AI Deepfake Pornography Charges: 140 Victims Named as Take It Down Act Claims First Major…
Two men face federal charges for using AI to create and distribute deepfake pornography, marking some of the first major prosecutions under the Take It Down Act.
- Incident date
- May 2026
- Target
- 90 named women, 50 identifiable female victims
In May 2026, federal prosecutors announced charges against two men accused of using AI tools to generate and distribute deepfake pornography without consent. The arrests represent some of the earliest major criminal prosecutions under the Take It Down Act.
What happened
One man allegedly published 360 albums of AI-generated deepfake pornography depicting approximately 90 named women, including politicians, musicians, and singers. The content was viewed millions of times. The other man is accused of publishing approximately 113 albums depicting around 50 identifiable female victims, including recent high school graduates. These albums allegedly began with non-explicit images of real women that morphed into AI-generated depictions of those same individuals nude or engaged in sexually explicit acts; this content was viewed nearly a million times.