning and testing is especially applicable to generative AI, so we encourage you to document these tests as we may ask you to review them in the future to help us better understand how you are protecting your users.
As the AI landscape evolves, we’ll continue to update our policies and developer tools to address emerging needs and complexities. This includes introducing new app onboarding capabilities in the future to make the process of submitting a generative AI app to Play even more transparent and streamlined. We’ll also share best practices and resources, such as our People + AI Guideto support developers in building innovative and responsible apps that enrich the lives of users around the world.
As always, we are your partners in protecting users and welcome your feedback so we can develop policies that help you leverage AI to grow your business on Play in a way that delights and protects our collective users.