San Francisco has filed a lawsuit against 16 websites that allow users to create deepfake nudes of women and girls without their consent. These sites, which have garnered over 200 million visits in the first half of 2024, use open-source AI models to generate non-consensual, explicit images.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has condemned the exploitation, highlighting how the deepfakes are weaponized to extort, bully, and humiliate victims.
The lawsuit accuses the websites of violating state and federal laws against deepfake pornography, revenge porn, and child pornography, as well as California’s Unfair Competition Law. Chiu’s office aims to shut down these websites and prevent their operators from continuing such activities, while also seeking civil penalties.
Chiu emphasized the urgent need for action to combat the misuse of AI in exploiting real people, including children. This legal move follows Apple’s removal of three apps from its App Store in April for similar non-consensual image creation.
