(Credit: Maria Korneeva/Getty Images)
San Francisco is suing 16 websites that use AI to help users "undress" or "nudify" photographs of women and girls.
The websites leverage open-source AI models to turn images of real women into deepfake nudes without their consent. According to San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, these websites were visited more than 200 million times in the first six months of 2024.
"This investigation has taken us to the darkest corners of the internet, and I am absolutely horrified for the women and girls who have had to endure this exploitation," Chiu said in a statement.
The deepfakes are used to "extort, bully, threaten, and humiliate women and girls," Chiu says. And victims "have found virtually no recourse or ability to control their own image."
The lawsuit alleges violations of state and federal laws prohibiting deepfake pornography, revenge pornography, and child pornography, as well as violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law. Chiu wants the websites shut down and for the court to ban site owners from doing this again. He's also seeking civil penalties.
The site names have been redacted in the copy of the lawsuit posted by Chiu's office. Some of their owners are identified, others are unknown.
Deepfake technology has been used to create non-consensual porn of major stars like Taylor Swift but also teenagers—from Beverly Hills to New Jersey.
"We all need to do our part to crack down on bad actors using AI to exploit and abuse real people, including children," Chiu says.
In April, Apple removed three apps from its App Store that created nonconsensual nude images.