Two men sentenced for spreading AI

Two men in eastern China have been sentenced to a year and one month in prison, with a six-month probation, for fabricating and spreading false information through videos generated using artificial intelligence technologies.

The case came to light when police in Shangyu, a district of Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, discovered a video that had garnered a large number of views claiming that a fire had broken out in the Shangyu industrial park.

Upon verification, police determined that the video was fabricated and there was no such fire.

Further investigation revealed that a network company from another province was behind the video and subsequently arrested three suspects surnamed Zhang, Chen, and Tang.

It was found that Zhang and Chen, the owners of the company, which initially focused on anime editing, resorted to using AI software to combine different trending elements on the internet to generate new videos in order to attract clicks and avoid checking by video platforms.

Tang, at the request of Zhang and Chen, edited the video claiming there was a fire in the industrial park.

This case marks the first instance in Zhejiang province of a group engaged in producing fake videos. By the time the case unfolded, the company had illegally purchased over 2,900 accounts on various video platforms and published over 10,000 unverified videos. Twenty of these videos were about accidents, disasters, and emergencies in multiple provinces and garnered more than 1.6 million views.

The Shangyu District People's Court ruled that Zhang and Chen had deliberately fabricated and disseminated false information regarding accidents through online platforms, severely disrupting social order and constituting the crime of fabricating and intentionally spreading false information.

Considering that the defendants had pleaded guilty and showed remorse, the court sentenced Zhang and Chen to each one year and one month in prison, with a six-month probation. Tang's case will be handled separately.