Marks Largest Known Seizure of AI-Generated Celebrity Deepfake Websites To Date

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the Office’s seizure of 12 domain names of illegal websites used for unlawfully disseminating, publishing, and selling non-consensual celebrity “deepfake” videos. Individuals under investigation allegedly used artificial-intelligence (“AI”) image and video creation tools to turn pre-existing photos and videos of approximately 1,200 real people into what appear to be hyper-realistic images and videos of those individuals engaging in sexual conduct. They then used these websites to disseminate, publish, and sell these videos and other similar non-consensual intimate imagery (“NCII”). The D.A.’s Office is urging survivors to come forward by calling the Office’s Cyber Crime Bureau at 212-335-9600.

“1,200 individuals had their faces and bodies stolen and turned into illegal pornography on 12 different websites – without their knowledge or consent – and today, my Office is announcing that we have seized these websites pursuant to a court order. These horrific violations of privacy follow victims into their careers and personal lives and take an immense toll on emotional and mental wellbeing,” said D.A. Bragg. “Let me be clear – my office does not tolerate sexual exploitation in any form and will not stand by when businesses profit from the publication and dissemination of non-consensual sexual images and videos, AI-generated or not. Our investigations into these websites and similar operations are ongoing. If you have been a victim, I want you to know that we are here to help. Please contact our Cyber Crime Bureau at 212-335-9600.”

Pictured: A Screenshot of One of the “Deepfake” Websites

These websites are almost exclusively dedicated to AI-generated NCII, which they explicitly advertise as deepfake pornography. The approximately 1,200 victims of these websites and the content creators who use these websites to sell their NCII videos are overwhelmingly women and primarily public-facing individuals, including actors, politicians, athletes, musicians, social justice advocates, and social media influencers.

The investigation into these websites and others remains ongoing. The D.A.’s Office will continue to monitor these websites to prevent them from operating under different domains.

Pictured: The Image That Appears on Seized Domains

The D.A.’s Office’s Cyber Crime Bureau has seized the domains of multiple websites under criminal investigation, including:

• Twelve domains from five online vendors which sold stolen credit and debit card information and cardholders’ personal identifying information, including more than one million cards stolen from people across the United States and tens of thousands of New Yorkers.
• The domain for Coin Dispute Network, which was later indicted – along with its creators, Michael Lauchlan and Gary Zaydman – for allegedly steal from customers by falsely claiming it could trace and recover cryptocurrency in exchange for a fee.

Assistant D.A.s Lotus Ho and Katherine Ellis are handling this investigation under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Virginia Nguyen (Deputy Chief of CCB), Adam Maltz (Deputy Chief of CCB), Jeremy Glickman (Chief of CCB), Jeffrey Levinson (Deputy Chief of MECB), and Judy Salwen (Deputy Chief of the Investigation Division) and Executive Assistant D.A. Jodie Kane (Chief of the Investigation Division).

Investigative Analysts Kate Platzker, Caroline Sturgeon, and Genevieve Rupp, Senior Investigator Ethan Ellsworth, Lieutenant Brian Conway, Cyber Response Investigator Marko Papic, Supervising Cyber Response Investigator Laurence Hayes, and Deputy Director of HTAU Ryan Lawrence assisted with the investigation, as did Cyber Intelligence Analysts Eric Diaz and Tyler Holder under the supervision of John Dethlefsen (Director of CIU), former Assistant D.A. Ishan Shivakumar, and former Analyst Georgia Longstreet Joseph.

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