New York authorities seize 12 celebrity deepfake pornography websites

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the seizure of 12 websites dedicated to hosting non-consensual celebrity deepfake pornography. The domains, including sites such as ‘AI Celebs’, reportedly featured hyper-realistic AI-generated sexual content involving approximately 1,200 victims, including politicians, actors, athletes, musicians, and social media influencers.

Prosecutors stated that the content uses artificial intelligence to depict real people engaging in sexually explicit acts without their permission. Bragg noted that the investigation into the creators and uploaders of these videos is ongoing. The action follows the enforcement of laws in the United States, such as the Take It Down Act, which criminalizes the online distribution of non-consensual sexual imagery created via AI tools.

District Attorney officials described the seizure as one of the largest and most significant actions against explicit deepfake websites to date. The office emphasized the severe emotional and mental toll these privacy violations take on victims and urged others to report such content to the cybercrime bureau.