New York DA Seizes 12 Websites Hosting AI-Generated Intimate Imagery

The New York District Attorney announced on Monday that it seized 12 websites hosting AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery. [2] The district attorney's office believes this marks the largest seizure of such sites in history. [2] Individuals operating and using these sites are under investigation for using AI tools to turn photos of approximately 1,200 people into hyper-realistic videos and images of sexual conduct. [2] The targeted sites primarily depicted public-facing individuals, including actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and first ladies of multiple countries. [2]

This crackdown represents a major enforcement test of New York legislation that specifically criminalized sexually explicit deepfakes in 2023. While the 1,200 victims in this action were largely high-profile figures, District Attorney Alvin Bragg warned that deepfakes are increasingly being used as threats in everyday domestic violence cases. By asserting jurisdiction over any website accessible from Manhattan, the DA's office is signaling a broad geographic mandate for pursuing illegal AI content platforms. What the sources don't address: Whether the ongoing investigation has led to any arrests or charges for the individuals who originally generated the explicit media.