Latest news with #viral
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Babydoll Archi: Indian woman's identity stolen for erotic AI content in deepfake deception
It took just a few days for Indian Instagram sensation Babydoll Archi to double her following to 1.4 million, thanks to a couple of viral social media was a video that showed her in a red sari, dancing seductively to Dame Un Grr – a Romanian song. And a photo posted on the platform showed her posing with American adult film star Kendra everyone wanted to know about her - and the name Babydoll Archi trended in Google search and spawned countless memes and fan pages. But there was one issue about to emerge – there was no real woman behind the online Instagram account was fake, although the face it used had uncanny likeness to a real woman - a homemaker in Dibrugarh city in Assam, whom we'll call truth unravelled after her brother lodged a police complaint. Pratim Bora, Sanchi's ex-boyfriend, was police officer Sizal Agarwal who's heading the investigation told the BBC that Sanchi and Bora had a falling out and the AI likeness he created was to exact "pure revenge" on - a mechanical engineer and a self-taught artificial intelligence (AI) enthusiast - used private photos of Sanchi to create a fake profile, Ms Agarwal is in custody and has not made any statements yet. The BBC has reached out to his family and will update the article when they Archi was created in 2020 and the first uploads were made in May 2021. The initial photos were her real pictures that had been morphed, Ms Agarwal said."As time passed, Bora used tools such as ChatGPT and Dzine to create an AI version. He then populated the handle with deepfake photos and videos."The account started picking up likes from last year but it started gaining traction from April this year, she short two-paragraph complaint to the police submitted by Sanchi's family on the night of 11 July came with printouts of some photos and videos as Agarwal says it did not name anyone because they had no idea who could be behind it. Babydoll Archi was not an unfamiliar name for the police. Ms Agarwal says they had also seen media reports and comments speculating that she was AI generated, but there had been no suggestion that it was based on a real they received the complaint, police wrote to Instagram asking for the details of the account's creator."Once we received information from Instagram, we asked Sanchi if she knew any Pratim Bora. Once she confirmed, we traced his address in the neighbouring district of Tinsukia. We arrested him on the evening of 12 July."Ms Agarwal says the police have "seized his laptop, mobile phones and hard drives and his bank documents since he had monetised the account"."The account had 3,000 subscriptions on linktree and we believe he had earned 1m rupees from it. We believe he made 300,000 rupees in just five days before his arrest," she added. Ms Agarwal says Sanchi is "extremely distraught - but now she and her family are receiving counselling and they are doing better".There really is no way to prevent something like this from happening, "but had we acted earlier, we could have prevented it from gaining so much traction", Ms Agarwal said."But Sanchi had no idea because she has no social media presence. Her family too had been blocked out from this account. They became aware only once it went viral," she has not responded to the BBC queries on the case, but it generally does not allow posting of nudity or sexual content. And last month, CBS reported that it removed a number of ads promoting AI tools used to create sexually explicit deepfakes using images of real people. The Instagram account of Babydoll Archi, which had 282 posts, is no longer available to public - although social media is replete with her photos and videos and one Instagram account seems to have all of them. The BBC has asked Meta what they are planning to do about Bal, AI expert and lawyer, says what happened to Sanchi "is horrible but almost impossible to prevent".She can go to the court and seek the right to be forgotten, and a court can order the press reports that named her to be taken down but it's hard to scrub all the trace from the happened to Sanchi, she says, is what's always been happening to women, where their photos and videos are circulated as revenge."It's now a lot easier to do because of AI, but such incidents are still not as common as we expect - or they could be under-reported because of stigma or people being targeted may not even know about it as in the present case," Ms Bal says. And people watching it had no incentive to report it to the social media platform or cybercrime portal, she their complaint against Mr Bora, police have invoked sections of law that deal with sexual harassment, distribution of obscene material, defamation, forgery to harm reputation, cheating by personification and cybercrime. If found guilty, Mr Bora could get up to 10 years in case which has also led to outrage on social media in recent days has seen some seeking tougher laws to deal with such Bal believes there are enough laws to take care of such cases, but whether there's scope for new laws to deal with generative AI companies has to be looked at."But we also have to remember that deepfakes are not necessarily bad and laws have to be carefully crafted because they can be weaponised to chill free speech."Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook
CNN
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
‘Caught in 4K' Edition
This week's viral jumbotron moment got us thinking: where's the last place you'd want to get caught on camera? The NewsNight panel shares their nightmare scenarios - from Coney Island hot dog contests to sipping seltzers at "Gen Z" bars.
The Independent
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Astronomer's new CEO says company is now a ‘household name'
Astronomer 's former CEO, Andy Byron, resigned after being filmed on a Coldplay kiss cam with the company's chief people officer, Kristin Cabot. The incident at the concert quickly went viral on social media, bringing unexpected and widespread media attention to the data and AI company. Pete DeJoy has been appointed as the new CEO, acknowledging the 'unusual and surreal' spotlight but also noting that Astronomer is now a 'household name'. Astronomer released a statement indicating that Byron's conduct did not meet the company's expected standards for its leaders. Cabot is reportedly on leave, while Byron's wife is said to be laying low amidst the fallout from the scandal.
