Description: In one of the first prosecutions under the TAKE IT DOWN Act, DOJ alleged that New Jersey defendant Cornelius Shannon published at least 360 albums of AI-generated deepfake pornography depicting about 90 women, including public figures, beginning during a charged period anchored to May 2025. Prosecutors said the content appeared on an adult image- and video-sharing platform and was viewed millions of times.
Editor Notes: See also Incident 1501. DOJ announced the Arturo Hernandez and Cornelius Shannon prosecutions together because the complaints were unsealed on the same day under the TAKE IT DOWN Act. Reporting suggests that the two men did not appear to be connected, and the complaints describe distinct alleged conduct, so the cases are treated as separate incident IDs. Timeline notes: (1) Reporting suggests an anchor date of 05/19/2025 for this incident ID. Between 05/2025 and 05/2026, prosecutors allege that Shannon published at least 360 albums depicting approximately 90 women. (2) 05/20/2026, the criminal complaint was unsealed and that Shannon was arrested in New Jersey. (3) The incident ID was created 05/22/2026.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Deepfake technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Deepfake creators and Cornelius Shannon, which harmed Women , Victims of deepfake abuse , Impersonated public figures , Epistemic integrity and celebrities.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Media-sharing platforms and Deepfake technology
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1500
Report Count
2
Incident Date
2025-05-19
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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John Marzulli, Denise Taylor, United States Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of New York post-incident response
Victims Included Celebrities, Elected Officials, and Acquaintances of the Defendants
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, two criminal complaints were unsealed charging Cornelius Shannon and Arturo Hernandez with violations…
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NEW YORK (AP) --- Federal prosecutors have charged two men with using artificial intelligence to create nude videos and photos of female celebrities under a newly enacted law meant to halt the spread of deepfake pornography.
Cornelius Shann…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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