San Francisco has always been the epicenter of technological innovation, but sometimes that innovation takes a seriously dark turn. Our city’s latest tech battleground? Stopping the terrifying world of AI-generated nonconsensual pornography.

City Attorney David Chiu has been waging a relentless war against websites that create “deepfake” images without people’s consent. In a groundbreaking lawsuit, his office targeted 16 websites responsible for generating explicit content using unsuspecting individuals’ likenesses. The numbers are mind-blowing: these sites were visited over 200 million times in just the first half of 2024.

The Ugly Side of AI

One particularly disturbing company, Briver, was forced to pay $100,000 in penalties and shut down its websites. The kicker? Some of these sites were capable of generating pornographic images of children - a horrifying revelation that sends chills down any ethical technologist’s spine.

Tech’s Moral Dilemma

This isn’t just about San Francisco’s tech scene; it’s a broader conversation about technology’s responsibility. While AI promises incredible innovation, these websites demonstrate how easily powerful tools can be weaponized for exploitation. Major tech companies like Google and OpenAI aren’t even the primary culprits - smaller, less regulated platforms are driving this nightmare.

Fighting Back

Chiu’s investigation exposed something crucial: the internet’s darkest corners aren’t hidden anymore. With legal frameworks catching up and tech companies being held accountable, there’s hope that consent and human dignity can triumph over algorithmic abuse.