Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has denounced her deepfake video criticizing Sidney Sweeney’s current advertising campaign.
Grok Ai deepfake used to target women like X user Evie
Grok AI is used to create deepfakes like female porn, including feminist X user Evie.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she was surprised when she heard her voice in a clip of X criticizing Sidney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad campaign aimed at selling jeans from a company that resembles the actress’s “great genes.”
The tone and pitch sounded like her, but they weren’t her words, Klobuchar wrote in the New York Times Opinion Piece on August 20th. That’s when the Minnesota Democrat senator realized it was a digitally modified video or audio recording using a person’s voice or image created by artificial intelligence.
“A realistic deepfake – an AI-generated video showing someone not doing what they’ve done or saying – can circle the earth and land on land with millions of phones while the truth is still stuck on land,” Klobuchar wrote in a piece entitled “Don’t Say About Sidney Swinney.” She called her so-called video “a vulgar and absurd criticism.”
Klobuchar promoted AI regulation at the national level. This is not just supported by Democrats. In 2024, she and the R-Texas Senator introduced a Senate bill that banned posts that produced intimate images and deepfake real and artificial intelligence. The bill also required online platforms to “quickly remove such portrayals when they receive notifications.”
In May, President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act, a law aimed at banning deepfakes and revenge porn. Currently, businesses must have a process of reporting deepfakes and non-consensual intimate images, including revenge porn, within 48 hours of receiving notification.
Still, Push has critics. This includes Republicans from R-Kentucky’s Thomas Massie and R-Missouri’s Eric Burlison, and concerns about how the move would limit the nation’s free speech protections.
In her opinion, Klobuchar accused X of failing to comply with the provisions of the new law. She said the platform didn’t remove her deepfake videos – or labeled it as false soon enough.
Currently, Klobuchar writes that he is looking for more policy changes to get social media companies to remove deepfakes, with a few exceptions for free speech protection. Her proposed bill is co-existed by D-Delaware’s Officer Chris Coons. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee.
“The bill was just the first step,” she wrote in her Op-Ed.
Klobuchar accuss X of not removing the video
Klobuchar praised the high-tech giants Tiktok and Meta for taking appropriate precautions to protect her and warning the public that it wasn’t actually a video talk about. However, she accused X of not following the new law.
“X refused to remove or label it despite the fact that users say they are “prohibited from sharing X’s non-self-certified content that could deceive people,” such as “deceiving operations or out-of-range media,” which could lead to widespread confusion about public issues,” she wrote in her opinion.
“We need to at least include labeling requirements for content that is effectively generated by AI,” she added.
X did not immediately respond to inquiries from USA Today regarding the response to Klobucher’s comments.
What are the effects of deepfakes?
The reputation is at risk when deepfakes are posted and allowed to linger online, Klobuchar warned in the Times.
Deepfakes of other prominent figures, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump White House chief Susie Wills, and even pop star Taylor Swift, were also posted online to draw attention to the issue.
Deepfakes are also used as bullying tactics by young people. The US Department of Homeland Security also cites an increasing threat to deepfake identity.
In her manipulation, Klobuchar cites a January 2022 survey, indicating that “people who view this type of content develop a lasting negative view of the person in the video, even if they know it is fake.”
“There is no way to quantify the chaos that can occur without legal checks,” Klobuchar later wrote. “Imagine a deepfake of a bank that causes a bank run, a deepfake of an influencer who instructs his children to use drugs, or a deepfake of a US president who launches a war that causes an attack on our army. The possibilities are endless.”
Please contact Kayla Jimenez (kjimenez@usatoday.com). Follow her on the X on @kaylajjimenez.
