Image-generation tools from Google and OpenAI are being exploited to transform photos of fully clothed women into revealing bikini images, with users sharing detailed instructions on bypassing safety measures designed to prevent such abuse, according to a WIRED investigation published December 23.

In now-removed Reddit threads, users exchanged step-by-step techniques to manipulate Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT Images into producing what advocates call "abusively sexualized" deepfakes. One post, titled "gemini nsfw image generation is so easy," featured a request to alter an image of a woman wearing an Indian sari into a bikini image, which another user fulfilled by creating the deepfake. Reddit removed the content after notification from the investigating team and subsequently banned the subreddit r/ChatGPTjailbreak, which had over 200,000 members, on December 17.

The limited testing confirmed that simple English prompts could successfully generate bikini deepfakes using both platforms. The ease of manipulation has intensified concerns about non-consensual intimate imagery, particularly as Google recently released Nano Banana Pro in November and OpenAI updated its image generation capabilities, both enabling increasingly photorealistic edits.

Companies Respond Amid Enforcement Challenges

Google maintains "clear policies" prohibiting its AI tools from generating sexually explicit content and states its systems are "continuously evolving" to align with those policies. OpenAI relaxed some guardrails around adult bodies in non-sexual contexts earlier in 2025, but emphasises its usage policy forbids altering another person's likeness without consent. Both companies say they take action against users who create explicit deepfakes, including account bans.

Despite official prohibitions, the technology's advancement has outpaced enforcement mechanisms. Research indicates that 96 per cent of deepfakes are non-consensual, and 99 per cent of sexual deepfakes depict women. Corynne McSherry, legal director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, identifies "abusively sexualized images" as a major risk with AI generators, stressing that corporations must be held accountable for potential harm.

Legislative Action Gains Momentum

The exploitation has prompted renewed legislative efforts. In December, US Representatives Celeste Maloy and Jake Auchincloss introduced the Deepfake Liability Act, which would strip legal protections from platforms that fail to remove non-consensual AI-generated sexual images when victims report them. The bill builds on the Take It Down Act passed earlier in 2025, which criminalised creating and distributing non-consensual deepfakes.

The United Kingdom has proposed going further by criminalising the creation, not just distribution, of non-consensual deepfakes and banning "nudification" applications entirely. In announcing new violence against women and girls protections on December 17, UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall stated that "women and girls deserve to be safe online as well as offline".