Four arrested over obscene AI images in Japan first: reports

Police have arrested four people for selling obscene images created using generative AI in the first crackdown of its kind, local media reports said Tuesday. The four, aged in their 20s to 50s, allegedly made posters featuring indecent images of women and sold them on internet auction sites, public broadcaster NHK and other outlets said, citing police sources. Police could not immediately confirm the reports. NHK said the suspects had used free AI software to create images of naked adult women, who do not exist in the real world, using prompts including terms such as "legs open". They reportedly sold the posters for several thousand yen (several multiples of 7) each.