Attorney General Bonta to Companies: Commit to Action Limiting Nonconsensual Deepfake Pornography

Letters seek to open line of communication with companies, understand how they are protecting the public

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined 47 attorneys general in sending letters to search platform and payment platform operators that indirectly facilitate the creation and distribution of nonconsensual deepfake pornography. Deepfakes are videos, pictures, or audio clips made with artificial intelligence (AI) to look real. The letters seek to open lines of communication with these companies, understand what actions they are taking to limit the creation and sharing of this content, and urge the companies to commit to take further action to limit the spread of this harmful content.

“Tools that allow people to generate intimate images and videos of real people without their consent can cause significant harm to the public — particularly to women and girls. These images have been used to bully, harass, and exploit people all over the world,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Today, I joined a coalition of attorneys general in sending letters to companies that are indirectly part of the ecosystem that enables the distribution of this material, asking them to be part of the solution in preventing the dissemination of deepfakes. As technology rapidly evolves, I am committed to engaging in conversations with industries to ensure we’re all working together to guide AI to the positive potential that will benefit us — not hurt us.”

Nonconsensual deepfake pornography is a growing problem that poses significant harms to the public. It has been used to embarrass, intimidate, and exploit people around the world. As this technology becomes more powerful and creates more potential for harm, businesses that help people search for, create, and distribute this content need to be aware of their role in propagating this content and work to prevent its spread. For example, internet search providers may take steps to filter their search results to avoid sharing links to tools promoting the creation and distribution of deepfake pornography, and payment providers may take steps to ensure they do not facilitate payments to parties selling access to deepfake pornography creation tools. In the letters today, the attorneys general respectfully request more information from companies about their efforts to restrict or block nonconsensual deepfake pornography content and ask for the companies’ commitment to take further action to avoid being complicit in the creation and spread of this material. 

Attorney General Bonta is committed to protecting Californians by responding to emerging and rapidly evolving technology. 

This week, Attorney General Bonta sent a letter to 12 of the top AI companies, after reports of sexually inappropriate interactions between AI chatbots and children, making it clear that companies who make choices that lead their technology to harm children will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Bonta issued two legal advisories, reminding consumers of their rights, and advising businesses and healthcare entities who develop, sell, or use AI about their obligations under California law. Although AI technology is developing rapidly, entities must comply with existing California laws. The legal advisories can be found here, and here. In the last few months, Attorney General Bonta sent multiple letters (here and here) to Congressional leaders strongly opposing a 10-year ban on states from enforcing any state law or regulation addressing AI and automated decision-making systems, arguing the rapidly evolving nature of AI technology demands the flexibility and responsiveness that states can provide and urging lawmakers to remove the provision. The ban was rejected in July. 

In 2024, Attorney General Bonta sent a comment letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) related to the potential impact of emerging AI technology on efforts to protect consumers from illegal robocalls or robotexts. In 2023, Attorney General Bonta joined a bipartisan coalition of 54 states and territories in sending a letter to Congressional leaders calling for the creation of an expert commission to study how AI can and is being used to exploit children through child sexual abuse material (CSAM). 

In sending today's letters, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Vermont, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Utah, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Copies of the letters can be found here and here.