American podcast host Bobbi Althoff, aged 26, has become the latest victim of a troubling new trend involving non-consensual deepfakes.
In response to the situation, the renowned podcaster took to her Instagram story on Wednesday to clarify, “Hate to disappoint you all, but the reason I’m trending is 100% not me & is definitely AI generated.”
This disturbing trend gained attention recently when manipulated explicit images of Taylor Swift surfaced on the social media platform X, sparking outrage among fans and politicians. Now, Althoff finds herself ensnared in this distressing phenomenon.
Althoff, a mother of two young children, initially gained fame on TikTok for her dry wit and ironic parenting tips. While she has been active on TikTok since 2021, her focus shifted towards promoting her podcast, “The Really Good Podcast.”
With a staggering following of over 7 million on TikTok and 3 million on Instagram, Althoff is rapidly ascending as a prominent figure in the podcasting realm. Her podcast has attracted notable guests such as rapper Wiz Khalifa, Bobby Flay, and Jessica Alba.
Upon discovering her name trending on X, Althoff investigated the posts, assuming they were related to her podcast. However, she was taken aback when she realized the nature of the content being circulated.
In a video shared on her Instagram story, Althoff expressed, “I felt like it was a mistake or something, that it was bots or something. I didn’t realize that it was people actually believing that that was me until my whole team called me and were like, ‘Is this real?’”
The unsettling video portraying Althoff garnered over 6.5 million views, as observed by deepfake researcher Genevieve Oh. The spread of this content was fueled by a deluge of tweets, with users enticing engagement in exchange for access to the explicit video.
While the fabricated images of Taylor Swift were evidently fake to viewers, the AI-generated video featuring Althoff was alarmingly realistic and highly explicit in nature.
Due to its lifelike appearance, the fake video was presented as a “leak,” prompting online users to share and amplify the footage in exchange for retweets and comments.
Despite Althoff’s name trending online, examples of the video remained on X even 12 hours later. X faced criticism for its delayed response in removing the fake Swift images promptly, allowing them to proliferate on the platform.
X later issued a statement affirming a “zero-tolerance policy towards such content” and pledged to take swift action against the accounts responsible for disseminating the material.
The prevalence of non-consensual deepfakes has garnered significant attention, with this technology increasingly targeting women and girls. What was once a domain requiring technical expertise to create AI-generated content has now become accessible through simple apps or tools.
Experts highlight the emergence of a thriving commercial industry centered around producing and distributing digitally manipulated content depicting sexual exploitation. Websites catering to this illicit content have amassed substantial memberships, perpetuating violations of consent.
Filmmaker Sophie Compton, producer of “Another Body,” a documentary shedding light on this issue, emphasized the escalating audacity of creators in sharing such content without facing repercussions, leading to the silencing and stigmatization of women.
Dr. Mary Anne Franks, a legal scholar and advocate against online abuse, underscored the enduring harm caused by the dissemination of such content, stressing the psychological, emotional, and economic toll on victims.
As the trend persists, there is a growing need for legislative measures at both state and federal levels to safeguard victims and deter malicious actors from perpetuating non-consensual deepfakes.
ABC News has sought a response from Althoff regarding this distressing ordeal.
