Technology

Did Elon Musk offer Tucker Carlson the Twitter CEO job after Carlson was fired from Fox News? No, that's not true: The website that posted the story is a satirical site. It included quotes that were never posted on Twitter by Musk regarding Carlson. The CEO of Twitter at the time of writing was Linda Yaccarino. The claim appeared in…

Did a "top official with the World Economic Forum (WEF)" call for "religious scripture to be 'rewritten' by artificial intelligence (AI) to create a globalized 'new Bible'"? No, that's not true: Author and WEF contributor Yuval Noah Harari, who is not considered a "top official" with the international economic organization, did not call for a "new Bible" to be written…

Did federal prosecutors "quietly" drop all 13 criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed crypto-exchange FTX? No, that's not true: On June 14, 2023, prosecutors announced that, for the time being, they would withdraw five of the charges against him. However, Bankman-Fried still faces eight charges related to his alleged orchestration of a scheme involving billions of…

Does a photograph authentically show Tom Cruise with his two "stunt doubles"? No, that's not true: An image shared widely on social media in June 2023 was generated using the artificial intelligence program Midjourney, the image creator confirmed to Lead Stories. A version of the claim originated in an image shared to Twitter on June 7, 2023, (archived here) that…

Has the Chinese space program staged an elaborate and obvious hoax? Is an open glass jar with water in it sitting out on a table in plain sight during a mission evidence that they did not really go into space? No, that's not true: Shenzhou-13 was one of a series of manned space missions by China National Space Agency. This…

Do photos show that the craft store chain Hobby Lobby is selling demonic statues? No, that's not true: These images have been created by an AI artist. The images originated on Reddit and Facebook in groups for AI art. Hive Moderation, a program that detects whether content is AI-generated or not, concluded that there is a 99.9 percent chance that…

Did astronaut Buzz Aldrin say the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing "didn't happen"? No, that's not true: The video clip in the post that makes this claim is misleading since it left out important context from one of Aldrin's quotes in a 2015 question-and-answer session. The claim appeared in a post on Instagram on June 11, 2023. The caption opened:…

Is livestreamed footage of the lunar module Challenger's 1972 takeoff from the moon fake since the technology did not exist at the time to livestream such an event? No, that's not true: NASA's chief historian confirmed to Lead Stories that the "footage is authentic to the Apollo 17 mission." As part of the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s,…

Did Elon Musk launch an AI cryptocurrency trading platform called Bitsoft 360 AI? No, that's not true: This video of Musk was taken from a guest appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast on September 7, 2018, and its transcript shows Musk never said, "I launched an AI cryptocurrency trading platform called Bitsoft 360." The fabricated audio has been added to…

Was an explosion caused by a Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) caught on tape -- showing a beam of light coming down from the sky in the split-second before the enormous blast? No, that's not true: Although this footage of an explosion is real, the momentary appearance of a beam of light is an illusion created by the video recording technology…

Has Canada's Bill C-11 caused Canadians' social media posts to be censored, including posts about Canadian wildfires? No, that's not true: Bill C-11, also known as the Online Streaming Act, became law in Canada in April 2023. It requires that online streaming platforms contribute to Canadian content and only affects online streaming companies, not users who create content and post…

Is this footage of the tall creature reported in a Las Vegas backyard shortly after a police body camera picked up a bright green flash in the night sky in April of 2023? No, that's not true: This footage was posted by a TikTok user who makes CGI videos and labeled this video as such. The CGI video has been…

Did Elon Musk send a tweet calling for the introduction of "Twitter News," which would be a 20-minute clip each day covering "the most relevant topics from an unbiased viewpoint"? No, that's not true: The tweet originated on a parody account but got widespread traction anyway. Many people did not notice the account wasn't the real Elon Musk. The tweet…

Did Ukraine demand Elon Musk delete Tucker Carlson's Twitter account within 72 hours, threatening consequences if the demand was not complied with? No, that's not true: the claim originated on a Russian Telegram channel known for satirical content that regularly posts fake quotes from people who are in the news. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's official website makes no mention of…

Is there legitimate footage of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi giving a "shoot to kill order" for those who participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021? Similarly, is there legitimate footage of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arguing with Pelosi and President Joe Biden about finding ways to punish the January 6 rioters? No, neither of…

Did an artificial intelligence (AI) drone kill its operator in a U.S. Air Force simulated test? No, that's not true: Although a report of a conference stated that the Air Force conducted such a test, the official who gave the details later clarified that he "mis-spoke" and that the anecdote was a "thought experiment" rather than a real-world simulation. The…

Did Elon Musk promote a brand of sea moss as a remedy to help a variety of health issues? No, that's not true: This video footage that appears to show Musk volunteering an endorsement during an interview is fake. The clip was taken from an appearance at the TED2022 conference, where Musk discussed purchasing Twitter and other topics but did…

Does a video shared on social media show "leaked footage of our flat Earth from 1977"? No, that's not true: A 22-second clip that was first posted to TikTok in February 2023 was created by a satirical account that uses computer-generated imagery (CGI). Versions of the video were later shared to social media accounts without the satirical disclaimer to suggest…

Does a post show "new video evidence" of Maricopa County election officials breaking into sealed election machines? No, that's not true: The "new" video is a recording of a 2022 public live stream of the Maricopa County, Arizona, election headquarters where workers were installing new memory cards into the ballot tabulators prior to the November 2022 election, the spokesperson for…

Does a number code printed on a streetlight match that of a ribosomal protein and does this show that mRNA from the COVID-19 vaccines can be activated using optogenetic technology if a vaccinated person is exposed to the light from the street lamp? No, that's not true: The L17 marking on the LED street lamp appears to be a product…