FBI Arrests Two Men for AI Deepfake Porn Under New Take It Down Act

FBI easily nabs man selling sexy deepfakes who used his own photo in profile

The earliest arrests under the Take It Down Act (TIDA) suggest that cops don't have to work too hard to identify people illegally posting and selling nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes of women online. Last week, the FBI arrested two men after visiting porn websites and clicking on hashtags like #AI #Deepfakes or video titles like "AI_tits" or "Ass_AI." One suspect accused of violating TIDA was 20-year-old Arturo Hernandez. He allegedly posted 113 albums viewed nearly a million times featuring AI-generated sexualized images and videos of approximately 50 women. Victims included political figures, actresses, and musicians, as well as women who are not public figures, such as female individuals who attended his Texas high school and an Instagram friend. Geo-location data helped cops identify Hernandez as a suspect. In his affidavit, an FBI special agent, Christopher Powell, explained that cops investigating the porn site found a second account re-posting all the content that Hernandez allegedly uploaded. That second account was linked to Hernandez's PayPal account, the complaint said, and an IP address often used to log in to it was the same IP that Hernandez's Apple records showed he'd used to log in to his iCloud. While sexualized deepfakes of celebrities and politicians may be easiest to spot in the wild, cops also sought evidence tying Hernandez to AI content depicting people he knew. It likely simplified their search to find that not only did Hernandez follow the Instagram account of one victim, but cops discovered that Hernandez had also saved in a folder on his own Instagram account the specific image used to create AI porn content viewed more than 36,000 times. Hernandez seemingly tried to distance himself from some of the activity, like by registering his Gmail account using the nickname "Ryan" instead of his actual first name. However, cops noted that Hernandez used the "Ryan" nickname elsewhere online, including on his Snapchat account. However, the other man arrested, 51-year-old Cornelius "Neil" Shannon, was allegedly less careful, Powell's affidavit for that arrest showed. Shannon is accused of publishing approximately 360 AI-generated albums viewed more than 2 million times, featuring approximately 90 women, primarily political figures, actresses, and musicians. Powell's affidavit suggested it was trivially easy to link Shannon to the porn site account because Shannon apparently used his own photo as the profile pic. Cross-referencing Department of Motor Vehicle records and surveillance photos, cops alleged that a man seen posing in a Mets baseball shirt on the account's profile appeared to be Shannon. Both Hernandez and Shannon risk up to two years in prison if cops can prove they violated TIDA. FTC warns 12 nudify tool makers Officials appear motivated to track images posted online and enforce the law. In a press release announcing the recent arrests, Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, accused the suspects of using "cutting-edge digital technology to create images that degraded and violated victims across the United States." And James C. Barnacle, Jr., assistant director in charge of the New York FBI field office, confirmed that his agents would continue investigating similar cases. "This predatory conduct represents a disturbing abuse of technology that inflicts emotional harm on victims, violating their privacy, dignity, and security," Barnacle said. "The use of this emerging technology to victimize individuals is not innovative -- it is criminal and will be pursued with the full force of the law." However, some people charged with TIDA violations may continue using the technology to harm victims, as it remains readily available and relatively cheap to make realistic-looking content sexualizing real people. An Ohio man who was hailed by the US Justice Department as the first arrest under TIDA notably continued making sexualized deepfakes while on pre-trial release, apparently undeterred by even the threat of imminent consequences. To block people from using AI services to "undress" people and share harmful images online, the Federal Trade Commission announced last week that it sent warning letters to 12 companies offering so-called "nudify" tools. Those companies appear to be violating TIDA, the FTC warned, and need to implement "a process through which victims can request the removal of nonconsensual intimate images appearing on their platforms" within 48 hours or risk "civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation." It's unclear if the social media platform X -- which has been sued by three young girls who claimed its chatbot Grok turned their real photos into AI child sexual abuse materials -- received a warning. But X's Safety account posted last week, notifying users that TIDA victims can report harmful content through the Help Center. They can also report any post by "tapping the three-dot menu (⋯), selecting 'Private or Non-Consensual Content' > 'Report content under the US Take It Down Act' and then completing the form." "Our team reviews these reports as fast as possible and well within the Act's 48-hour timeline," the X Safety account said. More broadly, the FTC is seemingly stepping up enforcement after a deadline passed this month when all online platforms were required to have such a process in place. A week before the warning letters went out to nudify services, the FTC sent additional letters to operators of major platforms, including Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Automattic, Bumble, Discord, Match Group, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, SmugMug, Snapchat, TikTok, and X. Those letters told platforms to be prepared to face penalties for any non-compliance. Even if such a process was in place on every online platform, however, TIDA seems imperfect, since it doesn't stop the initial sharing and still puts the burden on the victim to monitor and flag harmful images across the Internet. Critics have warned that the process could also be abused by people, including possibly Donald Trump, who hope platforms will automatically remove any reported content they don't like.

