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The US Department of Justice has started cracking down on the use of AI image generators to produce child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).

On Monday, the DOJ arrested Steven Anderegg, a 42-year-old "extremely technologically savvy" Wisconsin man who allegedly used Stable Diffusion to create "thousands of realistic images of prepubescent minors," which were then distributed on Instagram and Telegram.

The cops were tipped off to Anderegg's alleged activities after Instagram flagged direct messages that were sent on Anderegg's Instagram account to a 15-year-old boy. Instagram reported the messages to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which subsequently alerted law enforcement.

During the Instagram exchange, the DOJ found that Anderegg sent sexually explicit AI images of minors soon after the teen made his age known, alleging that "the only reasonable explanation for sending these images was to sexually entice the child."

According to the DOJ's indictment, Anderegg is a software engineer with "professional experience working with AI." Because of his "special skill" in generative AI (GenAI), he was allegedly able to generate the CSAM using a version of Stable Diffusion, "along with a graphical user interface and special add-ons created by other Stable Diffusion users that specialized in producing genitalia."

After Instagram reported Anderegg's messages to the minor, cops seized Anderegg's laptop and found "over 13,000 GenAI images, with hundreds—if not thousands—of these images depicting nude or semi-clothed prepubescent minors lasciviously displaying or touching their genitals" or "engaging in sexual intercourse with men."

In his messages to the teen, Anderegg seemingly "boasted" about his skill in generating CSAM, the indictment said. The DOJ alleged that evidence from his laptop showed that Anderegg "used extremely specific and explicit prompts to create these images," including "specific 'negative' prompts—that is, prompts that direct the GenAI model on what not to include in generated content—to avoid creating images that depict adults." These go-to prompts were stored on his computer, the DOJ alleged.

Anderegg is currently in federal custody and has been charged with production, distribution, and possession of AI-generated CSAM, as well as "transferring obscene material to a minor under the age of 16," the indictment said.

Because the DOJ suspected that Anderegg intended to use the AI-generated CSAM to groom a minor, the DOJ is arguing that there are "no conditions of release" that could prevent him from posing a "significant danger" to his community while the court mulls his case. The DOJ warned the court that it's highly likely that any future contact with minors could go unnoticed, as Anderegg is seemingly tech-savvy enough to hide any future attempts to send minors AI-generated CSAM.

"He studied computer science and has decades of experience in software engineering," the indictment said. "While computer monitoring may address the danger posed by less sophisticated offenders, the defendant’s background provides ample reason to conclude that he could sidestep such restrictions if he decided to. And if he did, any reoffending conduct would likely go undetected."

If convicted of all four counts, he could face "a total statutory maximum penalty of 70 years in prison and a mandatory minimum of five years in prison," the DOJ said. Partly because of "special skill in GenAI," the DOJ—which described its evidence against Anderegg as "strong"—suggested that they may recommend a sentencing range "as high as life imprisonment."

Announcing Anderegg's arrest, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco made it clear that creating AI-generated CSAM is illegal in the US.

"Technology may change, but our commitment to protecting children will not," Monaco said. "The Justice Department will aggressively pursue those who produce and distribute child sexual abuse material—or CSAM—no matter how that material was created. Put simply, CSAM generated by AI is still CSAM, and we will hold accountable those who exploit AI to create obscene, abusive, and increasingly photorealistic images of children."

Stability AI denies ties to Stable Diffusion model

In the indictment, the DOJ claims that Anderegg was using a version of Stable Diffusion that was "produced by Stability AI." But Stability AI disputes this, telling Ars that "based on the information we are aware of, the model used in this case was Stable Diffusion 1.5."

"Stable Diffusion 1.5 was released by Runway ML, not Stability AI," Stability AI's spokesperson said.

Last year, Stability AI began distancing itself from Stable Diffusion 1.5 after the Stanford Internet Observatory's research revealed that more than 1,000 known instances of CSAM were found in a large open dataset—known as LAION-5B—that was used to train Stable Diffusion 1.5.

