Technology

Does zooming in on the newspaper pictured in a July 12, 2026, press release from Sen. Mitch McConnell's office show that the photo was AI-generated? No, that's not true: The fake close-up image of the newspaper text is the result of an AI hallucination. The newspaper in the real photo is not in crisp focus, but it does match the…

While investigating a video for a recent fact-check, Lead Stories encountered a bizarre issue with the SynthID AI detector in Google's Gemini chatbot. Over several chats it appeared to contradict an earlier detection result for the same video file. Initially, the chatbot claimed the video file had a SynthID watermark in it, indicating the video was made or edited with…

Does real police bodycam footage show the moment police rescued a kidnapped child at Orlando International Airport? No, that's not true: This video is fake. Google's Gemini verification tool detected a SynthID watermark in the visuals and audio of the video. A search of Google News found no reporting matching a July 2019 incident where Officer Melissa Grant rescued a…

Does a real photo show Kyle Rittenhouse in an office space with Lil Wayne? No, that's not true: The image was created with tools from OpenAI. It follows a trend of showing Lil Wayne in different places after he missed a concert in Bangor, Maine. The claim appeared in a post made on X on July 2, 2026, by @rittenhouse2a,…

Is there a real image of "0-1" spray-painted under a Department of War plaque? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that graffiti was ever painted beneath the sign, which is located at the Pentagon. Image searches frequently returned a very similar image featuring the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. The claim appeared in a post made on X…

Did Donald Trump's Truth Social account really make a post about an API service being unavailable, implying that AI writes his posts? No, that's not true: The supposed post does not appear on the president's official Truth Social account, and there are no reliable reports that it ever did. The fake post was edited to look like the real thing,…

Did Middle East Eye publish a video report saying that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed to let Ukraine set up drone manufacturing plants in Armenia? No, that's not true: No such report appeared on the media outlet's website. It could not be found on their social media accounts either. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on…

Did the Armenian Mirror-Spectator actually publish a report saying that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed to resettle 250,000 refugees who are currently in EU countries? No, that's not true: Neither this news outlet nor any other journalistic publication produced such a report. Lead Stories found no traces of the alleged agreement. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published…

Did Israeli-based news outlet Haaretz report that Zelenskyy's former associate Timur Mindich fled to Israel carrying "800kg of gold" on a private jet? No, that's not true: The claim shared in viral posts originated from a counterfeit website that mimicked Haaretz. No credible news organizations reported on "800kg of gold" supposedly carried by Mindich on board the plane bound for…

Did OpenAI announce plans to let users "securely connect" ChatGPT to their DNA to modify specific parts of their body? No, that's not true: This fake announcement came from a parody account. A disclaimer in its bio states: "These are fake stories." There is no announcement from OpenAI about technology such as this. The false announcement appeared in a post…