Two men charged with creating AI-generated porn under new law targeting 'deepfakes'

NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal prosecutors have charged two men with using artificial intelligence to create nude videos and photos of female celebrities under a newly enacted law meant to halt the spread of deepfake pornography. Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew millions of views online, according to criminal complaints. The men -- who do not appear to be connected -- are among the earliest defendants to face charges under the Take It Down Act, a law signed last year by President Donald Trump that adds stricter penalties for publishing AI-created deepfakes and "revenge porn." The bill drew bipartisan support, as well as the public backing of first lady Melania Trump. Under the new law, the men now face up to two years in prison. Attorneys for Shannon and Hernandez did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Joseph Nocella, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said the men had "used cutting-edge digital technology to create images that degraded and violated" dozens of women. "This case makes clear that posting deepfake pornography is not a victimless crime," he added. Shannon, a resident of New Jersey, published at least 240 albums of AI-generated pornography featuring female politicians, musicians and singers, according to the complaint. The deepfakes published by Hernandez, of Texas, included both celebrities as well as private women, including recent high school graduates, prosecutors said. The arrests come as increasingly sophisticated generative AI tools have raised alarm about the online spread of sexually explicit fakes, often depicting minors. Last month, an Ohio man became the first person convicted under the Take It Down Act after pleading guilty to using AI to generate child sexual abuse material. In March, two teenage boys received probation for creating explicit AI images of their classmates at an exclusive private school in Pennsylvania. And in a separate case filed earlier this year, three teenagers in Tennessee sued Elon Musk's xAI, claiming the company's Grok tools morphed their real photos into explicitly sexual images. The high school students are seeking class-action status to represent what the lawsuit says are thousands of people who were similarly victimized as minors.

Two Men Arrested for Creating AI Deepfake Porn

Can't-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Beyond the well-known impacts generative AI has on the environment and the human psyche, it also comes with a tremendous social burden. Deepfakes -- digitally altered content that's indistinguishable from real life -- have proliferated off the back of the AI boom, turning the web into a noxious slurry of half-truths and misinformation. It's also enabled a major rise in digital sex crimes through deepfake porn of real people. In one recent survey of 557 teenagers in the US, over 36 percent reported that a non-consensual pornographic image had been created of them by someone using AI (alarmingly, over 55 percent reported using AI to personally create deepfake porn.) There's no question that the technology's rapid rise has contributed to a massive rise in sexual blackmail, non-consensual sexualization, and child sexual abuse material. Unlike in the European Union and China, officials in the US have been slow to respond, though two new federal cases may indicate shifting winds. According to the Associated Press, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have charged two men with creating deepfake porn under a new bipartisan law. The men, identified as Cornelius Shannon of New Jersey and Arturo Hernandez of Texas, are alleged to have created and posted thousands of images and videos depicting actresses, singers, political figures, and non-celebrity women in sexual situations. The two were not alleged to have worked together, according to a Department of Justice press release, but rather to have operated separate rings spreading deepfake porn. Altogether, the DoJ has identified roughly 473 albums containing 140 different victims, all of them women. In particular, the "content published by Hernandez has been viewed nearly a million times," federal prosecutors allege. "This case makes clear that posting deepfake pornography is not a victimless crime," United States Attorney Joseph Nocella said in the presser, "and our office will pursue the criminals who engage in this reprehensible conduct with all the legal resources that the federal government can bring to bear, including new authorities granted by Congress to address these emerging forms of psychological, reputational, and financial abuse." While any escalation against the creators of deepfake porn is welcome news, the two are just the second and third alleged perpetrators charged under the bipartisan "Take It Down" act, which President Trump signed into law all the way back in April of 2025. Their maximum sentence? Just two years in prison.

Two Men Charged Under A.I.-Revenge Porn Law: What to Know

By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Governments around the world are scrambling to develop safeguards as the use of generative A.I. grows more common, including to spread misinformation and non-consensual images. Lawmakers and victim-advocacy groups have for years sounded the alarm on the rise of "revenge porn," and expressed concern that A.I. is making such exploitation easier and more widespread. Almost every U.S. state now has laws regulating deepfakes or has introduced legislation to do so.

They created AI nudes that got millions of views online. Now they're being charged with crimes | Fortune

Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew millions of views online, according to criminal complaints. The men -- who do not appear to be connected -- are among the earliest defendants to face charges under the Take It Down Act, a law signed last year by President Donald Trump that adds stricter penalties for publishing AI-created deepfakes and "revenge porn." The bill drew bipartisan support, as well as the public backing of first lady Melania Trump. Under the new law, the men now face up to two years in prison. Attorneys for Shannon and Hernandez did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Joseph Nocella, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said the men had "used cutting-edge digital technology to create images that degraded and violated" dozens of women. "This case makes clear that posting deepfake pornography is not a victimless crime," he added. Shannon, a resident of New Jersey, published at least 240 albums of AI-generated pornography featuring female politicians, musicians and singers, according to the complaint. The deepfakes published by Hernandez, of Texas, included both celebrities as well as private women, including recent high school graduates, prosecutors said. The arrests come as increasingly sophisticated generative AI tools have raised alarm about the online spread of sexually explicit fakes, often depicting minors. Last month, an Ohio man became the first person convicted under the Take It Down Act after pleading guilty to using AI to generate child sexual abuse material. In March, two teenage boys received probation for creating explicit AI images of their classmates at an exclusive private school in Pennsylvania. And in a separate case filed earlier this year, three teenagers in Tennessee sued Elon Musk's xAI, claiming the company's Grok tools morphed their real photos into explicitly sexual images. The high school students are seeking class-action status to represent what the lawsuit says are thousands of people who were similarly victimized as minors.

