- with readers working within the Insurance industries
The prevalence of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools has exponentially grown over the past couple of years. Today, 34 million AI-generated images are created daily online.1 In the social media space, 71% of images are now created by AI technology.2
As AI tools continue to advance, a troubling phenomenon is rapidly emerging: deepfakes. Deepfakes are videos, audio clips, or images generated by artificial intelligence "that convincingly [mimic] a specific individual's likeness or voice."3 These digital forgeries are often so realistic that they can easily deceive viewers.
For example, in early 2024, the London-based architecture firm Arup was targeted by a deepfake video call in which the voice of the company's chief financial officer was convincingly replicated, resulting in the unauthorized approval of a $25.6 million transaction.4
Another incident occurred after Russia invaded Ukraine, when a deepfake video of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy circulated online, falsely urging Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender.5
These cases highlight the profound commercial and political risks posed by deepfakes.
FEDERAL AND STATE LEGISLATION
Until recently, there was no federal legislation to specifically address deepfakes. However, in May 2025, President Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law.6 The law addresses the online publication of nonconsensual intimate images of adults and minors and describes "digital forgery" as an intimate visual of an individual "created through the use of software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any other computer-generated or technological means."7
The Take It Down Act changes the landscape of AI-generated and deepfake content in three significant ways.
First, the bill criminalizes publication of sexually explicit non-consensual or deepfake content.8 An individual who knowingly publishes digital forgery of an adult may be fined under Title 18 of the U.S. Code and imprisoned for up to two years.9 If the digital forgery depicts a minor, the individual can be fined under the same code and imprisoned for up to three years.10
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Originally published in the The Computer & Internet Lawyer - Volume 43 - Number 1 - January 2026
