Tokyo police have arrested a man accused of using artificial intelligence to create and sell explicit fake images of female celebrities, in what local media have called Japan’s first criminal case involving AI-generated pornography depicting public figures.
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The 31-year-old suspect, Hiroya Yokoi from the northeastern Japanese city of Akita, admitted he began making the deepfakes to earn pocket money and repay a student loan, authorities said on Thursday.
Between last October and September this year, Yokoi earned 1.2 million yen (US$8,000) from selling around 20,000 sexually explicit images of 262 women – including actresses, television personalities and J-pop idols, Jiji Press reported.
Police said Yokoi learned how to use free generative AI software from online articles and videos, then created the fake photos by feeding images of celebrities into the programme.
He uploaded the photos onto his social media account and charged users a monthly fee, according to NHK. Those who paid for a premium plan could even request him to generate images of specific celebrities and poses.
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From India to China, how deepfakes are reshaping Asia politics
From India to China, how deepfakes are reshaping Asia politics
Yokoi was arrested on suspicion of displaying fake sexual images of three actresses online on three occasions between January 7 and June 2 in violation of a law on distributing obscene digital images. The charge carries a statutory penalty of up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 2.5 million yen.
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