CCTV's Legal Report program today exposed the black market chain behind “AI undressing,” in which ordinary life photos are turned into obscene images.
“AI synthesis” technology has now penetrated our online lives. Technology itself is not inherently wrong, but in the hands of some people with ulterior motives, it has become an accomplice to a new type of crime.
Reports indicate that searching for “one-click undressing” on some social platforms reveals many detailed graphic or video tutorials. The titles are highly provocative, such as “one-click dressing and undressing” and “How to quickly Photoshop away a woman's clothes.” In the comment sections of these posts, many users leave messages seeking resources, while some bloggers spread this technology by sharing it directly or inviting people to join groups.
Some criminals have also established groups on overseas websites, using the guise of “AI painting” and “technical exchange and learning” to recruit “students” by enticing them to pay for group membership. Once users pay to join, they receive a detailed tutorial that teaches them step by step how to perform “one-click undressing.”
Recently, the People's Procuratorate of Haidian District, Beijing, disclosed such a case.
Li Tao, a procurator with the People's Procuratorate of Haidian District, Beijing, said that the first group already had 27,000 members, while the so-called premium member group had several thousand members. The price of the software tools being sold also rose steadily, from more than 60 yuan in 2023 to 168 yuan in 2025.
According to the procurator, the suspect established several groups and sold “AI one-click undressing” software and accompanying tutorials in them to make illegal profits. To make the software easier for others to use, he also included instructional examples and prompt documents, essentially simplifying the operation for beginners. After downloading the software, users did not need any additional training and could operate it directly, lowering the barrier to entry.
For 168 yuan, buyers could obtain this so-called “AI undressing” software and learn how to operate it. After reviewing the evidence, procurators found that several thousand members of the suspect's groups had paid to purchase it. After using the software, they would also exchange their experiences and share tips within the groups.
In June 2025, police identified and arrested Zhang. Investigators found that beginning in August 2023, the defendant Zhang established and managed groups on overseas social platforms, posting information about selling AI undressing software and tutorials in the groups and earning more than RMB 100,000.
In fact, Zhang was not the original developer of the software. Instead, he used existing AI software, trained the model with specific keywords, and packaged and sold the completed AI undressing module.
At the time, an overseas company released an image-generating artificial intelligence AI system that was open source and available for anyone to use and call. It could generate images based on entered prompts, and could also modify uploaded images according to prompts. The defendant Zhang discovered that these functions could in fact be used to generate obscene images.
The procurator explained that the so-called undressing tool does not actually remove clothing, but uses a technique involving forgery and redrawing. In reality, the algorithm regenerates and redraws data for specific parts of a person, producing images with different effects by adjusting parameters. Therefore, these images are all fake.
Using this one-click undressing tool, the process of generating a nude image is also extremely fast: large batches of images can be generated in just a few seconds to a few minutes. This convenience has in turn spawned a downstream black market chain. After purchasing AI undressing tools, some people begin accepting one-click undressing orders, processing them for just a few yuan per image to make a profit.
Within this black market chain:
Upstream operators train large models and modify them to create “AI undressing” modules and tools;
Midstream operators use these tools to mass-produce fake obscene images and accept one-click undressing orders;
Downstream operators go even further, using these forged obscene images as “weapons” to carry out extortion and malicious defamation, inflicting targeted financial fraud and reputational harm on victims.
Li Tao, a procurator with the People's Procuratorate of Haidian District, Beijing: Relevant Chinese authorities have already issued the Interim Measures for the Management of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services, which clearly stipulates the obligations involved in providing, producing, and developing AI tools. Everyone must strictly comply with these requirements. For ordinary users, when using AI tools, you must never engage in illegal or criminal activities; otherwise, “technological neutrality” will absolutely not be enough to escape criminal liability.
