Deepfakes

Is a video of President Trump's son Barron Trump singing a song on the show "America's Got Talent" authentic? No, that's not true: The YouTube channel that originally published it said the song and video were created with the help of AI technology. This was confirmed using AI detection tools. There were several signs the video was AI generated such…

Is a grayscale video of various celebrities wearing a t-shirt featuring a Star of David on a hand giving the finger to Kanye West a real ad? No, that's not true: The AI generated video, set to the tune of Jewish folk song "Hava Nagila", appears to show Scarlett Johansson, Jerry Seinfeld, Steven Spielberg, Mark Zuckerberg, Sacha Baron Cohen, David…

Does a video being spread on social media show a real sinkhole that opened up in Paris? No, that's not true: The video originated on the Instagram account of an "AI video expert" and several details in the video reveal it is not real. A detection tool also said the video was AI generated. The video originally appeared in an…

Is there evidence the Coca-Cola Company called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on their own workers in Texas and did several of them get deported as a result? No, that's not true: Online posts and videos making this claim lack details about the concrete place and time this supposedly happened and they offer up differing versions of events. A…

Does an authentic photo show firefighters standing on a plane floating in a river while surrounded by boats and cars after a January 2025 plane crash in Washington? No, that's not true: A specialized detection tool showed the image was generated using artificial intelligence. Several details in the image, like cars sitting on top of the water and missing engines…

Does an authentic photo show Canadian Liberal Party leadership candidate Mark Carney with Jeffrey Epstein in a pool? No, that's not true: Multiple online artificial intelligence detectors judged that this image was almost certainly AI generated. Lead Stories found no real photos of Carney and Epstein together after consulting online news archives and image searching tools. The image appeared in…

Does a video that shows an entire city engulfed in flames as a dozen helicopters hover overhead authentically capture a scene from the Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025? No, that's not true: Multiple online artificial intelligence detectors judged that this video and its audio -- with a lone siren blaring and the crackling sound of fires burning in the…

Does a video show real wildfire scenes of firefighters in rugged terrain, fire raging and a suburban neighborhood in California? No, that's not true: This video on Facebook is AI generated. Lead Stories tracked the source of a clip in this video back to a TikTok creator who has their account marked, "AI Lover." They have published 69 AI generated…

Does an authentic video show Dr. Mehmet Oz promoting a "cure" for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD? No, that's not true: AI detection tools found the video was likely created using AI technology. There is no known cure for COPD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here)…

Does an authentic video show Elon Musk promoting a Barbara O'Neill remedy for erectile dysfunction and prostatitis? No, that's not true: Two AI detection tools found that the video was likely manipulated using AI technology. Lead Stories has found other AI-generated endorsement videos for O'Neill, an unregistered health practitioner. The story appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook…

Did a man named Brian Thompson from Romford, U.K., die in an ambulance after "anti tax activists" blocked the roads with "Lamborghini tractors"? No, that's not true: The image of the supposedly deceased man on social media was AI generated. In fact, the photo came from the face-generating website This Person Does Not Exist. The claim appeared in a post…

Did an authentic photo show Elon Musk dancing in a mesh halter mini-shirt in 2018? No, that's not true: Two AI detection tools found that the image was generated using AI technology. Lead Stories found that the photo was posted in March 2024 -- not in 2018. Furthermore, the account that posted the image provided no evidence to support this…

Did Elon Musk announce a Tesla phone model called "Pi" as of November 26, 2024? No, that's not true: There was no such announcement on either the Tesla website or Tesla's official X profile when this fact check was written. The image shared in a post reporting the "breaking" announcement included digitally manipulated images. The claim appeared in a post…

Did President-elect Donald Trump announce $6,400 "relief checks" that "any American can qualify for"? No, that's not true: A video on Facebook showing Trump announcing the checks is a deepfake. A link in the post did not direct users to an official government website but rather to a health insurance webpage. As of this publication, the government had not announced…

Did Elon Musk announce in November 2024 that Tesla was launching a $10,000 home to provide more affordable housing? No, that's not true: The Tesla CEO made no such announcement on the company website nor through his account on X. Similar claims of a "Tesla House" go back years, though there has been no such announcement. This claim appeared in…

Does an image on social media authentically show Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a ventilator in a hospital? No, that's not true: The picture shows a person with a differently shaped ear. Lead Stories analysis found other inconsistencies that strongly suggested digital manipulation. The image has been on social media since at least 2023. The picture reappeared in a…

Did President-elect Donald Trump say that if he was elected, he would personally have Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrested if Trudeau sets one foot in the United States? No, that's not true: This is an AI-generated voiceover that has been added to a video clip of Trump. The original TikTok video was marked with the hashtag "fake video." The…

Does a recording on social media show Jordan Peterson discussing Antarctica on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast? No, that's not true: In the authentic Joe Rogan recording featuring Peterson, the Canadian psychologist does not mention Antarctica. AI detection tool True Media found substantial evidence the audio in the post was generated by AI. Lead Stories has previously fact checked similar…

Did Mike Tyson drape a Palestinian flag around his shoulders around the time of a boxing match? No, that's not true: Tyson's publicist confirmed that the photo of him appearing to wear the flag was "a fake." Online image analysis tools suggest the viral image may be the product of artificial intelligence. The photo appeared in a post (archived here)…

Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly announce plans to introduce a car with a water-powered engine in November 2024? No, that's not true: There is no record that Musk or Tesla formally introduced this concept, such as trustworthy media reports. An online AI detector tool found that images published in a post about the supposed announcement were almost certainly fakes…