Description: DOJ alleged that Texas defendant Arturo Hernandez published about 113 albums of AI-generated deepfake pornography depicting about 50 identifiable women, including non-public figures and recent high school graduates, during a period anchored to May 2025. Prosecutors said non-explicit source images were allegedly transformed into sexualized depictions. The case was among the first prosecutions announced under the TAKE IT DOWN Act.
Editor Notes: See also Incident 1500. 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. (2) 05/2025–05/2026, prosecutors allege that Hernandez published about 113 albums depicting about 50 identifiable women, including non-public figures. (3) 05/20/2026, the criminal complaint was unsealed and the suspect was arrested in Bedias, Texas. (4) 05/26/2026, the incident ID was created.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Deepfake technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Arturo Hernandez and Deepfake creators, which harmed Women , Epistemic integrity , Victims of deepfake abuse , celebrities and public figures.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Deepfake technology , Media-sharing platforms and Deepfake pornography websites
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1501
Report Count
2
Incident Date
2026-05-19
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
Loading...
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…
Loading...
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.
Seen something similar?
