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Over the past two weeks, a prolific creator of nonconsensual AI-generated porn named aesthetic illusions quit their day job because they’re making so much money selling subscriptions to access that content through Patreon.
“I have officially submitted my resignation to be effective for the end of June, and we can start working on upgrading to Stable Diffusion 2 (SDXL) while awaiting for the public open source access of SD3,” aesthetic illusions said in an email to their subscribers on May 13 with the subject line “BIG MOVES PEOPLE.” “If I said I wasn't slightly nauseous and shaky over making this move I'd be lying. In some ways (a lot of ways), my livelihood is in the hands of you as supporters, so not only do I appreciate your loyalty, I also kind of depend on it now!”
Patreon took down the aesthetic illusions Patreon page, as well as two other Patreon accounts selling nonconsensual AI-generated porn, after I reached out to the company for comment, meaning they are no longer able to make money from it. While it’s been reported several times that creators of nonconsensual deepfakes and AI-generated sexual images have used Patreon to monetize that content, and while we’ve seen Patreon remove these types of accounts multiple times before, aesthetic illusions is an example of how AI-generated nonconsensual porn makers are able to easily skirt moderation on Patreon and other platforms. They present a benign operation on the official Patreon page, but advertise the true, illicit nature of the service they’re providing off-platform, in spaces where internet users seek out nonconsensual pornography.