At that time, a Runway ML spokesperson seemed to push back on Stability AI's intent to distance themselves from Stable Diffusion 1.5, linking Ars to a Stability AI blog announcing that Stable Diffusion 1.5 was "co-released" with Runway ML. Ars could not immediately reach Runway ML for comment, but Stability AI's spokesperson provided this statement as further explanation:

"Stability AI provided an open source compute grant to the CompVis Group at the University of Heidelberg (now at LMU) and Runway ML for Stable Diffusion 1 but was not involved in the data collection and training of the model. We also did not approve the release of the model and would normally require numerous safeguards and testing be completed before any model we own is released.”

Stability AI has further told Ars that it does not host Stable Diffusion 1.5. Their spokesperson told Ars today that the company took over "exclusive development of the Stable Diffusion series of models in late 2022," which covers Stable Diffusion 2 and every subsequent model.

Since then, Stability AI has "committed to preventing the misuse of AI and prohibit the use of our image models and services for unlawful activity, including attempts to edit or create CSAM,” the spokesperson said. Those efforts include implementing "filters to intercept unsafe prompts or unsafe outputs" and content labels "to help identify images generated on our platform."

Ars could not immediately reach the DOJ to clarify if the reference to Stability AI in the indictment is due to evidence suggesting that Anderegg used a later version of Stable Diffusion.

The indictment does note, however, that "while AI companies have pledged to make it more difficult for offenders to use future versions of GenAI tools to generate images of minors being sexually abused, such steps will do little to prevent savvy offenders like the defendant from running prior versions of these tools locally from their computers without detection."

Instagram’s pedophile problem

Last summer, investigations from The Wall Street Journal, the Stanford Internet Observatory, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst Rescue Lab flagged Instagram as the most important platform for buyers and sellers of underage sex content.

Those probes found that the CSAM itself was not hosted on Instagram, but Instagram became a key link connecting a ring of pedophiles who met on the Meta platform and then bought and sold CSAM on Telegram.

Anderegg leveraged Instagram and Telegram in similar ways, the DOJ alleged. His Instagram messages were full of "realistic GenAI image of minors wearing BDSM-themed leather clothes" sent with "a message encouraging others to '[c]ome check out what [they] are missing' on Telegram." When asked for nudes, Anderegg allegedly linked to Telegram where he claimed to offer “tons” of images.

In these messages, Anderegg also allegedly "discussed his desire to have sex with prepubescent boys and the fact that he has a wife and child," the DOJ found.

This year, Instagram introduced features to make it easier for teens to report these kinds of unwanted messages in-app, as well as features making it harder for adult strangers to message random minors on the platform.

Meta did not immediately respond to Ars' request to comment on Anderegg's arrest or to confirm whether the teen had reported the messages that led to his arrest.

NCMEC's spokesperson told Ars that the nonprofit child protection organization does not comment on arrests, but NCMEC, like the DOJ, views sexualized AI-generated images depicting minors as illegal CSAM.

Last year, NCMEC received more than 36 million reports of CSAM and 4,700 reports of AI-generated CSAM.

NCMEC's spokesperson told Ars that the organization is "starting to see more" AI-generated CSAM reports, sending these reports, just like any other CSAM report, to various law enforcement agencies to consider investigating.

In January, law enforcement agencies sounded the alarm that they were already bogged down investigating a flood of AI-generated CSAM, warning that these cases are expected to grow "exponentially." That's a huge problem partly because of the potential for these images to be used to groom real children or normalize pedophilia, but also because it takes away resources and makes it harder to investigate real crimes against abused children, cops said.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, who heads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in the DOJ's press release that Anderegg's arrest could serve to deter others from using tools like Stable Diffusion to generate CSAM.

She said the DOJ was hoping to send "a clear message: using AI to produce sexually explicit depictions of children is illegal, and the Justice Department will not hesitate to hold accountable those who possess, produce, or distribute AI-generated child sexual abuse material."

