San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has filed a lawsuit against the owners of 16 websites that use artificial intelligence (AI) to create nonconsensual nude images of women and girls. The lawsuits were filed on August 15.
Lawsuit Against 16 Websites
A redacted version of the suit filed in the city's Superior Court alleges that the site owners include individuals and companies from Los Angeles, New Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Estonia, who have violated California and U.S. laws on deepfake porn, revenge porn, and child sexual abuse material.
Websites and their Technology
The complaint claims that the mentioned sites have amassed 200 million visits in just the first half of the year. Chiu stated that the AI models used by these sites are trained on images of porn and child sexual abuse material. Some sites limit their generations to adults only, while others allow for images of children.
Consequences and Measures
Chiu highlighted that the created images are 'virtually indistinguishable' from real ones and are often used to extort, bully, threaten, and humiliate women and girls. Many of them have no control over the fake images once they are created. He noted that the investigation led to some of the darkest corners of the internet and expressed concern for the exploited women and girls.
David Chiu stated that AI holds enormous promise, but criminals are exploiting it for abuse. He emphasized that this is not innovation but sexual abuse and called for everyone to take measures to combat such abuses.
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