NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Creating and sharing deceptive media made with artificial intelligence is now a crime in New Jersey and open to lawsuits under a new state law.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Wednesday making the creation and dissemination of so-called deceptive deepfake media a crime punishable by up to five years in prison, and establishing a basis for lawsuits against perpetrators.

New Jersey joins a growing list of states enacting measures taking aim at media created using generative AI. At least 20 states have passed similar legislation that targets such media involving elections.

As of last year, governors in more than a dozen states had signed laws cracking down on digitally created or altered child sexual abuse imagery, according to a review by The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

New Jersey’s law stems in part from the story of Westfield High School student Francesca Mani, who stood alongside the governor as he signed the bill this week. Mani said she became the victim of a deepfake video two years ago and was told that the only punishment for the person who created it was a short suspension because there were no laws against such media.

“Doing nothing is no longer an option,” said Mani, who pushed for the legislation and was recognized by Time last year as an anti-deepfake activist.

The measure defines a deepfake as any video or audio recording or image that appears to a reasonable person to realistically depict someone doing something they did not actually do.

In addition to prison time upon conviction, the law establishes civil penalties that would permit victims to pursue lawsuits.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Webb Space Telescope has captured pictures of the asteroid that caused a stir earlier this year when it topped Earth’s hit list.

Discovered late last year, the asteroid 2024 YR4 was predicted at one point to have a 3% chance of smacking Earth in 2032. Additional observations prompted scientists to reduce the threat to virtually zero, where it remains. But there’s a slight chance it could hit the moon then. The asteroid swings our way every four years.

NASA and the European Space Agency released the photos — showing the asteroid as a fuzzy dot — on Wednesday. Webb confirm the asteroid is nearly 200 feet (60 meters) across, or about the height of a 15-story building, according to the two space agencies. It’s the smallest object ever observed by the observatory, the biggest and most powerful ever sent into space.

Johns Hopkins University astronomer Andrew Rivkin said the observations by Webb served as “invaluable” practice for other asteroids that may threaten us down the road. Ground telescopes also have tracked this particular space rock over the past few months.

All this “gives us a window to understand what other objects the size of 2024 YR4 are like, including the next one that might be heading our way,” Rivkin, who helped with the observations, said in a statement.

DALLAS (AP) — Hooters is going bust.

The U.S. restaurant chain, known for chicken wings and its skimpy “Hooters Girls” wait-staff outfits, has filed for bankruptcy protection. HOA Restaurant Group filed the motion for Chapter 11 protection Monday in the North Texas Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.

It’s the latest legacy restaurant chain to run into financial trouble amid high food and labor prices, changing customer tastes and growing competition from newer casual chains like Shake Shack.

Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and Buca di Beppo all filed for bankruptcy protection last year, while the Tex-Mex chain On the Border filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

Under the Hooters bankruptcy plan, 100 company-owned U.S. restaurants would be sold to a group of Hooters franchisees. The franchisees, who include Hooters’ founders, currently operate 14 of the 30 highest-volume Hooters restaurants in the U.S., the company said.

“For many years now, the Hooters brand has been owned by private equity firms and other groups with no history or experience with the Hooters brand,” Neil Kiefer, CEO of the franchise group Hooters Inc., said in a statement. “As a result of these transactions, the Hooters brand will once again be in the hands of highly experienced Hooters franchisees and we will be well-positioned to return this iconic brand to its historic success.”

The group of buyers said Tuesday it wouldn’t comment on the deal’s financial terms.

Hooters said franchisees or licensing partners would continue to operate all existing locations, including those outside the U.S. There are approximately 305 Hooters restaurants in 29 states and 17 countries, according to court filings.

Hooters, based in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983 by six businessmen with no food service experience who claimed they wanted to run a restaurant they couldn’t get kicked out of.

But its business strategy has faced challenges over the years, including lawsuits over hiring only “Hooters Girls” to serve customers. In 2017, the company tried opening a restaurant that didn’t feature servers in tight tops as a test of a different approach to its original concept.

Last year, Hooters agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a race and color discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to the lawsuit, a Hooters in North Carolina laid off 43 employees during the COVID pandemic, but recalled primarily white employees and Black employees with lighter skin tones once it began rehiring workers.

The company has also been forced to scale back as its financial woes mounted. In 2019, the Hooters hotel-casino off the Las Vegas Strip was sold to an Indian hotel company and rebranded as the OYO Hotel and Casino. Last year, the company closed around 40 underperforming U.S. locations.

Hooters had sponsored the No. 9 NASCAR car driven by Chase Elliott since 2017, but last year, Hendrick Motorsports ended its ties to the longtime sponsor because it was not meeting its financial commitments.