Golden State Today

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined a bipartisan coalition of 44 states and territories in urging Congress to pass the Child Exploitation and Artificial Intelligence Expert Commissions Act of 2024. This proposed legislation aims to establish a commission to study the emerging threat of artificial intelligence (AI) being used for child exploitation through sexual abuse material.

The U.S. Department of Justice highlights that such abusive material "creates a permanent record of the child’s victimization." The expert commission would be responsible for proposing legislation aimed at protecting children from these abuses.

“Artificial intelligence is ushering extraordinary advances in all sectors throughout the world, but it is also a tool that poses risks that we must tackle head-on,” said Attorney General Bonta. “As a father, and as the People’s Attorney, I support Congress’ efforts to establish this commission to protect our kids. I won’t stand by as AI is used to threaten the safety and well-being of our children. We are all aware of the threat posed by AI, and we can’t allow our children’s safety to fall through the cracks. We have zero tolerance for child sexual abuse of any sort.”

In September 2023, attorneys general had written a letter to Congress urging them to create this commission. That letter stated:

"AI can be used to exploit children, including by identifying their location and mimicking their voices. For example, with only a short recording of a person’s voice, AI tools can clone the voice and use it to say things the person never actually said. Indeed, scammers have even been able to use AI to aid in fake kidnappings."

"Most troublingly, AI tools can create 'deepfakes' of children. Deepfakes are fake images or videos that seem real. Among other things, AI can be used to study real photographs of abused children and generate new images showing those children in sexual positions or overlay photographs of otherwise unvictimized children on the internet with photographs of abused children to create new abusive content involving both children."

Attorney General Bonta's support joins those from Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Mississippi Minnesota Nebraska Nevada North Carolina New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Oregon Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Wyoming District Columbia Guam U.S Virgin Islands.

A copy of the letter is available here.