Law & Order’s Nicholas Baxter Made a Cameo on SVU to Help with a Troubling AI Case
Law & Order fans love a crossover moment, and Baxter ended up playing a role in Benson's latest case.
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This story contains spoilers for Law & Order: SVU Season 27, Episode 4 ("Clickbait").
Law & Order has been exploring the darker side of AI on both the original series and Special Victims Unit, and District Attorney Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn) has been busy as ever with the legal mayhem.
Right after Law & Order's Season 25's "Hindsight" saw a young teenager murdered after cyberbullying his peer with AI-edited nude photos, SVU's elite squad caught wind of a similar case wherein teenagers were abusing AI tools to generate adult content featuring minors in Season 27's "Clickbait." After a teen girl and her teacher are tormented by fake AI-generated photos of the pair engaging in sexual behavior, Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) found herself grappling with the lack of accountability the AI company suffered in the fallout.
Benson decided this couldn't fly, inviting ADA's Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino) and his second chair C.J. Jones (Norma Kuhling) into the squad room to get their thoughts, illuminating them in the rise of cases involving AI-generated revenge porn, deep fakes, and non-consensual intimate imagery. Sure, people had been arrested for abusing AI, but how could they prevent future victims from the same fate? Benson wanted to go after the AI company criminally.
RELATED: How Tony Goldwyn Was Part of Law & Order Years Before He Became DA Nicolas Baxter
"Getting criminal charges to stick to these companies is a tall order," C.J. told Benson.
"Well, she knows that," Carisi schooled her. "But we're about to find out why she still thinks that's a good idea."
Carisi took a complicated case to D.A. Nicholas Baxter for help on SVU
After giving Carisi and C.J. a goosebump-inducing demonstration of the AI company Nudai's tools, which allowed users to manipulate photos into adult content, Benson found herself desperate for reform, wanting to go after Nudai's CEO, Lucas Boone.
"This is not innovation, this is sexual abuse," Benson told them. "Look, I know it's a big swing..."
"But it’s still a good idea," Carisi agreed. "We'll take it to Baxter."
"Let's hope he agrees," C.J. nodded, immediately taking the case to the Manhattan District Attorney.
As expected, Baxter was apprehensive about the legal rhetoric behind the indictment of Nudai, telling Carisi and C.J. that the D.A.'s office has no role in creating new case law, that would be a job for the legislative branch in Albany.
"Albany takes a month and a half to agree on their lunch order," Carisi groaned before Baxter suggested going after the AI company in a civil case. But Carisi reminded him that many AI civil cases had yet to be settled, and the fines did nothing to address the obstruction of justice. The AI companies absorb fines as a price of business.
"The laws are always struggling to catch up with new technology," C.J. argued. "But guys like Boone, they're counting on it."
"They act with impunity, they destroy lives, and then they face no consequences," Carisi explained. "So if we could just indict them, then all these other shady operations are going to stop and they're going to step back."
"Waiting to see how this plays out," C.J. added.
Baxter remained skeptical. "Provided you can convince the jury."
"The public knows what's going on out there," Carisi said. "They see it in the news, they see it in the Facebook feeds, and they're afraid. And if we can't protect them by getting new laws on the books, then we've got to get creative in enforcing the ones that already exist."
Baxter couldn't argue with that, deciding that this was a big swing worth playing out. "OK, you’ve got your case," Baxter told them before the A.D.A.s got to work.
Baxter's warning ended up determining the ruling
After arresting Boone for the creation and dissemination of child sexual material, the defense tried to argue that he'd simply created a neutral service, and the SVU was being overzealous. Had Boone made the images? No. Was the person who made the images arrested? Yes. Luckily, C.J. and the squad discovered that Boone bought out his original business partner and co-founder, giving the SVU the break they needed in the case.
C.J. met with the original co-founder, discovering that the app was originally designed just to age and de-age photos, until Boone realized he could pivot to a more “profitable” market using the same technology, adult content. After the co-founder testified to this, the jury found Boone's company guilty on all charges. Then, SVU delivered an intense real-world twist after the Judge dismissed the jury and asked the prosecution and defense to remain in the courtroom.
The Judge applauded the SVU for their case, citing the jury's findings as understandable considering the emotional nature of the case. But just as Baxter warned them, the laws as written didn't support the ruling. The Judge agreed that Nudai's business practices were "despicable, negligent, and lacking in basic decency," but not technically criminal. To convict Boone would be a miscarriage of justice, so he was forced to set the verdict aside, much to the SVU's dismay.
"I don't disagree with your intent in this case, but if you wish to change the laws, you will need to go to Albany, not my courtroom," the Judge concluded before allowing the defendant to go free.
Carisi reassured a fretful C.J. that sometimes big swings don't make it out of the park, and while they lost, the wave of civil cases coming for Nudai would likely end his business within weeks, which was a win.
"Yeah, too bad about 10 more companies just like his got incorporated today," C.J. said, leaving the courtroom entirely dejected.
Watch Law & Order Thursdays on NBC, or stream episodes of Law & Order Season 25 and Law & Order: SVU on Peacock.