Two Men Federally Charged Over AI Deepfake Porn Under the Take It Down Act - Decrypt

Last month, James Strahler II of Ohio became the first person convicted under the law after pleading guilty to creating and distributing AI-generated pornographic images, including those of minors. Federal prosecutors charged two men this week with using AI to generate and distribute sexually explicit images of women without their consent, marking one of the first major enforcement actions under the new Take It Down Act. On Thursday, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York charged Arturo Hernandez of Texas and Cornelius Shannon of New Jersey in separate cases involving alleged AI-generated deepfake pornography. "The defendants used cutting-edge digital technology to create images that degraded and violated victims across the United States," U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said in a statement. "This case makes clear that posting deepfake pornography is not a victimless crime." Prosecutors allege Shannon and Hernandez posted thousands of AI-generated images and videos depicting real people -- including actresses, singers, political figures, and recent high school graduates -- engaged in sexual acts. Shannon and Hernandez allegedly uploaded more than 470 albums depicting over 140 women to websites where the AI-generated images and videos received millions of views. Court filings say the images appeared to use real, non-explicit photographs altered with AI software into sexually explicit content. The men face up to two years in prison. President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law in May 2025. The legislation makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish or threaten to publish non-consensual intimate imagery, whether authentic or AI-generated. It also requires online platforms to remove reported content within 48 hours. The Take It Down Act received bipartisan support in Washington and comes as courts confront a growing wave of lawsuits tied to AI-generated deepfakes, including cases accusing Elon Musk's xAI and its Grok chatbot of creating and distributing non-consensual sexualized images, such as images depicting minors. Several states, including California, Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania, have enacted similar laws, targeting non-consensual intimate imagery and AI-generated deepfakes. In April, James Strahler, of Columbus, Ohio, became the first person convicted under the law after pleading guilty to federal charges involving over 700 AI-generated sexually explicit images of adults and children. "This predatory conduct represents a disturbing abuse of technology that inflicts emotional harm on victims, violating their privacy, dignity, and security," FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle Jr. said in a statement. "The use of this emerging technology to victimize individuals is not innovative -- it is criminal and will be pursued with the full force of the law."

Feds bust 2 alleged creeps for posting 'deepfake' porn of celebs and politicians

Two alleged creeps were busted Wednesday for posting thousands of pornographic AI "deepfake" images and videos of celebrity entertainers and political figures - which have been viewed millions of times. Cornelius Shannon, 51, of New Jersey, and Texas resident Arturo Hernandez, 20, each face up to two years in prison after being charged by Brooklyn federal prosecutors with breaching the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which bars people from publishing AI porn depicting someone without getting their consent. Since May 2025, Shannon has published deepfake porn featuring 90 different female victims - including well-known "political figures" and "entertainment figures" - appearing to engage in sexual acts on a porn website where they have been viewed more than 2.1 million times, court papers allege. Hernandez has posted sick AI-created pornos of 50 different female victims - including prominent politicians, musicians, and actresses - on that website during the same time period, prosecutors say. The Texan also disgustingly posted AI porn of his female classmates, purported friends, and a "religious mother and daughter," court papers allege. He also created and posted a photo album featuring "yearbook-style" portraits of girls in his high school graduation class wearing their graduation cap and gowns, "which morph into videos depicting the likenesses of the same girls engaging in sexually explicit conduct," a criminal complaint says. Together, Hernandez's AI deepfake videos and images have been viewed more than 940,000 times, court papers say. The New Jerseyan Shannon - whose profile picture on the unidentified porn site features him wearing a New York Mets t-shirt and having a snack - was arrested Wednesday morning in the Garden State by FBI agents in the Newark field office. He was expected to be released after making his first appearance in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday afternoon. Hernandez was arrested in Bedias, Texas by FBI agents in the Houston field office, and is due to face a Brooklyn judge at a later date. Prosecutors kept the names of the celebrities depicted in the porn under wraps Wednesday. "This case makes clear that posting deepfake pornography is not a victimless crime, and our Office will pursue the criminals who engage in this reprehensible conduct with all the legal resources that the federal government can bring to bear, including new authorities granted by Congress to address these emerging forms of psychological, reputational, and financial abuse," Joseph Nocella, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.