Inside the marketplace powering bespoke AI deepfakes of real women

Civitai, an online marketplace backed by Andreessen Horowitz, allows users to buy custom instruction files for creating deepfakes of real women, despite the company's ban on such content. Researchers found that a significant portion of requests on the platform were for deepfakes targeting women, with 86% of these requests involving LoRAs. Users can purchase these files with the site's currency, Buzz, which can be bought with real money. Despite a ban on deepfake content announced in May 2025, many requests and submissions remain on the site. The platform's approach to moderation and legal liability for user-generated content remains a topic of debate.