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

Advertisement

Advertise with us

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.

Read this article for free:


By clicking the button above, an account will be created and you will begin to receive some of our recommended newsletters. You may opt out of any newsletter by visiting your Email and Communication Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of any email.

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

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.

FILE - A poster outside a roundtable about an online safety bill, hosted by first lady Melania Trump, is displayed in the Capitol, March 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - A poster outside a roundtable about an online safety bill, hosted by first lady Melania Trump, is displayed in the Capitol, March 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

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.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Goblin:Macbeth is a monstrously entertaining show

Holly Harris 4 minute read Preview

Goblin:Macbeth is a monstrously entertaining show

Holly Harris 4 minute read 2:18 PM CDT

Screw your courage to the sticking point, for Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre has just unleashed a gaggle of goblins at the Tom Hendry Warehouse in its ghoulishly theatrical Goblin:Macbeth.

The darkly subversive, 95-minute (sans intermission) production is the brainchild of Spontaneous Theatre’s Bruce Horak and Rebecca Northan (also serving as director), with Ellis Lalonde (sound designer).

It stars a trio of larger-than-life, pointy-eared goblins, Wug, Kragva and Moog — fie on anyone seeking to determine their tightly guarded mortal identities — who cavort and kibbitz with audience members before stumbling across The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

After indignantly declaring “we are not Tolkien goblins,” and sharing a bit of goblin-lore (who knew these demons had 17 genders?) they vow they will attempt to “do theatre” to better understand our culture, choosing the Bard’s superstition-riddled Scottish Play for being the shortest and bloodiest.

Read
2:18 PM CDT

Bombers top B.C. Lions 34-10 to earn playoff spot

Taylor Allen 4 minute read Preview

Bombers top B.C. Lions 34-10 to earn playoff spot

Taylor Allen 4 minute read 8:41 AM CDT

Dru Brown saved the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ season.

They were a trainwreck for the opening 40-plus minutes in Vancouver on Friday night before Brown provided the ultimate spark, accounting for 31 consecutive points in a 34-10 victory over the B.C. Lions to clinch a playoff berth.

The Lions — who had nothing to play for and rested a long list of key starters — somehow led 10-3 late in the third quarter when Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros was forced to leave the game. Lions defensive tackle Nathan Cherry was flagged for roughing the passer after driving Collaros into the turf, and the 38-year-old pivot was ruled out shortly thereafter.

And then Brown’s brilliance began.

Read
8:41 AM CDT

Opening of Portage and Main shows even seemingly insurmountable impasses can be overcome

Jason Syvixay 10 minute read Preview

Opening of Portage and Main shows even seemingly insurmountable impasses can be overcome

Jason Syvixay 10 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

There are places in a city that become more than places. Portage and Main is one of them. For generations of Winnipeggers, the intersection has represented downtown, traffic, development and civic identity. Its reopening to pedestrians in 2025, after 46 years of closure, was about more than crossing a street. It was a reminder that decisions made by one generation can shape the choices available to another — and that even seemingly permanent decisions can be reconsidered.

I have spent much of my professional life thinking about Winnipeg as a planner, working in public, private and non-profit settings. My PhD research gave me an opportunity to examine Portage and Main differently: not simply as a debate about cars and pedestrians, but as a window into how power operates in a city. I reviewed 569 archival documents spanning the 1960s to the present, interviewed 48 planners with experience in Winnipeg, and mapped the relationships between planners, politicians, developers, engineers, residents, businesses and advocacy groups.

What emerged was a story about how planning decisions become embedded in a city’s institutions, agreements, infrastructure, professional practices and political expectations — shaping not only what gets built, but who gets to influence what gets built.

The closure of Portage and Main in 1979 did not remain a decision confined to a particular political moment. Over time, it was reinforced by development agreements, physical infrastructure, property relationships, traffic-engineering practices, administrative routines, and public narratives about mobility and downtown revitalization. The people who made many of those original decisions eventually left office. The arrangements they created remained. Later planners inherited them.

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Builder beefs up security after string of blazes

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Preview

Builder beefs up security after string of blazes

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:36 AM CDT

A Winnipeg builder said he’s had to beef up security around his developments after one of his projects sustained significant damage Wednesday in suspected arson cases.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 9:36 AM CDT

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

Sun sets on Hellebuyck era

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Preview

Sun sets on Hellebuyck era

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Yesterday at 6:54 PM CDT

Now that the Connor Hellebuyck era of the Jets has finally concluded, what impact will the departure have on the netminder’s legacy?

Well, it’s a complex answer and one that could change with the benefit of time and a side order of sober second thought.

Given how raw things are right now and how things quickly went sideways — with the franchise goalie essentially forcing his way out of town with his trade request back in April — many members of the Winnipeg Jets fan base quickly found themselves at the “good riddance” stage of the grieving process.

This wasn’t how this story was supposed to end and there’s no doubt some feelings have been hurt along the way.

Read
Yesterday at 6:54 PM CDT