Payment Processors Are Pushing AI Porn Off Its Biggest Platforms

Tensor.Art, an AI image creating and model sharing site announced on Friday that it is “temporarily” restricting AI models, tools, and posts related to pornographic content or the depiction of real-world celebrities due to pressure from payment processors.

The announcement is yet another example of payment processors acting as the ultimate arbiter of what kind of content can be easily made available online and those companies’ seemingly increased focus on AI-generated adult or nonconsensual content. 

The news is especially significant following a similar change in policy from Civitai, an AI model sharing platform 404 Media reporting has shown was used for creating nonconsensual pornography. After Civitai banned AI models designed to generate the likeness of real people and certain types of adult content in May, many Civitai users and model creators migrated their models to Tensor.Art. The announcement listed three items in the “Scope of Impact” of the decision: Banning “NSFW” content, banning content based on real-world celebrities, and  temporarily disabling its “Civitai Import” feature, which allowed people to easily move their Civitai models to Tensor.Art.

“We fully understand that this is very frustrating for many creators and users 😞,” Tensor.Art said in its announcement on Discord. “Due to the previous controversy over real-person content on Civitai, TA [Tensor.Art] has unfortunately been affected because of the ‘Civitai import’ feature. Owing to mandatory requirements from credit card organizations and regulatory authorities, we are compelled to make this temporary decision.”

Tensor.Art also listed the “Reasons for Adjustment” as:

Tensor.Art said that these changes will take place within the next 72 hours, and asked model creators to clarify if their models are “safe for work” in order to “prevent unintended impact.”

It’s not clear what Tensor.Art will look like or what its policies will be at the end of this “temporary” period. Civitai made similar changes permanently and still hasn’t been able to renew service from its payment processing providers or find new ones. Tensor.Art, however, is suggesting it’s not ready to give up on that type of content. 

“This is not the end,” Tensor.Art said in the announcement. “We are actively seeking solutions to minimize the impact of these restrictions and exploring compliant ways to restore currently hidden content. We remain committed to our original mission.”

Tensor.Art did not immediately respond to a request for comment.