New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday called for more artificial intelligence regulation after AI-generated photos depicting an adolescent Mamdani and his mother with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein surfaced online.
During a press conference to discuss the cold spell affecting New York City and how the city will provide help to at-risk residents, Mamdani fielded questions from reporters. He was asked about his feelings after being subjected to misinformation created by AI.
“At a personal level, it is incredibly difficult to see images that you know to be fake, that are patently photoshopped and AI-generated,” Mamdani said.
EPSTEIN FILES SHOW MUSK PLANNED TO VISIT INFAMOUS ISLAND FOR ‘WILDEST PARTY’ DESPITE DENIAL OF TIES
Mamdani shifted the conversation from AI photos of himself to the broader topic of AI. He said he had a conversation earlier in the day with the New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels about AI in schools.
“We have to work to ensure that we have a city, we have a state, we have a country that actually has a regulatory system when it comes to AI,” Mamdani said. “Frankly, what it looks like today is a system that is ill-equipped for the speed and the reach of the technologies in front of us.”
The photos were posted to social media by aggregator news accounts after a tranche of Epstein files was released by the Department of Justice last week.
The AI-generated photos show Mamdani’s mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, holding a baby presumed to be Mamdani in front of Epstein. Other photos depict a preteen Mamdani and his mother with Epstein, and other figures associated with the financier like Ghislane Maxwell, Bill Clinton, and Bill Gates.
Radio host Alex Jones also posted a video discussing the photos and claimed that Mamdani is Epstein’s son.
The photos have been proven to be fake and created using AI photo generation, with commentators noting that Mamdani would have been 18, not a preteen, when the photos would have been taken.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) has made AI harm reduction a significant part of her agenda as governor.
In January, she signed the RAISE Act, a law that requires large AI model developers to publish safety protocols and report critical harm incidents to the state within 72 hours.
AI GIANT’S LOBBYIST SPENDING EXPLODED AS IT CLASHED WITH TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
The legislation establishes a new oversight office within the Department of Financial Services to ensure transparency, with the Attorney General authorized to seek civil penalties of up to $3 million for non-compliance.
Hochul has also proposed legislation to combat the fraudulent use of AI by criminalizing the unauthorized use of a person’s voice and allowing individuals to seek judicial relief for digitally layered false material.
