San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced at a press conference Thursday that he plans to shut down 16 of the most popular “nudity” sites using artificial intelligence.
ai-deepfake-nude-undressing-websites-lawsuit-sanfrancisco” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:The Verge;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “> The City Attorney is charging the sites with violating federal laws on revenge porn, deepfake porn, and child pornography, Chiu said. Chiu's office also accused the sites of violating California's unfair competition law because “the harm they cause to consumers far outweighs the benefits associated with those practices,” according to the filing. filed in a California superior court.
The complaint centers on a total of 50 defendants Chiu seeks to prosecute for operating nudity websites. Some of the defendants’ names and websites were redacted, but some companies that operate “some of the world’s most popular websites featuring images of nude women and girls” are also publicly identified, including Florida-based Sol Ecom, New Mexico-based Briver, and British company Itai tech Ltd. The only defendant identified in the complaint is Augustin Gribinets of Estonia, who is accused of owning an ai-powered nudity site featuring nonconsensual images of women and girls.
These websites have generated more than 200 million visits in a six-month period. Non-consensual images of women and children on these sites “are used to intimidate, threaten and humiliate women and girls” as they gain more visitors “and this worrying trend shows no sign of abating,” according to the complaint.
The city attorney cites a case in his February lawsuit in which an artificial intelligence-powered nudity site generated images of 16 eighth-graders at a California high school. The incident possibly refers to one that occurred at a Beverly Hills high school in which 16 students were circulating fake nude images of other students. The school district expelled five students for their role in spreading the illicit images, according to the district. .
Deepfake technology has become a major legal concern, especially at the federal level. Last month, a report on digital replicas was published and concluded that “new law is needed.” Just days later, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a proposal that would institute a new law protecting people from having their voice, face, or body recreated by artificial intelligence without their consent.
