A Beverly Hills middle school is investigating students sharing AI-made nude photos of classmates

Students at a middle school in Beverly Hills, California, used artificial intelligence technology to create fake nude photos of their classmates, according to school administrators. Now, the community is grappling with the fallout.

School officials at Beverly Vista Middle School were made aware of the “AI-generated nude photos” of students last week, the district superintendent said in a letter to parents. The superintendent told NBC News the photos included students’ faces superimposed onto nude bodies. The district did not share how it determined the photos were produced with artificial intelligence.

“It’s very scary, because people can’t feel safe to, you know, come to school,” a student at Beverly Vista Middle School who did not want to be identified told NBC Los Angeles. “They’re scared that people will show off, like, explicit photos.”

Beverly Hills Police Lt. Andrew Myers told NBC News that police responded to a call from the Beverly Hills Unified School District late last week and took a report about the incident. A noncriminal investigation is underway, Myers said. Because the investigation involves juveniles, Myers said, no further information can be shared.

The Beverly Hills case follows a series of similar incidents involving students’ creating and sharing AI-generated nude photos of their female classmates at high schools around the world. A New Jersey teen victim spoke about her experience in January in front of federal lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to advocate for a federal law criminalizing all nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes. No such federal law exists.

In a letter to parents obtained by NBC News, Beverly Hills Unified School District Superintendent Michael Bregy characterized the deepfake