Phillip Michael McCorkle was arrested in Vero Beach, Florida, for allegedly creating and distributing AI-generated child pornography.

McCorkle is facing 20 counts of obscenity.

The investigation began after the Indian River County Sheriff's Office received tips about McCorkle's activities.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received 4,700 reports of generated AI child pornography last year.

A 2023 Stanford University study found hundreds of child sex abuse images in widely-used generative AI image data sets.