Fox News
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Morgan Wallen jokes about viral CEO affair controversy during recent performance
Morgan Wallen is getting in on the fun, poking fun at the viral moment from a recent Coldplay concert in which the alleged affair between a CEO and his head of human resources was revealed. During his concert on Friday night at the State Farm Arena in Glendale, Ariz., Wallen seemingly referenced the viral video when addressing the crowd ahead of his performance of his song, "I'm A Little Crazy." "Anybody in here with their side chick or whatever, I think you're safe here," he can be heard saying in a video posted to TikTok taken by a concertgoer. "I don't condone cheating, anymore." His comments come after a video of CEO of tech firm Astronomer, Andy Byron, appearing on the "Kiss Cam" at a Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., with his arms allegedly wrapped around the company's HR chief, Kristin Cabot, went viral on social media. When the two appeared on the big screen during "The Jumbotron Song" where Coldplay frontman Chris Martin improvises songs about couples in the audience, the woman immediately covered her face and turned away from the camera, while the man ducked down and exited the frame, prompting Martin to joke "Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy." "Anybody in here with their side chick or whatever, I think you're safe here. I don't condone cheating, anymore." The company put out a statement after the incident Friday, writing on social media, "Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability," the company shared. "The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter, and we will have additional details to share very shortly." In another update on Friday, the company announced Byron had been placed on leave and an interim CEO had been appointed. The company later informed followers on Saturday that Byron resigned from the company. "Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted," the X post read in part. "The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO." Fox News confirmed Cabot and her ex-husband finalized their divorce in 2022, and New Hampshire property records show Kristin and Andrew Cabot purchased a home as a married couple in April 2024. No divorce records were found for Bryon, who appears to still be married. When speaking with The U.S. Sun, Grace Springer, the TikTok user who posted the video of the viral "Kiss Cam" moment, said the moment was a "hot topic" among those at the concert, but that "no one knew who they were" until she posted the video. "I had no idea who the couple was," she said. "Just thought I caught an interesting reaction to the kiss cam and decided to post it. A part of me feels bad for turning these people's lives upside down, but, play stupid games … win stupid prizes." Springer also added that she hopes "their partners can heal from this" and that "for them, my video was a blessing in disguise."
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Purge-style teen prank sweeping America that tricks victims into thinking their home is being invaded
A terrifying viral social media prank carried out by teenagers who trick victims into thinking their home is being broken into has swept the nation. A recent video of the purge-style incident, similar to the old-fashioned prank of ding-dong-ditch, showed a group of five Florida teens making their way toward a home in Riverview - about 20 minutes from Tampa - on Friday around 10.40pm. Shocking Ring doorbell footage captured the moment one of the unidentified teens walked toward the house with a ski mask covering their face and an airsoft gun in hand before the juvenile kicked the front door and fired a plastic pellet before running away, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said. In the clip, the teen was seen pointing the gun at the front door and firing it as several shots rang out. He then darted out onto the street with the rest of the group, laughing as they ran. Chronister, who called the new trend the 'door kick challenge,' said the prank is making waves across TikTok and needs to stop immediately. 'Parents, please talk with your children about this dangerous trend, which could end in tragedy,' he wrote on X alongside the clip. The sheriff has asked anyone with information on the suspects in the video to call the department. This is just the latest incident, as two teenagers were slapped with felony burglary charges after they kicked another stranger's front door in the Sunshine State. Jeffery Merthie, 15, and Zahmarii Reddick, 13, were arrested in DeBary, near Orlando, on July 6 after they kicked a neighbor's door in. Merthie and Reddick were seen on doorbell footage sneaking up to the house, before slowly turning around with their backs to the door and kicking it several times before fleeing. Bodycam footage later showed Merthie being placed in cuffs while he stood next to another teen, who was not identified. Both boys told Volusia Sheriff's deputies that they were leaving Reddick's house. 'Where's the girl?' another officer asked. 'We didn't do nothing, I promise you,' the unidentified teen told police. 'I promise you you did,' the officer, who was placing Merthie in cuffs, said. 'Not you, but he did. 'The camera is crystal clear [of] you running up on their front porch and you turn around and kick their front door in... The camera can not be no more clear,' the cop continued. Merthie was picked up by police after they noticed his 'distinctive' shorts, which were multicolored. When asked why they did it, Merthie told them they were 'just being dumb.' 'We weren't responsible, we won't do that no more,' he said. Merthie tried to defend their actions, saying they just kicked the door, but the officer quickly pulled up photos of the broken door on his phone to show the teen. The door had large chunks of splintered wood and the lock and doorknob was entirely busted off. 'That's completely broken in,' he said. 'You know those people could have shot you?' Reddick was taken into custody after her mother allowed officers inside the home to search for the girl. Argenis Ruiz, the homeowner who was targeted by the teens, described the terror his family faced that night. 'It was super super loud,' Ruiz told WESH. [I was] clueless. I was just asleep and I woke up startled and scared and just wanted to get my kid out of the way. 'Immediately, we checked our cameras.' Although the prank left him fearful, Ruiz said he is grateful nobody was hurt as a result. He also sent a message to the teens involved in this incident and any others who have participated in it or plan to. 'Be careful [and] be smart. Think about what you're doing. This stuff could affect your life and family members as well,' he told the outlet. It is unclear if Merthie and Reddick will be charged as adults.
