An Oakland County man, Joshua Stilman, is facing federal charges after the FBI said he used artificial intelligence to cyberstalk and extort social media influencer Anne Blodgett by creating and threatening to release AI-generated pornographic images of her. A federal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Michigan stated that the harassment began with unsolicited direct messages on Instagram and continued for months, according to The Detroit News.
Blodgett, an Instagram content creator, first tried to calm the situation with humor before it escalated into threats of violence and the release of AI-generated images. She said, "If you’re going to start making sexual assault threats at me, that is something I take very seriously," and added that she was determined to pursue justice in an interview with FOX 2 Detroit.
Stilman’s threats escalated into vulgar messages and photos in a Google Drive, which revealed his identity and linked the “FriendBlender” account to his “ThisDIYGuy” account, as mentioned by ClickOnDetroit. After Blodgett confronted him, Stilman blocked her and attempted to erase his online presence. He was arrested, released on a $10,000 bond, and is scheduled to return to federal court on October 14 on charges of interstate communications of a threat to extort and cyberstalking. Blodgett, who went public with her case and worked with the FBI, said, “I’m deeply grateful to the FBI for treating this with the seriousness it deserves,” as per FOX 2 Detroit.