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Enlarge / Aftermath of a nova at the star GK Persei. (credit: NASA/CXC/RIKEN/STScI/NRAO/VLA)

When you look at the northern sky, you can follow the arm of Big Dipper as it arcs around toward the bright star called Arcturus. Roughly in the middle of that arc, you'll find the Northern Crown constellation, which looks a bit like a smiley face. Sometime between now and September, if you look to the left-hand side of the Northern Crown, what will look like a new star will shine for five days or so.

This star system is called T. Coronae Borealis, also known as the Blaze Star, and most of the time, it is way too dim to be visible to the naked eye. But once roughly every 80 years, a violent thermonuclear explosion makes it over 10,000 times brighter. The last time it happened was in 1946, so now it’s our turn to see it.

Neighborhood litterbug

“The T. Coronae Borealis is a binary system. It is actually two stars,” said Gerard Van Belle, the director of science at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. One of these stars is a white dwarf, an old star that has already been through its fusion-powered lifecycle. “It’s gone from being a main sequence star to being a giant star. And in case of giant stars, what happens is their outer parts eventually get kind of pushed into outer space. What’s left behind is a leftover core of the star—that’s called a white dwarf,” Van Belle explained.

The white dwarf stage is normally a super peaceful retirement period for stars. The nuclear fusion reaction no longer takes place, which makes white dwarfs very dim. They are still pretty hot, though, and they're super dense, with a mass comparable to our Sun squeezed into a volume resembling the Earth.

But the retirement of the white dwarf in T.  Coronae Borealis is hardly peaceful, as it has a neighbor prone to littering. “Its companion star is in the red giant phase, where it is puffed up. Its outer parts are getting sloughed off and pushed into space. The material that is coming off the red giant is now falling onto the white dwarf,” Van Belle said.

Ticking time bomb

And it doesn’t take much littering to make the white dwarf explode. “The material from the red giant will accumulate on the white dwarf’s surface until it forms a layer that’s actually not that thick. Just a few meters—the depth of deep swimming pool,” Van Belle explained. Most of the material coming off the red giant is hydrogen. And since the red dwarf is still hot, there will eventually be a spark that triggers a runaway nuclear fusion reaction. “That is what causes the explosion,” Van Belle said.

The explosion is a nova, which means it doesn’t kill either the white dwarf or the red giant as a supernova would. “Only about five percent of the hydrogen layer fuses into heavier elements like helium, and the rest just gets ejected into space. Then the process starts all over again because the explosion isn’t large enough to disrupt the red giant, the donor of all this hydrogen, so it just keeps doing its thing,” Van Belle told Ars. This is why we can predict this event with such precision.

“Predictions in astronomy come in two flavors. One is super precise—like the eclipse is going to pass over the city of Houston at exactly 11:35 pm. Other predictions are like this, when we say, ‘well, it’s going to explode sometime between May and September. Maybe a little outside of that window,’” said Van Belle.

We can estimate this window because we know what the events leading up to the T. Coronae Borealis explosion looked like the last time it went off in 1946. “The brightness of this object in the sky got a little bit dimmer, a little fingerprint in the light curve. Then it popped off. We have seen the same process with this object recently during the last year or year-and-a-half or so. So that’s why we expect that it is getting to that point,” Van Belle explained.

Accordingly, many high-precision instruments at Lowell and other observatories will be zeroed in on T. Coronae Borealis in the coming months to measure the geometry of the expanding fireball to infer the exact physics of the explosion. “But it’s also kind of neat that you don’t need anything if you fancy to go out and see this thing. Last time, in 1946, it hit magnitude 3, and prior to that, in 1866, it was magnitude 2. Magnitude 2 is about as bright as the Northern Star,” Van Belle said.

Even neater is that stellar explosions like this bring us way more than fireworks to see. They’ve made your iPhone possible.

