Skip to main content
NOPE
Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Metz prosecutor says a soldier used the French armed forces' AI system to make nude images of two female colleagues; he is under formal investigation

The Metz deputy prosecutor told AFP in August 2026 that a soldier based in Moselle had used the artificial-intelligence system of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces to create images showing two female colleagues undressed, and that both colleagues had filed complaints against him. The prosecutor said the investigation also found more than 10,000 requests to the same system seeking child sexual abuse imagery, and that a search of his devices confirmed his use of the ministry's AI. Taken into custody on 22 July 2026, he admitted the facts according to the prosecutor and was placed under formal investigation and remanded in custody on 24 July. The judicial investigation includes the offence of disseminating algorithmically generated sexual content reproducing the image of a non-consenting person. When the colleague images were made and how widely they circulated are not stated.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
6 August 2026
Event location
France
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or Abuse
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Work · Privacy · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts
4 claims: 4 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 2 people

AI system as recorded: The artificial-intelligence system of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, as described by the Metz deputy prosecutor (product name not stated)

What Happened

The colleague images. According to the Metz deputy prosecutor, speaking to AFP on 7 August 2026, a soldier based in Moselle is the subject of complaints from two colleagues whom he depicted by creating images of them undressed with the artificial-intelligence system of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. France 3 Grand Est reported that the man was placed under formal investigation after two female counterparts filed complaints and that, according to the deputy prosecutor, he used the ministry's AI to create images in which his female professional circle is shown naked.

The wider investigation. The prosecutor said the investigation found that he had made more than 10,000 requests to force the system to create child sexual abuse imagery, and that analysis of devices seized at his home confirmed his use of the ministry's AI system. Le Républicain Lorrain reported 13,950 such requests between January and June 2026 and that the system's safeguards blocked some of them; no identified child is described as depicted.

Custody and charges. He was taken into custody on 22 July 2026 and, according to the prosecutor, admitted the facts. On 24 July he was placed under formal investigation and remanded in custody. The judicial investigation covers the dissemination online of algorithmically generated sexual content reproducing the image of a non-consenting person, and offences involving minors he is said to have solicited for images on social networks. The armament gendarmerie's research section, the national cyber unit and a local gendarmerie research brigade are investigating.

Limits. No statement from the colleagues is reported in the inspected sources. The dates of the colleague images, the number of images and their circulation are not reported. Le Républicain Lorrain reports that he disputes that the images are pornographic, calling them erotic; its extract does not say which images this concerns. No trial has taken place.

Reported harm

Two female colleagues were depicted undressed in images the soldier generated with the armed forces' AI system, and they filed criminal complaints (Metz deputy prosecutor via AFP; France 3; Midi Libre citing Le Parisien).

How Harm Occurred

According to the prosecutor, a soldier used his employer's generative AI system to produce images depicting two female colleagues undressed without their consent.

Outcome

Ongoing

The soldier was taken into custody on 22 July 2026, admitted the facts according to the prosecutor, and on 24 July was placed under formal investigation (mis en examen) by an investigating judge and remanded in custody. The judicial investigation covers dissemination of algorithmically generated sexual content reproducing the image of a non-consenting person, together with offences involving minors. Le Républicain Lorrain reported that his challenge to the detention was examined by the investigating chamber of the Metz court of appeal. No trial or conviction is reported.

What remains unknown

  • When the images of the colleagues were made, how many there were and whether or how far they circulated.
  • The name of the Ministry of the Armed Forces' AI system and how its safeguards handled the colleague images.
  • Whether other colleagues were depicted.
  • The outcome of the judicial investigation.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Metz deputy prosecutor told AFP (relayed by franceinfo) that the soldier is the subject of complaints from two colleagues whom he depicted by creating images of them undressed with the Ministry of the Armed Forces' AI system ('ce même outil'), and France 3 attributes to the prosecutor that he used the ministry's AI to create images showing his female professional circle naked; the prosecutor also said analysis of his seized devices confirmed his use of that system. The generated images are the harm. The account is the prosecutor's and the product is not named, so the status is reported.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to the Metz deputy prosecutor, the soldier created images of two female colleagues undressed using the Ministry of the Armed Forces' AI system, and both colleagues filed complaints against him.

Causal attribution. franceinfo and France 3 relay the prosecutor; Midi Libre relays Le Parisien, whose own origin is not stated and may be the same prosecutor statement. Treated as one origin; reported.

