Manhattan prosecutors seized the domains of 12 websites used to distribute and sell AI-generated “deepfake” pornography made from images of about 1,200 real people, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Monday, while acknowledging that many more such sites are still operating.
“We're mindful that there are more sites,” he said. “There are a lot of sites, there's a lot of work to be done.”
The seized sites used artificial intelligence tools to turn existing photos and videos of real people into hyper-realistic images that appear to show them engaged in sexual acts, prosecutors said. The victims were overwhelmingly women and mostly public figures, including actors, politicians, athletes, musicians and social media influencers, according to the district attorney’s office.
The sites advertised what they were, Bragg said, with names like AI Celebs, All Deepfake and Deepfake Porn.
Bragg said the seizures, which his office called the largest known takedown of AI-generated celebrity deepfake sites, stemmed from a single complaint.
“We would not be here if it wasn't for the courage of a survivor who came forward, reported to us that images of her were on the website, and that led to the seizure,” he said.
No one has been charged.
Bragg declined to say whether charges are coming but said he was interested in targeting what he called “the infrastructure of crime.”
“The people who are hosting the content strikes me as a very consequential place to be, particularly, as a starting point,” he said. “But we know there are other tentacles.”
The seizures rely on a state law against the unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image, which can be punished as a misdemeanor by up to one year in jail.