The mother of all iPhones

Very energetic events like the T. Coronae Borealis explosion often take light elements like hydrogen and turn them into heavier ones. “This particular kind of object makes most of the lithium we have. Batteries in our phones and other things ultimately came from explosions like this specific one, a recurrent nova,” Van Belle told Ars. The Big Bang, according to Van Belle, formed a bit of lithium, but that didn’t survive till today. The material we have was made in nuclear reactions powering nova explosions.

Lithium and other heavier elements (heavier than hydrogen and helium, that is) are ejected into space by the likes of T. Coronae Borealis and ultimately end up in newly formed stars and the disks around them. “That is how lithium ends up in planets such as Earth,” said Van Belle. “This event is not going to call attention to itself by casting shadows on the ground,” he added. But at least we know when to expect it.

“When the Betelgeuse supergiant in the Orion constellation explodes, you’ll know it because it will be as bright as the full moon and it will be very hard to ignore. I can say with confidence that it will explode sometime between now and 100,000 years from now. That’s your typical astronomical prediction,” Van Belle said.

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Enlarge / A screenshot of Microsoft's new "Recall" feature in action. (credit: Microsoft)

At a Build conference event on Monday, Microsoft revealed a new AI-powered feature called "Recall" for Copilot+ PCs that will allow Windows 11 users to search and retrieve their past activities on their PC. To make it work, Recall records everything users do on their PC, including activities in apps, communications in live meetings, and websites visited for research. Despite encryption and local storage, the new feature raises privacy concerns for certain Windows users.

"Recall uses Copilot+ PC advanced processing capabilities to take images of your active screen every few seconds," Microsoft says on its website. "The snapshots are encrypted and saved on your PC’s hard drive. You can use Recall to locate the content you have viewed on your PC using search or on a timeline bar that allows you to scroll through your snapshots."

By performing a Recall action, users can access a snapshot from a specific time period, providing context for the event or moment they are searching for. It also allows users to search through teleconference meetings they've participated in and videos watched using an AI-powered feature that transcribes and translates speech.

At first glance, the Recall feature seems like it may set the stage for potential gross violations of user privacy. Despite reassurances from Microsoft, that impression persists for second and third glances as well. For example, someone with access to your Windows account could potentially use Recall to see everything you've been doing recently on your PC, which might extend beyond the embarrassing implications of pornography viewing and actually threaten the lives of journalists or perceived enemies of the state.

Despite the privacy concerns, Microsoft says that the Recall index remains local and private on-device, encrypted in a way that is linked to a particular user's account. "Recall screenshots are only linked to a specific user profile and Recall does not share them with other users, make them available for Microsoft to view, or use them for targeting advertisements. Screenshots are only available to the person whose profile was used to sign in to the device," Microsoft says.

Users can pause, stop, or delete captured content and can exclude specific apps or websites. Recall won't take snapshots of InPrivate web browsing sessions in Microsoft Edge or DRM-protected content. However, Recall won't actively hide sensitive information like passwords and financial account numbers that appear on-screen.

Microsoft previously explored a somewhat similar functionality with the Timeline feature in Windows 10, which the company discontinued in 2021, but it didn't take continuous snapshots. Recall also shares some obvious similarities to Rewind, a third-party app for Mac we covered in 2022 that logs user activities for later playback.

As you might imagine, all this snapshot recording comes at a hardware penalty. To use Recall, users will need to purchase one of the new "Copilot Plus PCs" powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips, which include the necessary neural processing unit (NPU). There are also minimum storage requirements for running Recall, with a minimum of 256GB of hard drive space and 50GB of available space. The default allocation for Recall on a 256GB device is 25GB, which can store approximately three months of snapshots. Users can adjust the allocation in their PC settings, with old snapshots being deleted once the allocated storage is full.

As far as availability goes, Microsoft says that Recall is still undergoing testing. "Recall is currently in preview status," Microsoft says on its website. "During this phase, we will collect customer feedback, develop more controls for enterprise customers to manage and govern Recall data, and improve the overall experience for users."

