Taylor Swift's AI deepfakes 'have been circulating' on the dark web for weeks, expert warns

DISTURBING artificial intelligence deepfake images of Taylor Swift had been circulating on the dark web for weeks before appearing on Twitter.

That's according to AI and disinformation expert Wasim Khaled, who told The US Sun that analysts he worked with knew the images had existed for some time.

Khaled is the CEO and co-founder of Merel.AIan AI-driven risk and narrative intelligence platform that fights against disinformation.

“We work with a number of analysts. These particular deepfakes circulated on fringe forums for weeks before going viral,” Khaled told The US Sun.

“So these have been passed around for a while through chat apps and forums.”

Swift is currently waging war against social media bosses after truly grim AI-created footage of her in intimate positions was shared on social media.

The AI-generated images were mainly Kansas City Chiefs themed because Swift's friend Travis Kelce played for that team.

One of the deepfake photos was viewed 47 million times on X, formerly Twitter, before it was taken down.

It got so bad that the ability to search for Swift's name on X was briefly removed.

Khaled says Swift will struggle to completely remove the AI ​​footage from the internet and theorizes what her team will do to stop its spread.

“Right now the way she's going about it, and I believe her legal team is going about it, is going after the company that many have identified as creating it.

“But there is a certain futility in that, even though it is important to set an example,” Khaled told The US Sun.

“The problem then becomes: you can take the source out, you can make examples of it. There will be more to come.”

Khaled described it as an attempt to cut off the head of a Hydra, the mythical monster with seven heads.

The AI ​​expert likened the takedown battle to the issue of closing counterfeit goods factories.

“The removal just draws more attention to the fact that there was a product worth making,” he explained.

When asked if the images could ever be completely removed, Khaled warned: “The internet is forever.”

It's not just Swift who is the target of sick deepfake images.

Khaled thinks Swift's enormous status and the fact that the images ended up on Twitter have drawn attention to a much deeper problem.

“There are also entire sites dedicated to these types of deep fake images of celebrities, which have been circulating and talked about for a long time, but no one has really done anything about it.

“Again, it's Taylor Swift, so now you have the White House talking about legislation, and as good as that is for bringing attention to the subject for the average person, it really should have happened a long time ago because it's so is an invasion of an individual's integrity,” he said.