San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced at a press conference Thursday that he intends to shut down 16 of the most popular AI “dressing” sites.
The city attorney said the sites were charged with violating federal laws related to revenge pornography, deep fake pornography and child pornography. Chiu’s office also accused the sites of violating California’s unfair competition law because “the harm they cause to consumers far outweighs any benefits associated with these practices.” He appealed to the California Supreme Court.
The complaint targets a total of 50 defendants Chiu intends to prosecute for operating strip sites. The names of some of the defendants and websites have been redacted, but it also clearly identifies several companies that operate “some of the world’s most popular websites offering nude images of women and girls,” including Briver, N.Y.-based Sol Ecom, Florida. Itai Tech Ltd. based in Mexico and the UK. The only named defendant in the complaint is Augustin Gribinets of Estonia. He is accused of owning an artificial intelligence undressing site that featured unconsensual images of women and children.
These websites generated more than 200 million visits within six months. According to the complaint, objectionable images of women and children on these sites “are being used to insult, threaten and humiliate women and girls” as they gain more visitors “and this disturbing trend shows no signs of abating.”
In a legal complaint from February, the city’s attorney cites an incident in which an artificial intelligence undressing site created images of 16 eighth-graders at a California middle school. The incident is believed to be related to a school incident at Beverly Hills High School where 16 students posted fake nude photos of other students. According to information, the school district expelled five students for their participation in the distribution of illegal images .
Deepfake technology has become a major legal issue, especially at the federal level. last month, published a report on digital copies and concluded that “a new law is needed”. Just days later, a bipartisan group of senators introduced it It will introduce a new law to protect individuals from having their voice, face or body recreated by artificial intelligence without their consent.
