Real-time deepfake video software sold in China for face-swapping
Reporters found vendors in China selling real-time deepfake video software for 1,280 yuan that swaps users' faces with celebrities and clones their voices in livestreams and video calls on major platforms. The software bypasses platform detection by intercepting phone camera feeds rather than modifying platform algorithms, and defeats earlier methods to expose deepfakes like hand gestures.
What happened
Undercover journalists found vendors selling AI deepfake software that performs real-time face-swapping and voice cloning for video calls and livestreams on Chinese platforms including WeChat, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu. The software costs 1,280 yuan for pre-made celebrity faces including those of Yang Mi, Dilireba, and Liu Yifei, and 1,980 yuan for custom faces.
The technology works by intercepting the phone camera feed rather than modifying platform algorithms, allowing it to bypass platform detection systems. Users can use the fake faces while hand gestures, nose-pressing, teeth-showing, and large facial obstructions no longer expose the deepfake, unlike earlier face-swap methods.
Reported impact
Platforms including WeChat, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu have difficulty detecting the real-time deepfakes because they were not designed for forensic-level facial or audio analysis, according to Sensity AI co-founder Francesco Cavalli. Encryption and compression of audio signals further complicate detection and increase computational burden.
Index analysis
The 2024 AI Index Report documented 123 artificial intelligence abuse incidents in 2023, a 32.3 percent increase from 2022, and a more than twentyfold increase since 2013. In 2023, incidents involving deepfake technology bypassing identity verification increased 704 percent.
Governance controls
Platforms stated they prohibit the sale of AI face-swap products and similar items. China's legal experts noted that providing software to intercept camera feeds may constitute the crime of providing programs to intrude computer information systems, with both developers and users facing liability.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.