Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified image and video tool
On 14 September 2026 the Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced that it had seized, under a court order, 12 domain names of websites it says were used to disseminate, publish and sell non-consensual 'deepfake' videos, and said its investigations were ongoing. The office alleges that people under investigation used AI image and video creation tools to turn existing photos and videos of approximately 1,200 real people, overwhelmingly women and mostly public-facing figures, into sexual images and videos that were then sold. The 1,200 figure is the office's estimate and is not a documented count. WIRED reported that it had observed seizure notices on several of the sites in the days before the announcement and quoted researchers who described the videos as pornographic films manipulated to show the targets' faces, many apparently reposted from the defunct MrDeepFakes site. When the depictions were made and published is not established; one site claimed to have been online since 2018.
Core concern High reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 17/09/2026
Event date unknownBrazilUnidentified video tool
São Paulo police are investigating a social-media creator over sexualised videos he made from photographs of young women and girls in a church congregation, which he said he animated with AI. Two teenage girls filed police reports, and one described embarrassment and fear about the exposure. The creator, through his lawyer, says the posts were humour and denies criminal intent; no charge has been reported.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 5 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 14/06/2026
Dec 2024SpainUnidentified image and video tool
In December 2024 a female student in the Ribera Alta area of Valencia province reported to the Guardia Civil that a social-media account had been created in her name featuring an AI-generated video, and later a second account in her name, other accounts showing AI-generated nude videos, and a webpage advertising the images for commercial purposes; the Guardia Civil said the photos, all of minors, had been manipulated so that the people in them appeared completely naked. After 15 other minors came forward with similar complaints, officers traced IP addresses and account emails to the home of a 17-year-old schoolmate, who is being investigated on suspicion of corrupting minors under a Valencia youth court. The Guardia Civil announced the investigation on 27 July 2025.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 1 source · Added 09/03/2026
27 Feb 2025 to 28 Feb 2025United StatesUnidentified image tool
Elijah Heacock, a 16-year-old Caverna High School student in Barren County, Kentucky, died by suicide on 28 February 2025. Investigators searching his phone found AI-generated images of him, some sexually explicit, that an anonymous extortionist had sent with a demand for $3,000 and a threat to share them with his family and friends; his parents say he sent a small partial payment and was told it was 'not enough'. The Barren County Sheriff's Office escalated the case to the FBI, which was still investigating in the inspected reports; no arrest has been reported. His parents have campaigned publicly, Kentucky made sextortion a felony in March 2025, and the family supported the federal Take It Down Act.
Core concern Critical reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources · Added 09/03/2026
Feb 2025Hong Kong SAR ChinaUnidentified image tool
In February 2025 a University of Hong Kong (HKU) law student was found, by friends who saw the files on his laptop, to have used free online AI software to make about 700 indecent and deepfake images of some 20 to 30 women, including university and former schoolmates and secondary-school teachers, using photos taken from their social media. Victims went public in July 2025, and HKU's initial response, a warning letter and a demand that he apologise, drew wide criticism. Hong Kong's Privacy Commissioner opened a criminal investigation on 15 July 2025 but announced on 17 December 2025 that it was ending the probe for insufficient evidence, as no victim was willing to provide further information. Hong Kong law criminalised distribution, not creation, of such images.
Core concern High reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 5 sources · Added 29/01/2026
Aug 2024Event location unknownChatGPT
Arve Hjalmar Holmen asked ChatGPT "Who is Arve Hjalmar Holmen?" in August 2024, according to the BBC. The digital-rights group noyb's complaint on his behalf quotes the reply: it said he had been convicted of murdering two of his sons and of attempting to murder a third, and sentenced to 21 years in prison. The complaint says none of this happened and that he has never been accused or convicted of any crime, while the reply did contain real details such as his home town and the number and gender of his children. The complaint says he was deeply troubled by the output, and he said the thought that someone could read it and believe it scared him most. noyb filed the complaint with Norway's data protection authority, Datatilsynet, on 20 March 2025, asking it to order OpenAI to delete the output and correct its model and to impose a fine. OpenAI said the case related to an earlier version of ChatGPT since enhanced with online search. noyb also told the BBC he had made several searches that day and that they could have influenced the answer; the full conversation was not published. No decision on the complaint had been reported by 1 November 2026.
Core + contextual relations Medium reported severity Regulatory Action
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 6 sources, 4 underlying accounts · Added 13/01/2026