Three women in Arizona have filed a lawsuit against three Phoenix men, alleging the defendants used their Instagram photos to train AI models for the creation of pornographic 'influencers.'
The lawsuit, filed in January, names defendants Jackson Webb, Lucas Webb, and Beau Sc as the parties responsible for the unauthorized use of the plaintiffs' images, according to Ars Technica.
One plaintiff, identified in the complaint as MG to protect her identity, described discovering the deepfake content via a direct message from a follower. The message alerted her to Reels featuring her face superimposed onto sexually explicit bodies.
"If you didn’t know me well, you could very well think they were images of me," MG said, describing the experience as a "reality check" regarding her lack of control over her own image.
According to the complaint, the men used the software CreatorCore to generate these personas. The technology was reportedly used to promote a platform called AI ModelForge, which provides tutorials for men to create their own AI-generated influencers.
A playbook for targeting victims
The lawsuit alleges the defendants didn't just create the images, but provided a systematic guide for others to do the same. The plaintiffs claim the program included instructions on how to select targets who would be unlikely to defend themselves.
"They provided a whole playbook, including instructions on how to pick the right person so that it’s not someone who can defend themselves," MG claimed in the filing, adding that the process was "disgusting on every single level."
The defendants allegedly taught subscribers how to scrape photos from Instagram and TikTok to train the AI models. The resulting content, featuring the likenesses of unsuspecting women, was then circulated across social media platforms to build the fake influencers' followings.
