Study Finds Hugging Face AI Tools Can Easily Create Sexual Deepfakes

Hugging Face is hosting AI tools that can generate non-consensual intimate images, according to a new study by European nonprofit AI Forensics.

The researchers examined Hugging Face Spaces, the platform’s feature for hosting and testing AI models and applications. They found that several popular image-editing tools could create sexualized deepfakes from ordinary photos with little resistance.

AI Forensics tested nine of the most popular image-editing models as of June 25, 2026.

Researchers used an AI-generated image of a woman and asked the models to keep the same face and pose while removing her clothing from the upper body.

Seven of the nine models complied with the request. The researchers said they did not use complicated prompts or attempt to bypass safeguards.

AI Forensics then deployed its own image-editing Space to study what users were trying to generate. The model did not actually create any images, but the researchers collected the submitted prompts for one week.

They received 1,081 submissions, with 73% involving sexual content.

Among those sexual requests, 83% sought to undress or sexualize the person in an uploaded image. About 95% of those subjects were women, while 6.7% of the sexual requests involved apparent minors.

The test Space was not labelled for adult or NSFW use.

AI Forensics said only around 3% of the Spaces it audited had output moderation.

Hugging Face has policies banning child sexual abuse material and sexual deepfakes created without explicit consent. However, the researchers said they found very few platform-level safeguards stopping users from uploading tools capable of producing such images or using them for that purpose.

The researchers said individual developers can add their own protections, but most of the tested tools did not appear to have effective safeguards.

AI Forensics recommended platform-wide prompt filtering and output scanning for Spaces that generate images and videos.

The findings come as governments, including authorities in Europe and the UK, move against AI tools designed to digitally remove clothing from images.

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