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 Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested on Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew millions of views online, according to criminal complaints.The men – who do not appear to be connected – are among the earliest defendants to face charges under the Take It Down Act, a law signed last year by US President Donald Trump that adds stricter penalties for publishing AI-created deepfakes and “revenge porn”. The bill drew bipartisan support, as well as the public backing of first lady Melania Trump.
SRCSouth China Morning Post
LANGEN
LEANCenter-Right
WORDS120
ENT8
THU · 2026-05-21 · 20:08 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0521-78256
NSR-2026-0521-78256News Report·EN·Legal & Judicial
2 men charged with creating AI-generated porn under new US law targeting ‘deepfakes’
Two men, Cornelius Shannon and Arturo Hernandez, have been charged by federal prosecutors for allegedly creating AI-generated nude videos and photos of female celebrities. The arrests occurred on Tuesday, and the content reportedly garnered millions of online views.
Associated PressSouth China Morning PostFiled 2026-05-21 · 20:08 GMTLean · Center-RightRead · 1 min
South China Morning PostFIG 01
Reading time
1min
Word count
120words
Sources cited
1cited
Entities identified
8entities
Quality score
100%
§ 01
Briefing Summary
AI-generatedNEWSAR · AI
Two men, Cornelius Shannon and Arturo Hernandez, have been charged by federal prosecutors for allegedly creating AI-generated nude videos and photos of female celebrities. The arrests occurred on Tuesday, and the content reportedly garnered millions of online views. These charges are among the first under the recently enacted Take It Down Act, a law signed last year that imposes stricter penalties for the distribution of deepfake pornography and "revenge porn." The law, which received bipartisan support, aims to curb the spread of such AI-created explicit material.
Confidence 0.85Sources 1Claims 4Entities 8
§ 02
Article analysis
Model · rule-basedFraming
Legal & Judicial
Technology
Tone
Measured
AI-assessed
CalmNeutralAlarmist
Factuality
0.90 / 1.00
Factual
LowHigh
Sources cited
1
Limited
FewMany
§ 03
Key claims
4 extracted01
The Take It Down Act adds stricter penalties for publishing AI-created deepfakes and ‘revenge porn’.
factualArticle
Confidence
1.00
02
Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were arrested on Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content.
factualCriminal complaints
Confidence
1.00
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The charges are under the newly enacted Take It Down Act, which targets deepfake pornography.
factualArticle
Confidence
1.00
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Two men have been charged with using AI to create nude videos and photos of female celebrities.
factualFederal prosecutors
Confidence
1.00
§ 04
Full report
1 min read · 120 words§ 05
Entities
8 identifiedKey playerOppositionContextPositiveNeutralNegative
People4
Locations1
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Keywords & salience
8 termsdeepfakes
1.00
ai-generated porn
1.00
take it down act
0.90
artificial intelligence
0.80
new us law
0.70
sexually explicit content
0.60
revenge porn
0.50
federal prosecutors
0.40
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Topic connections
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