China cracks down on AI deepfake 'undress with a click' tools, hundreds pay 22 euros

Thousands of Chinese users are paying 168 yuan (about 22 euros) for AI tutorials that can turn ordinary photos into explicit images, a practice dubbed “undress with a click.” State broadcaster CCTV reported that in March police dismantled a Henan‑province group that mailed AI‑generated nude photos to bank employees for extortion, intercepting 280 letters.

In June 2025 authorities detained a suspect known as Zhang for operating foreign‑social‑media groups that sold the same tutorials, earning more than 100,000 yuan. In May, Zhang was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined 20,000 yuan. Prosecutor Li Tao said one of Zhang’s groups had over 21,000 members, and the price of the software rose from just over 60 yuan in 2023 to 168 yuan in 2025. The tools use deep‑fake technology to generate nude images in seconds, enabling a black‑market industry where individuals commission custom explicit pictures for a few yuan each.