Market & Regulation
New York Seizes Celebrity Deepfake Websites
WIRED AIhigh confidence
Why it matters
- →This seizure represents a major legal action against deepfake pornography sites.
- →It highlights the ongoing challenge of regulating harmful AI-generated content.
- →The move underscores the need for coordinated efforts to tackle the deepfake ecosystem.
New York officials have seized more than a dozen websites involved in distributing nonconsensual deepfake pornography, marking a significant crackdown on such content. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced the seizure of 12 domains used to share and sell manipulated videos of celebrities and public figures. This action is part of ongoing investigations into the creators and distributors of these videos. The takedown is seen as a major step in combating the harmful use of deepfake technology, which has been increasingly used to create realistic and damaging content.
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TopicDeepfake Regulation And PolicyCooling
Earlier coverage that leads up to this article, and what followed. Lines connect each piece to the closest one after it, converging here.
How we got here
- 1San Francisco Demands Removal of AI 'Nudify' Apps
WIRED AI · July 17, 2026 · Background
- 2Hugging Face Faces Deepfake Nudes Controversy
WIRED AI · July 28, 2026 · Background
- 3Hugging Face Models Used for Nonconsensual Deepfakes
The Verge AI · July 28, 2026 · Background
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