Two bills were signed into law by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this week, enacting AI regulations targeting nonconsensual sexual deepfakes.
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan has officially addressed the growing problem of artificial intelligence–generated sexual images and videos.
House Bill 4047 and House Bill 4048 were signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday. The new laws establish regulations surrounding the creation and distribution of “intimate deepfakes” without consent.
What is an “intimate deepfake”?
A deepfake is any photo, video or audio clip that uses technology to realistically depict someone saying or doing something they never actually did.
Under Michigan’s new law, a deepfake becomes illegal if it:
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Shows a person’s intimate parts or a sexual act.
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The person is identifiable by their face, likeness or other personal information.
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It is created or shared without consent in a way that causes harm.
The bills specifically targeted nonconsensual pornography, a form of digital sexual exploitation.
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Civil lawsuits (victim’s rights)
HB4047, called the Protection from Intimate Deep Fakes Act, gives victims established tools to fight back. Victims can sue creators or distributors of intimate deep fakes in civil court, recovering damages for financial loss, emotional distress or humiliation. Any profits made from the distribution of the image could also be allocated to the victim under a civil suit.
Under the new law, judges also have the authority to issue injunctions to stop the spread of the content. Additional fines of up to $1,000 per day can be imposed if a violation of the court order to stop occurs.
The law makes clear it does not apply in certain cases, such as:
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Criminal investigations
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Reporting unlawful conduct
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Medical or mental health treatment (with privacy protections)
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Matters of public interest — but only if it’s clearly labeled as a deep fake and done in good faith
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Legal proceedings
Criminal penalties
HB 4048, the companion bill, updated Michigan’s sentencing guidelines under the state’s main criminal procedural code so courts know how to punish these crimes.
First-time offenders can be charged with a misdemeanor, facing up to one year in jail, a $3,000 fine or both, so long as the court determines that someone knowingly created or shared an intimate deepfake that caused harm.
If aggravated factors apply, an offender can face up to three years in prison, a $5,000 fine or both.
- Aggregated factors include intention to profit from the deepfake, posting it online, the victim suffers financial loss, running a site or app used to distribute deepfakes or harassing, extorting or threatening the victim.
Anyone with a prior conviction under the law who is caught again will face automatic felony charges, even if no other aggravating factors are present.
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The law does not hold internet providers, platforms, or tool developers automatically responsible, as long as their technology isn’t designed for creating nonconsensual deep fakes and their terms of service prohibit it.
The laws went into effect immediately.
