Federal prosecutors arrested two men for making explicit deepfakes of celebrities

Two men have been formally charged with a federal crime after they were caught generating and posting AI deepfakes of female celebrities.

Federal prosecutors have arrested two men in a criminal complaint who both separately posted sexually explicit AI content that was viewed by millions of users online. The content featured female politicians, musicians, singers and private photos of women known to one of the defendants.

Both men face up to two years in prison.

The men are being tried under President Donald Trump’s Take It Down Act, which criminalizes posting or threatening to post non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated pornography featuring real people. The bill, supported by First Lady Melania Trump and several major organizations fighting sexual cybercrime and child sexual abuse, took effect exactly one year ago.

At the time, many experts questioned how the law would actually be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, specifically calling attention to eviction and restitution proceedings for the victims themselves. Others feared that the broad outlines of the bill would be challenged on free speech grounds.

Last month, the Take It Down Act obtained its first conviction, after an Ohio man pleaded guilty to harassing women with non-consensual AI images and videos depicting them in sexual acts, as well as generating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) using the technology.

“This case clearly shows that posting false pornographic photos is not a victimless crime,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said after the arrests.