TLDR: Asked about Taylor Swift AI deepfake images, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says ‘we have to act’

NBC Nightly News released an early written excerpt from an interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, in which he addresses explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift that appeared online. Nadella acknowledges the alarming and terrible nature of the deepfakes and emphasizes the need for action. He believes that all tech platforms have a responsibility to create a safe online environment. Nadella also mentions the importance of global convergence on certain norms and the role of law enforcement in governing deepfakes. The interview with Lester Holt airs on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt on January 30th.

Key Points:

• Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has commented on explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift that circulated online.
• Nadella believes that all tech platforms have a responsibility to create a safe online world.
• He emphasizes the importance of global convergence on norms and the role of law enforcement and tech platforms in governance.

NBC Nightly News released an early written excerpt from an interview scheduled to air Tuesday evening with Satya Nadella, in which anchor Lester Holt presses the Microsoft CEO about explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift that circulated online this week, asking about the tech company’s responsibility to take action on the issue.

“I think, first of all, absolutely this is alarming and terrible, and so therefore yes, we have to act,” Nadella said, in part. “And quite frankly all of us in the tech platform, irrespective of what your standing on any particular issue is. I think we all benefit when the online world is a safe world.”

A report by 404 Media said the fake explicit images originated in a “specific Telegram group dedicated to abusive images of women,” noting that at least one of the AI tools commonly used by the group is Microsoft Designer, which is based in part on technology from OpenAI’s DALL-E 3. From the partial transcript, it’s not entirely clear if Nadella is reacting specifically to the Taylor Swift images and Microsoft’s responsibility in this case, or generally to the issue of deepfakes as exemplified by this incident, or perhaps to both.

Here’s the excerpt as released by NBC Nightly News.

LESTER HOLT: As we sit here, the internet is exploding with fake, and I emphasize fake, sexually explicit images of Taylor Swift. What does that tell you about this technology and whether we can ever get the toothpaste back in the tube?

SATYA NADELLA: I would say two things: One, is again I go back to what I think’s our responsibility, which is all of the guardrails that we need to place around the technology so that there’s more safe content that’s being produced. And there’s a lot to be done and a lot being done there. But it is about global, societal — you know, I’ll say, convergence on certain norms. And we can do — especially when you have law and law enforcement and tech platforms that can come together — I think we can govern a lot more than we think — we give ourselves credit for.

HOLT: But what we’ve seen this – in these Taylor Swift images, does it set an alarm bell off —

NADELLA: Absolutely

HOLT: — in terms of what can be done? You’re Microsoft, you’ve got a high social, you know corporate responsibility. There are other players in this game who may not have that same benefit.

NADELLA: I think, first of all, absolutely this is alarming and terrible, and so therefore yes, we have to act. And quite frankly all of us in the tech platform, irrespective of what your standing on any particular issue is. I think we all benefit when the online world is a safe world. And so I don’t think anyone would want an online world that is completely not safe for, both for content creators and content consumers. So therefore I think it behooves us to move fast on this.

We’ve asked Microsoft for comment and clarification. The interview airs Tuesday, Jan. 30, on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. The timing is likely due to the release of Microsoft earnings on Tuesday afternoon, to ensure Nadella didn’t inadvertently disclose material information in advance of the financial results in potential violation of SEC rules.