Entire Atrioc streamer deepfake controversy explained

Twitch streamer and former executive of the social media platform Brandon "Atrioc" announced that he is stepping away from content creation and his role as co-founder of OFFBRAND following a recent controversy surrounding him.

The streamer is accused of paying for AI-generated deepfake pornography using the likenesses of popular female streamers. After accidentally revealing the images on his stream, he apologized to his fans and the women in question, including Pokimane, Maya Higa, QTCinderella, and more.

In his TwitLonger, he stated that he would use the time away from content creation to help combat the spread of deepfake pornography, covering the financial costs of having the image hosting website in question taken down.

"I will try my absolute hardest to combat the damage I caused."

Atrioc paid for deepfake pornography of streamers

The controversy began when the Twitch streamer was playing Hitman for his viewers. He alt-tabbed during the stream, accidentally revealing that he was on a site that creates AI-generated deepfake pornography.

He did not address the tab at the time, but a clip of the moment from his January 26 stream began spreading on the internet. Reddit users identified the site as one where users pay for access to explicit deepfakes of female streamers, including Pokimane, Maya Higa, and QTCinderella.

As the controversy spread, Atrioc went live on Twitch alongside his wife to apologize for his actions. He explained that he came across the website via an advertisement on the popular explicit website PornHub. He said his interest in AI art and music possibly contributed to the ad catching his interest.

"I got morbidly curious and I clicked something. It’s gross and I’m sorry."

Atrioc went on to say that this was not a pattern of behavior, claiming that he purchased access to the site the same day he accidentally revealed the tab on his stream. He claimed to have a receipt for the paywall but was advised against showing it on his stream.

The apology continued on his Twitter, where he posted a TwitLonger specifically apologizing to Pokimane and Maya Higa, whose likenesses were shown in the tab he revealed.

"I'm sorry I didn't reach out sooner, I'm sorry my actions have lead to further exploitation of you and your body, and I'm sorry your experience is not uncommon."

Atrioc also stated that he would be taking time away from streaming, as well as stepping away from his duties as co-founder of OFFBRAND, to focus on assisting QTCinderella and her legal team in having these sites and images taken down from the internet.