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Two men were arrested for using AI to create and distribute deepfake pornography of celebrities, politicians, and private individuals without consent, generating millions of views online.
Federal prosecutors charged Cornelius Shannon, 51, of New Jersey, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, of Texas, under the Take It Down Act for creating AI-generated sexually explicit content. Shannon published at least 360 albums containing deepfake pornography of approximately 90 female victims, including politicians, musicians, and singers, which received millions of views. Hernandez published approximately 113 albums featuring around 50 identifiable female victims, including non-public figures and recent high school graduates, with content viewed nearly a million times. Both men operated independently and used AI tools to create morphing videos that transformed non-explicit images into sexually explicit deepfakes. The arrests occurred on the same day in May 2026, with both facing up to two years in prison under the federal law enacted in April 2025. The Take It Down Act specifically criminalizes nonconsensual publication of intimate images including AI-generated deepfakes. This case represents one of the earliest prosecutions under the new federal legislation designed to combat revenge porn and deepfake pornography.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
