White House Pressures Tech Industry Over Sexually Abusive AI Deepfakes

The White House is pressuring the technology industry over sexually explicit artificial intelligence (AI) images.

President Biden’s White House is making a plea Thursday to try to get technology companies to voluntarily cooperate on the issue of sexually explicit AI deepfakes, according to the Associated Press. Authorities want the private sector to check the creation, proliferation and monetization of sexually explicit and non-consensual AI deepfakes.

“When generative AI arrived on the scene, everyone speculated about where the first real damage would come from. And I think we have the answer,” said Arati Prabhakar, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, according to the AP.

The AP obtained a document ahead of its release Thursday that implores action on behalf of AI developers, payment processors, search engines and those who control app stores, according to the outlet.

The administration said the private sector should work harder to stop “the monetization” of image-based sexual abuse and stop paywalls for websites that advertise explicit images of minors, according to the AP.

Prabhakar told AP that there is a “phenomenal acceleration” of non-consensual images emerging from AI that are primarily targeting women and girls through a medium that can drastically change their lives.

“If you’re a teenager, if you’re a gay kid, these are the issues that people are facing right now,” Prabhakar said. “We have seen an acceleration because of generative AI that is moving very fast. And the quickest thing that can happen is for companies to step up and take responsibility.”

Biden said in a Tuesday post on social platform X that AI companies “must earn our trust” before changing people’s lives.

“Artificial intelligence and the companies that exercise its possibilities will transform the lives of people around the world – there is no doubt about that,” Biden said in the post. “But first, they must earn our trust.”

“I commit to doing everything in my power to promote and demand safe, reliable and responsible innovation – which includes the use of AI-generated audio,” the president continued. “I urge AI companies to join me in this commitment.”

The Hill reached out to the White House.

The Associated Press contributed.

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