To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: On March 10, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI or Bureau) issued a Private Industry Notification (PIN) advising companies that “[m]alicious actors almost certainly will leverage synthetic content for cyber and foreign influence operations in the next 12-18 months.” The FBI’s stark warning—a first related to what are commonly referred to as deepfakes (synthetic media that is either wholly created or altered by artificial intelligence or machine learning)—comes amid rising awareness of the prevalence and potential dangers of disinformation in general and highly realistic phony media, in particular. For example, in February, believable deepfake videos of Tom Cruise appearing to play golf, walk through a store and do a magic trick went viral online, suggesting that the era of nearly “flawless forgeries” has arrived.