  • franceinfo.fr(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Le militaire est également visé par les plaintes de deux collègues, qu'il avait mises en scène en créant des images d'elles dénudées avec ce même outil.'
  • france3-regions.franceinfo.fr(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'après que deux de ses homologues féminines ont déposé plainte à son encontre'; 'son entourage professionnel féminin est mis en scène nu, selon Thomas Bernard, le procureur adjoint de Metz.'
  • midilibre.fr(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'elles accusent le militaire d’avoir généré des photos d’elles nues via le même outil d’intelligence artificielle, écrit Le Parisien.'
Reported The prosecutor said the investigation found more than 10,000 requests to the same AI system seeking child sexual abuse imagery and that analysis of devices seized at his home confirmed his use of the ministry's AI system.

Causal attribution. Prosecutor's statement relayed by two outlets; reported.

  • franceinfo.fr(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Il avait réalisé plus de 10 000 requêtes pour forcer la création d'images à caractère pédopornographique", a déclaré le procureur de la République.'
  • france3-regions.franceinfo.fr(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'L'exploitation des supports informatiques récupérés lors de la perquisition menée au domicile du prévenu a permis de confirmer l'utilisation du système d'intelligence artificielle du ministère des Armées.'
Reported Le Républicain Lorrain reported 13,950 image-generation requests between January and June 2026, some of which the system's safeguards did not fulfil, and that the soldier disputes that the images are pornographic.

Causal attribution. Single outlet's court reporting, read only as a subscriber extract; reported and attributed.

  • republicain-lorrain.fr(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Entre janvier et juin 2026'; 'est soupçonné d’avoir formulé 13 950 requêtes de génération d’image à caractère pédopornographique'; 'Le pare-feu du système informatique du ministère de la Défense n’a pas permis la génération de l’intégralité de ces images'; 'Le militaire conteste la dimension « pornographique » des images'
Reported He was taken into custody on 22 July 2026, admitted the facts according to the prosecutor, and on 24 July 2026 was placed under formal investigation and remanded in custody; the judicial investigation includes dissemination of algorithmically generated sexual content reproducing the image of a non-consenting person.

Causal attribution. Procedural facts from the prosecutor as relayed; no court document inspected, so reported.

  • franceinfo.fr(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Interpellé le 22 juillet, il a reconnu les faits'; 'a été mis en examen et placé en détention provisoire, a annoncé à l'AFP le procureur adjoint de Metz'; 'd'un montage ou contenu généré par traitement algorithmique à caractère sexuel reproduisant l'image ou les paroles d'une personne non consentante'
  • france3-regions.franceinfo.fr(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Le 24 juillet 2026, un militaire basé en Moselle a été mis en examen et placé en détention provisoire'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 3 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in French by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-11 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. franceinfo report of the Metz deputy prosecutor's statement to AFP; HTTP 200; JSON-LD articleBody matches the visible text. Applies to s1.

Read in French by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-11 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. France 3 Grand Est feature quoting the Metz deputy prosecutor; HTTP 200. Applies to s2.

Read in French by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-11 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Midi Libre summary crediting Le Républicain Lorrain and Le Parisien; HTTP 200; subscriber page with the summary visible. Applies to s3.

Read in French by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-11 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Le Républicain Lorrain subscriber article; HTTP 200; only the free extract (lede and first paragraphs) was readable. Applies to s4.

Event countries: France. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: France.

The soldier is based in Moselle, the investigation is led by the Metz prosecutor's office and an investigating judge in Metz, and the system is the French Ministry of the Armed Forces' AI, so FR is the event and court country. The colleagues' residence is not stated.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-11: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated) at medium severity: the Metz deputy prosecutor says a soldier used the French armed forces' AI system to generate images of two female colleagues undressed, and both filed complaints; he is under formal investigation and in custody. Every claim rests on the prosecutor's account or one newspaper's court reporting and is marked reported. No one is named.

People described

Two female colleagues of a soldier based in Moselle, who filed complaints after he generated images of them undressed; their names, ranks and ages are not published.

