All articles tagged with #deepfake
Zelda Williams publicly urged fans to stop circulating AI-generated videos of her late father, Robin Williams, calling the clips robotic and asking fans to leave him out of their delusional content, reiterating her stance after previously asking people not to share AI recreations of his voice or likeness.
China’s Ministry of State Security warned that AI could threaten the country’s political, institutional, and ideological security, highlighting risks from deepfake audio/video, AI-generated content, and “intelligent troll armies” used to manipulate public opinion, and signaling possible tighter restrictions on foreign AI tools amid broader cyber-security concerns and talks with the United States.
Schools nationwide are responding to a disturbing AI-generated Cat in the Hat trend that targets or mentions campuses. Districts have opened investigations, some canceled classes, and educators warn that AI can be easily manipulated to create threatening imagery, with potential legal consequences for those who produce or share such posts.
Apple removed Kromix, an AI image-styler capable of generating pornographic deepfakes of real people, after WIRED exposed Meta’s ad campaign promoting it; Apple said the app added prohibited content after review and violates Nudification-related guidelines, and Meta subsequently pulled the ads. A separate WIRED investigation found another similar app, MaskAI, which Apple also removed following inquiries.
A filmmaker uses AI to reconstruct Billy Joel for a 20-minute documentary based on a long-lost 1971 college-radio interview. Joel was not consulted; training data relied on photos owned by his early manager. The film, 1971: Billy Joel’s Lost Interview, will premiere at the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame festival and provokes debate over celebrity likeness rights and AI’s role in shaping an artist’s legacy, with some festivals rejecting it and Joel’s publicist declining to comment.
The BBC explores how AI-powered digital doubles are helping CEOs and workers scale presence and workloads, with examples like Proto Hologram’s founder and Uber’s ‘Dara AI,’ enabling multilingual, 24/7 outreach across airports, stores, and events. While these clones offer efficiency and reach, they also raise serious concerns about consent, misrepresentation, rogue behavior, and security, underscoring the need for guardrails and human oversight as the technology evolves.
Google pulled its new AI image-editing feature from Google Earth less than 24 hours after launch due to misuse by users creating realistic deepfakes; outputs were watermarked and never shown in the public Earth experience, and Google said it will roll back the feature while it builds stronger guardrails.
Google shut down the AI image-editing feature in Google Earth just one day after its launch, citing misuse and policy violations as users generated AI deepfakes (including refugee and war-related imagery) that could spread; the company said watermarked outputs didn’t appear in the main Earth experience and will roll back the tool while adding stronger guardrails, as researchers demonstrated that even with watermarking a detector could be bypassed.
Labour MP Jess Asato is taking Elon Musk’s xAI to the High Court, alleging Grok generated sexualised, non-consensual deepfake images and videos of her and shared them online. She seeks damages for misuse of private information and data protection breaches, plus a court order to remove remaining images; xAI has not yet filed a defence. X reportedly refused to remove some posts, though Grok now prohibits generating sexualised images of real people. The case precedes UK-wide updates that make non-consensual deepfakes of adults illegal; a hearing has not yet occurred.
San Francisco Attorney General David Chiu sent cease-and-desist letters to Apple and Google demanding the removal of 13 nudification apps that enable non-consensual explicit imagery, arguing they violate California deepfake laws. Google said several flagged apps were suspended; Apple did not respond. The move highlights ongoing debates over how app stores police harmful AI tools and profiteering from platform fees, with broader questions tied to related Grok/CSAM concerns.
San Francisco’s city attorney sent cease-and-desist notices to Apple and Google demanding removal of 13 face‑swapping AI apps that can generate nonconsensual nude images and profit from them, arguing the apps violate California law and enable sexual abuse; Apple and Google say they remove policy-violating apps and restrict nudification content, and the city will pursue further legal options if needed.
Meta's Muse AI now lets users generate realistic images from public Instagram photos—including those of celebrities—raising privacy and consent concerns over potential deepfake misuse.
Tom Hanks says Disney could use AI/deepfake tech to recreate Woody’s voice for Toy Story 6 using existing recordings, potentially letting him appear without returning. He describes it as a “scary thought” and notes it would bring artistic and legal challenges, even as studios could rely on archived dialogue to digitize the character at any age.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Sophia Bush pushed back on being tied to Peter Thiel by a leaked Dialog conference attendee list, stating they do not know Thiel and have never met him. Levitt confirmed attending two Dialog conferences but said he has no connection to Thiel, while Bush emphasized her focus on discussing tech-related issues and protecting rights, noting Thiel was not present at the events. Dialog is an invite-only tech forum founded by Thiel and others, and the leak also linked a broader cast of prominent figures to the conference.
BBC reports that Russian families are using AI to create deepfake-style videos and images of soldiers killed or missing in Ukraine, sometimes sold by creators and watched by tens of millions. The clips portray heroes returning home and often omit the war’s violence, provoking both emotional responses and ethical concerns about exploiting grief, the impact on mourning, and the potential for misinformation. Experts warn the psychological effects are unclear, and reactions are divided—some find solace, others see manipulation or commodification of loss.