Manhattan DA seizes 12 AI deepfake websites targeting celebrities

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced the seizure of 12 websites used to illegally distribute, publish, and sell non-consensual celebrity deepfake videos. Prosecutors said the subjects used AI image and video generation tools to create seemingly highly realistic sexual imagery from existing photos and videos of approximately 1,200 real people, then published and sold them through these websites. The DA's office said the vast majority of the 1,200 victims are women and primarily public figures, including actors, politicians, athletes, musicians, social justice advocates, and social media influencers. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said these individuals' faces and bodies were stolen and turned into illegal pornographic content without their knowledge or consent. The investigation into these and other websites is ongoing.