People reported harmed in this case

At least 2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Two people: the two female colleagues who filed complaints ('les plaintes de deux collègues'). Minimum 2 because France 3 attributes to the prosecutor that the images showed the soldier's female professional circle ('son entourage professionnel féminin') without giving a number. The generated child sexual abuse imagery describes no identified real child and is not counted; the minors he is said to have solicited on social networks are not counted because no AI output is connected to them.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#deepfake#sexual-images#workplace#colleagues#criminal-investigation#france

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Metz prosecutor says a soldier used the French armed forces' AI system to make nude images of two female colleagues; he is under formal investigation. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-moselle-soldier-armed-forces-ai-system-nude-images-of-female-colleagues-formal-investigation

BibTeX

@misc{2026_moselle_soldier_armed_forces_ai_system_nude_images_of_female_colleagues_formal_investigation,
  title = {Metz prosecutor says a soldier used the French armed forces' AI system to make nude images of two female colleagues; he is under formal investigation},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-moselle-soldier-armed-forces-ai-system-nude-images-of-female-colleagues-formal-investigation}
}

Related cases

Medium Unidentified image tool

Namakkal, India: man arrested over obscene images of his wife's two sisters that a Tamil daily says he made with AI and threatened to post, Oct 2026

In the Kumarapalayam area of Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu, India, a man was arrested on Saturday 10 October 2026 after his wife's elder and younger sisters and their family complained to the Tiruchengode all-women police station. According to the Tamil daily Daily Thanthi, he had secretly collected ordinary photographs of the two women, turned them into obscene images using AI technology and threatened to share them on social media. Police investigating with cyber-crime officers confirmed that the morphed images were on his devices and seized his laptop and mobile phones. The account rests on one newspaper report; the tool is not named and no statement from the accused is reported.

Medium Unidentified image tool

La Banda, Argentina: mother tells police a former classmate put her daughter's photos onto naked bodies with AI and spread them on WhatsApp, 8 Oct 2026

In La Banda, Santiago del Estero province, Argentina, a woman filed a police complaint on the evening of 8 October 2026 stating that a 15-year-old adolescent, a former classmate of her 15-year-old daughter, had taken photographs of the girl and modified them with artificial-intelligence tools, placing naked bodies on them, and that the images had then been published and spread in WhatsApp groups. Officers of the women's and family community police station and the departmental unit intervened, and the prosecutor ordered the material attached and the file raised to the prosecutor's office for investigation. The account rests on the police report as relayed by the local newspaper Diario Panorama; the tool is not named, and both the girl and the accused are minors.

Medium Unidentified image tool

Henderson, Kentucky: police identified AI-generated nude images of two middle-school children on a device after a report that such images were being created and shown to other students at South Middle School; a juvenile was lodged at the juvenile detention centre on charges of distributing sexually explicit images without consent and possessing and distributing matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor

Henderson Police said that on 'last Thursday' (17 September 2026) they received a report that AI-generated nude images of children were being created and shown to other students at South Middle School in Henderson, Kentucky. During the investigation officers found and identified AI-generated photographs of two minor victims on a digital device. A juvenile accused of sharing the images was lodged at the Juvenile Detention Center on three charge types: distribution of sexually explicit images without consent; two counts of possession or viewing of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor over 12 and under 18; and distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor over 12 and under 18. The school said on Monday 21 September that it was aware of a situation involving a student allegedly misusing artificial intelligence and inappropriate images, that the police investigation was active and that it had remained in communication with the families involved. 14 News (WFIE) reported the case on 21 September; WKYT carried the same report. The tool is not named. The depicted children's exact ages are not reported, though the charge descriptors put them between 12 and 18. The accused is described as a South Middle School student; the accused's age and any relationship to the depicted children beyond attending the same school are not reported.

Medium Unidentified image tool

Jaú, São Paulo: eight 15-year-old ninth-grade boys at a private school are reported to have made fake nude images of a female classmate with artificial intelligence and shared them in a WhatsApp group; the school suspended them and the Civil Police are investigating a 15-year-old for dissemination of child pornography and defamation

In early September 2026 a private school in Jaú, in the interior of São Paulo state, identified the circulation of fake intimate images of a female classmate made with artificial intelligence and contacted the families. According to the police report described by the press, eight ninth-grade boys, all aged 15, kept a WhatsApp group in which they used digital programs to manipulate images of the student so that she appeared unclothed. The school suspended the eight and informed the girl's parents. The father of one of the boys checked his son's phone, found the files and took the boy and the phone to the police to register a report; the girl's parents also registered a police report. The São Paulo Public Security Secretariat said the Civil Police are investigating a 15-year-old for dissemination of child pornography and defamation that occurred on the morning of Thursday 3 September. The school said the content originated on a private platform outside the school environment and that it had adopted protective and welcoming measures for the student and opened an internal inquiry. The AI tool used is not named. The students are minors and are not named in any report.

If you or someone you know is struggling, free and confidential support is available. Find a helpline near you at Signpost.

Back to all incidents