Senate amends bill on AI-created sexual images of minors, removes 'receives' from prohibited conduct

The South Carolina Senate debated S.28 on Feb. 12, a bill that would criminalize certain uses of artificial intelligence to create sexualized images of children; senators adopted an amendment to strike the word “receives” from the list of prohibited conduct.

Supporters and some committee members said the bill aims to give prosecutors and law enforcement tools to combat AI-generated child sexual images by making it a felony to knowingly produce, distribute, solicit or possess with intent to distribute such visual depictions. The amendment adopted Thursday removes “receives” from that criminal list, a change sponsors said narrows exposure to people who unintentionally come into possession of such material.

The amendment’s sponsor said the “receives” language raised…