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Enlarge / A Neuralink implant. (credit: Neuralink)

Only 15 percent of the electrode-bearing threads implanted in the brain of Neuralink's first human brain-chip patient continue to work properly, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The remaining 75 percent of the threads became displaced, and many of the threads that were left receiving little to no signals have been shut off.

In a May 8 blog post, Neuralink had disclosed that "a number" of the chip's 64 thinner-than-hair threads had retracted. Each thread carries multiple electrodes, totaling 1,024 across the threads, which are surgically implanted near neurons of interest to record signals that can be decoded into intended actions.

Neuralink was quick to note that it was able to adjust the algorithm used for decoding those neuronal signals to compensate for the lost electrode data. The adjustments were effective enough to regain and then exceed performance on at least one metric—the bits-per-second (BPS) rate used to measure how quickly and accurately a patient with an implant can control a computer cursor.

In an interview with the Journal, Neuralink's first patient, 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, opened up about the roller-coaster experience. "I was on such a high and then to be brought down that low. It was very, very hard," Arbaugh said. "I cried." He initially asked if Neuralink would perform another surgery to fix or replace the implant, but the company declined, telling him it wanted to wait for more information. Arbaugh went on to say that he has since recovered from the initial disappointment and continues to have hope for the technology.

"I thought that I had just gotten to, you know, scratch the surface of this amazing technology, and then it was all going to be taken away," he added. "But it only took me a few days to really recover from that and realize that everything I’ve done up to that point was going to benefit everyone who came after me.” He also said that "it seems like we’ve learned a lot and it seems like things are going in the right direction."

The Journal's report adds more detail about the thread retraction as Neuralink gears up to surgically implant its chip into a second trial participant. According to the report, the company hopes to perform the second surgery sometime in June and has gained a green light to do so from the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees clinical trials.

Neuralink, owned by controversial billionaire Elon Musk, believes it can prevent thread movement in the next patient by simply implanting the fine wires deeper into brain tissue. The company is planning on—and the FDA has reportedly signed off on—implanting the threads 8 millimeters into the brain of the second trial participant rather than the 3 mm to 5 mm depth used in Arbaugh's implantation.

Brain-computer interface chips have been around for many years. In 2006, researchers reported the first case of a brain chip allowing a tetraplegic patient to control a "neural cursor" that could be used to open email, operate devices, and control a prosthetic hand and a robotic arm. The chip used was a Utah Array containing 96 electrodes, which can penetrate up to 1.5 mm into brain tissue.

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The people of Houston have been going through it, lately, as countless storms plague the city. Hurricane-force winds struck the city last week, claiming multiple lives and cutting power to almost 1 million homes. Electric trucks have been serving Texans well amidst the chaos by helping to restore power while the lines are down.

This weekend spawned multiple stories that run quite contrary to the usual jokes levied against EV owners. “What will you do when the power’s out?” goes the usual refrain. “My gas truck’ll still be running while you’re EV’s out of juice!”

This time, that was anything but the case. Not for the first time, electric trucks proved they were able to come through in a crisis.

Cybertruck to the Rescue

As reported by Teslarati, one Tesla Cybertruck owner was able to flip the script on its head. The electric truck was apparently able to get a gas station at least nominally back online using the power sockets in the bed.

@misssbaaah

A #cybertruck coming through after houstontornado. #fyp #xyzbcafypシ #houstontx #crazyweather #tornado #storm #outage #houstonweather #thunderstorm #tesla @ABC13 Houston

♬ original sound – Misbaah

The video from TikTok user misssbaaah suggests that the whole store was running off the Cybertruck, including pumps, cash machine, and all. We’re treated to a view of the bed, which has two extension cords plugged into the two 110-volt sockets. We also see what appear to be loose wires threaded into the 240-volt socket underneath.

It’s difficult to verify that the Cybertruck was indeed able to get the gas station fully back online, including the machinery to actually pump gas. But it’s not totally out of the question.

