Microsoft sues anonymous defendants for illegal access to servers and unsafe AI content

Microsoft has filed a lawsuit in Virginia against ten anonymous defendants, accusing them of illegally accessing its servers to create harmful AI content. The company claims the defendants developed tools to bypass safety measures in its Azure Service. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants stole API keys from legitimate customers to produce illicit content. Microsoft discovered the abuse in July 2024 and has since taken action, including removing a related GitHub repository and seizing a website linked to the operation. The complaint details a tool called de3u, which was designed to steal API keys and communicate with Microsoft servers. This tool also aimed to bypass content filters, allowing the generation of restricted images and content.