--- title: "AI Platform Has a “Bounties” System for Creating Deepfakes of Regular People" description: "Civitai, a LoRA model-sharing platform funded in part by a16z, is incentivizing users to make deepfakes of real people — celebrity or not." date: "2023-11-14" modified: "2023-11-14" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/ai-bounties-deepfakes-regular-people" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" --- # AI Platform Has a “Bounties” System for Creating Deepfakes of Regular People ![Civitai, a LoRA model-sharing platform funded in part by a16z, is incentivizing users to make deepfakes of real people — celebrity or not.]() *\Image: Bing / Dall-E / Futurism\* ## Extremely Disturbing Civitai, one of the internet's largest AI platforms, is incentivizing users to make deepfakes of real people, a [disturbing report from *404 Media* has revealed](). Per *404*, the AI model marketplace — which has reportedly received millions in funding from [Andreessen Horowitz's a16z fund]() — recently introduced a "bounties" feature, which is a monetized system in which various users can compete to make [LoRA image models]() in exchange for digital currency. Basically, a user posts the "bounty," or a call for an AI model that can generate hyperspecific images. Other Civitai users attempt to build the requested model, and the original bounty poster chooses a winner. That winner gets paid in something called "Buzz," virtual cash that can be purchased from Civitai with real money. Civitai is [already known]() as a platform where nonconsensual pornographic deepfakes are easily created and disseminated. It sadly comes as no surprise, then, that the bulk of these bountied creations appear to be nonconsensual pornographic imagery, almost entirely of women. According to *404's* reporting, this includes unwanted deepfakes of public figures like celebrities and influencers, as well as at least one person with no semblance of a public presence — the bounty posted, according to *404*, provided just a handful of photos taken from the person's social media accounts. It's a troubling sign of the times, given the availability of the tech, the brazenness of its misuse, and the readiness of major financial bodies to fund a platform like this regardless. ## The Lowest Bar To be clear: nonconsensual deepfaked porn of anyone, be it of a celeb or a very regular individual, is wrong and disturbing. But the fact that regular, non-public people are at risk is alarming in its own right; indeed, in a burgeoning internet era dominated by easy-to-use generative AI tools, it increasingly feels like *everyone's* control over their public image is quickly slipping away. Worse, there are currently few avenues for victim retribution. Civitai, which has [confusing rules]() around sexual imagery to begin with, has stated that its bounties tool shouldn't be used for deepfaked pornography purposes. But it doesn't exactly seem like Civitai is expending too many enforcement resources, and though victims can report this kind of material themselves, that's [setting the bar incredibly low]() for the platforms that host — and, in this case, monetize — that content, not to mention the funding bodies powering the platform in the background. "I am very afraid of what this can become," Michele Alves, an Instagram influencer with an unwanted Civitai bounty, told *404*. "I don't know what measures I could take, since the internet seems like a place out of control." **More on nonconsensual AI-generated porn:** [*Google Is Sending Users Straight to Nonconsensual Deepfake Porn*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()