The twin 120-volt outlets can deliver a total of 20 amps combined (or around 2,400 watts). There are two more in the cabin that can independently offer a further 20 amps combined, too. For reference, 2,400 watts is enough to run multiple cash registers and maybe even a fridge or two. However, starting up a whole gas station’s worth of fridges would probably trip the breaker quite easily due to the high inrush current. To say nothing of the gas pumps.

The Cybertruck’s 240-volt port is much more capable, offering up to 40 amps, or 9,600 watts. However, that doesn’t stack on top of the 110-volt ports. The truck can only deliver a maximum of 9,600 watts in total through its bed ports. The Cybertruck can offer up to 11.5 kW of AC output, but only through a Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) charger setup, not the bed ports.

Given the high output of the 240-volt port, it’s plausible that the Cybertruck may have been able to get much of the equipment online, including the gas pumps. From the wiring seen in the video, it appears that the bed ports are being used together, with both the 110-volt and 240-volt port hooked up. It’s conceivable that the 110-volt ports are being used to get the registers back online while the 240-volt port was used to run the pumps. Even at a continuous maximum draw of 9.6 kilowatts, a fully-charged Cybertruck would be able to theoretically run the store for over 10 hours, thanks to its 123-kilowatt-hour pack.

In any case, the video shows a ton of cars visiting the store for gas. The lights are also off inside, which would make sense if you’re trying to minimize unnecessary power draw. Assuming it’s legit, it’s almost ironic that gas cars are relying on an EV in a crisis, and not the other way around.

Lighting Strikes Again

Ford made the news in a big way in 2021 when an F-150 Hybrid with a Pro Power generator was able to save a wedding from a major power outage. The storms in Houston spawned a very similar story, with F-150 Lightning owners relying on their EVs to get them through.

Glad to hear. Be safe! https://t.co/KDkkvLL4nu

— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) May 17, 2024

Michael Kaler was able to power his home using his F-150 Lightning, catching the notice of Ford CEO Jim Farley in the process. Kaler noted the Lightning was even able to power his microwave during the storm. He also posted a screenshot showing that the Pro Power Onboard was delivering 3,000 watts to his home.

Similarly to the Cybertruck, the F-150 Lightning is able to deliver up to 9.6 kW via its Pro Power Onboard sockets. Kaler noted his household needs only used about 10% of the Lightning’s battery capacity overnight. He was able to drive to a fast charger to top up in the morning, and then returned to run his home and a neighbor’s house via extension cables.

Have SR truck, only used 10% overnight. Went and charged truck up in morning. Now powering my house and extension cord to neighbors. pic.twitter.com/dYBER1XfUP

— Michael Kaler (@MichaelKaler) May 17, 2024

I used my Lightning to power refrigerators, but luckily power was restored after several hours. pic.twitter.com/ff41e6R4Y8

— Evgeny Kashtanov (@Novosilicon) May 17, 2024

On a smaller scale, F-150 Lightning owner Evgeny Kashtanov relied on his truck for just a few hours. He was able to run an extension cord to power his fridge while the grid was dark.

It’s true that houses are wired for much higher power draws than the 9.6 kW output from a F-150 Lightning or Cybertruck. However, if you’re careful with what you use, that’s more than enough power to keep a few fridges, computers, and lights on. If you are drawing more than 10 kW continuously at your home, you’re either running your oven or HVAC system at a pretty good clip, or you’ve forgotten to turn your pool heater off.

Ultimately, EV trucks can prove very useful in trials like these. They’re able to efficiently provide electricity, whether you want to keep your fridge running or just recharge a few phones. In contrast, trying to do the same with a gas-powered truck can be very wasteful in comparison.

If you live in a disaster-prone area and you’re buying an EV, consider getting the best vehicle-to-home or AC-output option you can afford. It could give you plenty of comfort the next time you’re suffering through an extended power outage. You might even be the hero of your neighborhood if you can keep a TV running for the big game. Stay safe out there!

Image credits: Tesla, misssbaaah via TikTok screenshot

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