Beverly Hills school officials 'outraged' at AI-generated nude photos of students

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Beverly Hills school officials and parents gathered Tuesday night to discuss the ongoing investigation into fake nude photos of students that were apparently created using artificial intelligence.

At a Board of Education meeting Tuesday, Beverly Hills Unified School District Super Intendent Dr. Michael Bregy said he was "outraged" by the incident and that the district is working with the Beverly Hills Police Department to determine who is responsible for the photos. 

School officials at Beverly Vista Middle School first discovered the photos last week, the district said. The photos allegedly superimposed the faces of students onto nude bodies that had been generated by AI, and those photos were then distributed to other students.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Beverly Hills Unified investigating AI-generated nude photos of middle school students

Both Bregy and parents expressed concerns over the "gray area" of the law that deals with matters like this. While Bregy called the act horrific, the district admitted it's not sure what, if any, crime was committed. The district is urging lawmakers to regulate AI.

California State Senator Josh Becker is working to pass legislation that would do just that. The California Artificial Intelligence Transparency act would require generative AI platforms to watermark their photo, video and audio content, and would fine those companies $1,000 per incident per day per platform if they don't comply.

"We do have laws in place, but they were not made with generative AI in mind," Becker said. "And so we have to do more to protect children and protect the general public."

Jane Tavyev Asher, a parent at Tuesday's meeting said, "Being blindsided by what happened, I think we should realize that there are going to be more things we're going to be blindsided by, because technology is going to develop at a faster rate than we can imagine, and we have to protect our children from it."

The BHUSD said it's still working to determine who was responsible for the inappropriate photos, and that potential punishment could include recommendation for expulsion.

"We are not going to tolerate this," said Board Member Rachelle Marcus. "We will make sure that we get our kids to understand the impropriety of doing things like this, and make sure that they know that they can't hide."

City News Service contributed to this report.