Deepfakes

Did President Donald Trump post an AI-generated image of himself standing between Gen. George Patton and Gen. Douglas MacArthur, with all three men wearing inaccurate uniforms? Yes, that's true: The image appeared on his Truth Social account. An AI detection tool found a SynthID watermark, indicating the image was generated using OpenAI tools, while another concluded that it was very…

Does a real video show the moment a passenger plane made an emergency landing on a highway in Georgia? No, that's not true: This video is AI-generated. The Hive Moderation AI-generated content detection tool found the video was 96.1% likely to be AI-generated. Searches of Google News did not show a recent incident involving a large passenger plane crash landing…

Is a photo real that shows White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, second lady Usha Vance and Katie Miller, wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, holding their babies as President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look on? There is no evidence that the three women, along with the Trumps, posed for such an image. In…

Have you seen a viral video showing a beautiful policewoman asking for engagement or friendship, a simple "Hello" or a follow? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. They do not show real people or situations although the videos are produced for audiences in several…

Does a viral image show a real restaurant bill from Le Club 55 in St. Tropez for 689,235.43 EUR? No, that's not true: It displayed a nonexistent business code and contained math errors. Le Club 55 told Lead Stories that the restaurant doesn't even serve what appeared on the receipt. Four online tools said that the image was generated by…

Was a man named "François Faivre", the supposed surgeon who "announced Brigitte Macron's transgender transformation," found dead in Paris in June 2026? No, that's not true: Lead Stories searched the French national registry of the deceased but found no exact matches. The claim came from a video showing AI-generated people that has resurfaced on the internet multiple times since 2025.…

Does a real video show a group of Muslim men kneeling on prayer rugs while riding on the London Tube? No, that's not true: The Hive Moderation AI-generated content detection tool determined the video was 99.9% likely to be AI-generated. There are multiple glitches and inconsistencies in the video pointing to the video being AI-generated -- one man has six…

Is Jason R. Day a real performance artist and impersonator who disappeared in 2012? No, that's not true: Day is an AI-generated character intended to satirize University of Cambridge professor Jason Arday in a fabricated Wikipedia page. Arday has been accused of plagiarism and of falsely exaggerating his achievements, including a claim to hold a "visiting professor" position at the…

Did Reuters publish a photo which shows a Moroccan police officer about to throw a rock down on a migrant who is crawling up a rocky embankment? No, that's not true: This image was made with OpenAI tools, it was not published by Reuters. The image closely resembles a scene which really did occur in or near the Spanish territory…

Does a viral image show the real face of a woman who seemed to have waved at migrants in Ceuta, Spain? No, that's not true: The picture portrayed the woman with an anatomically impossible nose. The image was generated by AI, according to AI verification tools and instructions for the original version of the image. The claim appeared in a…

Is there a real photo of WNBA players Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark wearing T-shirts with the words "XX-XY Athletics" printed on them? No, that's not true: The image was created with AI, as a verification tool showed. There are no credible news reports of the image being real. The claim appeared in a post made on X by user…

Is a video showing a suspect climbing on top of an SUV to taunt police during a car chase in Los Angeles authentic? No, that's not true: The original footage of the car chase, captured by a local news station, does not show the driver climbing onto the roof of a white SUV to dance and taunt police in L.A.…

Does a real video show New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani not applauding at the funeral of Staff Sgt. Angel Rampersad? No, that's not true: The video is AI-generated. It was originally posted with an AI disclaimer. The video has since been republished without the disclaimer. The video was reposted (archived here) on X by @magagrunt1 on Aug. 1, 2026. The…

Does a video show a migrant crisis in Ceuta, Spain? No, that's not true: The clip was uploaded to social media weeks earlier. Two online AI detectors suggested the presence of generative AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) published on Facebook on July 30, 2026. It opened: Is this an invasion of Spain? This is…

Did Caitlin Clark "clap back" at Angel Reese, knocking her, or a Golden State Valkyries player, to the floor? No, that's not true: This video clip is AI-generated. It was based on a real altercation between Indiana Fever's star Caitlin Clark and the Valkyries forward Janelle Salaun during a May 22, 2026, game in Indianapolis. Real game footage was used…

Does a real photo show an army officer with the "nuclear football" chained to what is described on social media as a "diaper bag" carried by Trump aide Natalie Harp? No, that's not true: The original photo didn't display an army officer or the briefcase allowing access to the nuclear arsenal. The image was digitally altered by AI. The claim…

Did MS NOW host Rachel Maddow broadcast a transcript of a call between former Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Bondi and Trump were ever recorded having such a call, nor is there any evidence that Maddow broadcast a transcript of one. In addition, an AI detection tool concluded…

Does a real video or screenshot show President Donald Trump slumped over asleep at the White House Correspondents' Dinner with his mouth hanging open? No, that's not true: A deepfake video appears to be based on real footage from the dinner but has been altered to make Trump appear to fight sleep in an over-the-top, absurdist way. The video was…

Does a viral video show Elon Musk walking together with his family and talking with his children? No, that's not true: A real photo from 2025 was used to generate the AI video. Other than the one source photo, the rest of the scene was imagined by AI. The video has an obvious glitch. It begins with a group of…

Did Donald Trump post an image of himself with John F. Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jesus Christ on his Truth Social account? No, that's not true: The image, which appears to mimic a Truth Social post, did not originate with Trump. Instead, it first appeared on a social media account known for posting satirical content. A review of Trump's Truth…