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Agence France-Presse

Kyodo

Japanese police have arrested a man suspected of using generative AI to create more than 500,000 obscene images resembling women celebrities and selling them online, a police spokesman and media reports said on Tuesday.
Concern is growing worldwide over the use of artificial intelligence tools for malicious purposes including through deepfakes, which turn genuine photos, videos or audio of people into false likenesses.
Between December 2024 and May 2025, Japanese man Tetsuro Chiba allegedly “allowed internet viewers to see 14 obscene electromagnetic image files online at set prices”, a police spokesman said.
Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources, said the suspect is believed to have created more than 520,000 sexual deepfake images of some 300 celebrities, earning around 11 million yen (US$70,000) by promoting the content on social media.
Chiba reportedly accepted even higher fees from those requesting images of specific celebrities.
Jiji Press, reporting similar details, said he had told investigators he “did it for earning money”.
The suspect used free generative AI software to create images by learning the method from online articles, police said.

Several countries have recently moved to ban or take legal action against Elon Musk’s X and xAI over user safety concerns sparked by their inbuilt chatbot Grok, which allowed users to create and share sexualised pictures.
Grok has said it would restrict image generation and editing to paying subscribers, and X announced it would block the feature in some countries.
The Philippines last week became the third country to ban Grok, following Southeast Asian neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia.


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Japan

Japan arrests man for selling AI-generated celebrity porn

AI misuse sparks concern as a Japanese man is arrested for selling obscene deepfake images of celebrities  Photo: Getty Images

A billboard urging the UK prime minister to ban X and Grok over AI misuse drives through London on January 14. Photo: Reuters

Japan’s Princess Kako falls victim to Grok AI’s ‘put her in a bikini’ deepfakes craze

Princess Kako (left) and her brother Prince Hisahito attend the traditional New Year’s greeting ceremony by Japan’s royal family at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on January 2. Photo: AFP

Social media users have been asking Grok to sexualise this image of Princess Kako. Photo: X/tkzwgrs

A view of the AI app Grok on the app store on an iPhone. Indonesia and Malaysia have become the first countries in the world to ban Grok. Photo: dpa

Malaysia says X must prove Grok is safe before ban is lifted: ‘abuse is not freedom’

Screens display the logo of Grok and its founder Elon Musk. Photo: AFP

A billboard organised by corporate accountability group Eko urging UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ban X and Grok passes through Westminster on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters 

Malaysia’s communications minister Fahmi Fadzil answers questions at a press conference on March 22, 2024. Photo: AFP

Malaysia suspends Grok access amid global backlash on Musk’s AI

Workers install lighting on an ‘X’ sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco in 2023. Photo: AP

UK regulator launches probe into Musk’s X over Grok’s ‘disgusting’ sexualised AI imagery

Britain’s media regulator is investigating X over whether Grok AI’s sexually explicit deepfakes breach UK content protection rules. Photo: AFP

Julie Yukari, 31, poses with her cat, Nori, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on December 31, 2025. Photo: Rafael Maciel Bittencourt de Oliveira//Reuters

Musk’s xAI sued over Grok deepfakes – this time, by mother of his child

X owner Elon Musk and Ashley St Clair. Photo: X/stclairashley

Ashley St. Clair delivers a speech during a European Parliament leaders of Identity and Democracy group convention on December 3, 2023. Photo: AFP

A poster exhorting users of Elon Musk’s X to delete their accounts due to Grok’s image-creation feature is seen at a bus stop in London on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

News

Asia

East Asia

A 31-year-old in Japan arrested for using generative AI to create and sell 520,000 explicit images of celebrities for US$70,000 in profit


A 31-year-old in Japan arrested for using generative AI to create and sell 520,000 explicit images of celebrities for US$70,000 in profit.


Japan arrests man for selling AI-generated celebrity porn

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A 31-year-old in Japan arrested for using generative AI to create and sell 520,000 explicit images of celebrities for US$70,000 in profit

A 31-year-old in Japan arrested for using generative AI to create and sell 520,000 explicit images of celebrities for US$70,000 in profit