Pennsylvania's state Senate voted 49-0 on Monday to ban so-called nudification apps, the artificial intelligence tools that can take an ordinary photo of a person and manipulate it into a fake nude or sexually explicit image without their consent. The legislation, Senate Bill 1368, would prohibit these applications from being developed, operated or made available anywhere in the state, including through online app marketplaces.
According to the Pennsylvania General Assembly's official record, the bill received third consideration and final passage in a unanimous 49-0 vote on Sept. 28. As WPXI reported, the measure would bar nudification apps from being offered on online application marketplaces in Pennsylvania and would prescribe penalties for violations, though the exact penalty structure was not detailed in the bill's public summary.
State Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, a Republican representing the 24th District who chairs the Senate Communications and Technology Committee, introduced the legislation and pushed it through committee earlier this year. The panel approved the bill with unanimous support in June, according to a statement from Pennycuick's office.
Why Pennycuick Says the Apps Have No Place in the State
Pennycuick has been blunt about her reasoning. Through artificial intelligence, she noted, individuals can take an image of another person and manipulate it to generate a fake nude or sexually explicit photo of that person — technology she argues serves no purpose beyond harm. In her committee statement, she said the apps should simply not be available in Pennsylvania at all, arguing that manipulated images can cause lasting emotional and reputational damage to victims.
The bill's other sponsors listed in the legislative record include Sens. Martin, Malone and Tartaglione, spanning both parties. After Senate passage, the General Assembly's bill-tracking page shows a Sept. 29, 2026 referral to the House Communications and Technology Committee as the bill's last action.
A Growing Wave of State Action on AI-Generated Images
Pennsylvania is not moving in isolation. Researchers have estimated that deepfakes—including images, audio and video—increased more than fivefold from 2019 to 2023, with studies showing more than 90% of pornographic deepfakes depict women and girls, according to PublicSource. That outlet also reported that local organizations supporting survivors of child sexual abuse material and revenge porn have seen an influx of reports from victims of explicit deepfakes, and that Pennsylvania joined more than 40 other states in 2024 and 2025 in legislating against non-consensual deepfakes.
A federal law, the Take It Down Act, now requires social media platforms to remove reported nonconsensual intimate images within 48 hours of a report, a mandate that took effect in May 2026 per the same PublicSource account. Minnesota, meanwhile, became the first state with an active ban on AI nudification technology, a law reported by MPR News that imposes a $500,000 fine on an AI company each time someone uses the technology and allows people whose images were used to seek damages.
A Companion Bill Already Moving in the House
Pennsylvania lawmakers have also been advancing a related measure aimed at victims rather than the apps themselves. The state House unanimously approved House Bill 2252 in June, legislation that would broaden existing law to cover a wider range of circumstances in which real or AI-generated intimate images are shared without a person's consent, according to the Lower Bucks Times. That bill has since advanced to the Senate for consideration, giving both chambers active proposals aimed at the same underlying problem from different angles.
Separately, the Pennsylvania Department of Education notes that under Act 125, it is a crime to disseminate certain nude, sexually explicit or AI-generated sexual depictions with intent to harass or annoy, though the full statutory language was not detailed in the agency's public materials. Whether the committee or the House will act on Senate Bill 1368, and when, remains unclear.
