A 17-year-old boy from Spain is being investigated by police on suspicion of using AI to create fake nude videos of his female schoolmates that he intended to sell online.
Spanish police announced on Sunday that they are investigating the teenage boy after 16 female students at a school in Valencia, southeastern Spain, reported that AI-generated nude videos of them were being shared online and on social media.
According to The Guardian, the investigation began in December last year when a female student reported a social media account created in her name that contained an AI-generated video. She later reported another account in her name, as well as other accounts featuring AI-generated nude videos and a website advertising the images for commercial purposes.
After 15 more minors came forward with similar complaints, Guardia Civil officers in Valencia suspected that the person responsible for the fake images and videos was a fellow student.
“Photos of various people, all of them minors, appeared on this account. All these photos had been modified from the originals, which had been manipulated so that the people in them appeared completely naked,” the Guardia Civil says in a statement, according to The Guardian.
Officers tracked the suspect by reviewing social media activity, contacting hosting companies, and examining a website offering AI image modification services. The Guardia Civil confirmed that a 17-year-old boy is under investigation for allegedly corrupting minors, and that a youth court in Valencia is handling the case.
With the rapid rise of AI technology over the past two years, there have been multiple cases of high school students using widely available AI apps to create deepfake nude images of their female classmates. So-called “nudify” apps have surged in popularity, requiring only a single photo to generate a highly realistic nude image. These tools take a picture of a clothed person and digitally recreate what they might look like without clothes.
In March 2024, two teenage boys in Miami, Florida, were arrested for allegedly producing deepfake nude images of their classmates — believed to be the first U.S. case involving criminal charges for AI-generated sexual content.
However, this recent case in Eastern Spain suggests this problem is escalating, with teens now using AI not only to create fake images but potentially also explicit deepfake videos. It comes after the Children’s Commissioner in the U.K. — a regulator responsible for safeguarding children’s rights — called for an immediate ban on AI apps that facilitate “deepfake sexual abuse of children.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
