Deepfake porn website operator settles with San Francisco, agrees to shut down
The San Francisco City Attorney's office has settled with a company that operated websites creating "deepfake nudes", where artificial intelligence is used to turn photos of children and adults into pornography.
City Attorney David Chiu announced Monday that Briver LLC has agreed to a permanent injunction prohibiting the company and its owners from operating any websites that create nonconsensual deepfakes. Briver LLC has also agreed to pay $100,000 in civil penalties.
According to Chiu, Briver LLC operated two such websites, which offered users the opportunity to upload clothed images of real people to create realistic-looking nude images, usually for a fee. Before being shut down, the company's websites allowed users to create pornographic images of adults and children.
In August of last year, Chiu's office filed suit against 16 of the most visited deepfake nude websites. The websites targeted in the lawsuit had reportedly been visited more than 200 million times in the first six months of 2024.
As a result of the investigation, 10 of the sites are now offline or no longer accessible in California, according to the city attorney. Meanwhile, the lawsuit will proceed against the remaining defendants.
"While our lawsuit has so far led to an initial settlement as well as shut down 10 websites that exploit women and children, we won't stop until all owners are held accountable and blocked from opening similar sites," Chiu said in a statement. "While generative AI holds enormous promise, these website operators are engaged in blatant sexual abuse and must be stopped."
Chiu's office said the images are often used to extort, bully and humiliate women and girls. One such incident involved students at a middle school in Southern California last year.
Celebrities, including Taylor Swift, have also been victimized by AI-generated explicit images.
Anyone who may have been t he victim of nonconsensual deepfake pornography or has relevant information in the case is asked to contact the San Francisco City Attorney's Office through the agency's or by calling 415-554-3977.