Deepfakes

Do two reels posted to Facebook authentically show clips of tornadoes that occurred in Dubai and Canada? No, that's not true: Experts told Lead Stories that the twisters shown in the clips were fake and 100 percent AI-generated content. There are prominent elements in the videos that indicate manipulation and editing have been used to create them. One claim originated…

Were University of Texas students who knelt during the national anthem "removed from scholarships" as a social media post with a link to an article in the comments said? No, that's not true: The photo appearing with the story depicts cheerleaders at Kennesaw State University, in Georgia. As of August 27, 2024 there was no public statement by the University…

Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump team up to conduct a cryptocurrency scam that would violate election laws, as claimed in a post on X? No, that's not true: Footage from the 2024 Tesla shareholder's meeting, streamed live, was altered with a fake AI-generated voice and facial synchronizing animation. Musk's original presentation had no mention of "crypto", the altered video…

Does a video show Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' pick as her vice presidential running mate, dancing in a cowboy hat and with dollar bills stuck in his pants? No, that's not true: The video has been altered to add Walz's face onto the person dancing. The original video is of musician Alejandro Casas, who is known as El Divo 956,…

Does an authentic photo show five men dancing while waving an Israeli flag as New York's World Trade Center towers burn in the background on September 11, 2001? No, that's not true: This photo was created using AI. Portions of the image are distorted, and a massive fireball appears to be in the sky beside the Twin Towers, not on…

Did Fox News broadcast a segment about online influencer MrBeast starting his own online casino "where everyone wins"? No, that's not true: The video contained signs of digital manipulation, and an AI-detection tool further confirmed that the segment was not authentic. A Fox News spokesperson denied that the network aired such a segment. Lead Stories found no traces of the…

Does a photograph shared to X in August 2024 genuinely show Pope Francis wearing a rainbow scarf? No, that's not true: One digital forensics website concluded that the photograph was "99.9% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content." Another indicated the photo was 96 percent "artificial." The image also contained several artifacts like weird fingers, inconsistent clothing and odd hair…

Do images shared on Facebook genuinely show what appears to be a UFO in the "remote desert of Egypt"? No, that's not true: Hive Moderation, an online tool used to detect AI-generated images, confirmed that it was 99.6 percent likely the images were created using AI. They were first published to a Reddit thread about content generated using the AI…

Is a photo showing French President Emmanuel Macron kissing a man authentic? No, that's not true: The photo in this post was digitally altered to change the original image and make it appear like Macron was intimate with another man. In public media accounts, the unedited image displayed Macron play-fighting with his bodyguard while on vacation -- not kissing him.…

Is there leaked footage showing BlackRock CEO Larry Fink carrying a gun as he walks with Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who tried to assassinate Donald Trump? No, that's not true: The still photo that's a thumbnail preview to a YouTube video is a fake AI-generated image. The scene in the photo does not appear in the YouTube video at…

Does an authentic photograph show supporters at the Republican National Convention wearing diapers for Donald Trump in July 2024? No, that's not true: A reverse image search revealed that the image originated on satire website The Shovel. Lead Stories ran the image through a detection tool which found "substantial evidence" that the image was generated using AI. The claim appeared…

Does a meme comparing raised-fist images of Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler use a real photo of Hitler to make its point? No, that's not true: While the photo of Trump is authentic, an AI-detection tool shows the image of Hitler has been digitally manipulated to closely match photographs taken of Trump right after a gunman fired at him in…

Did an authentic photo show Vice President Kamala Harris with Jeffrey Epstein, embracing at the beach? No, that's not true: Lead Stories ran the image through AI detection tool True Media, which found "substantial evidence" the image was generated using AI, with 100 percent confidence. A reverse image search does not offer results older than mid-July 2024, almost five years…

Is an online video a real campaign ad using Kamala Harris' voice? No, that's not true: The audio used in the deepfake video is AI-generated, and the video's creator labeled it as a parody from the very start when he posted it on his social media account in July 2024. Despite being clearly labeled as a parody, many, including X…

Does an image of President Joe Biden with solid black eyeballs wearing a black protective face mask support a rumor that he died? No, that's not true: The image is fake, with several flaws typical of AI-generated images, and Biden is alive as of this writing on July 23, 2024. A browser extension from Hive Moderation determined the image was…

Does an authentic video show Vice President Kamala Harris saying "Today is today. And yesterday was today yesterday. Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. So live today so that future today will past today, as it is tomorrow"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories submitted the clip to two AI detection tools, which documented substantial manipulation of the video in the…

Does a viral video show authentic footage of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France's Emmanuel Macron dancing before becoming president? No, that's not true: Heavily edited, it contained a substantial amount of deepfake shots. Other people's faces were digitally replaced with those of Zelenskyy and Macron. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on Instagram on June 29, 2024, under…

Is a video displaying Elon Musk saying Oreos are satanic authentic? No, that's not true: Multiple online AI detectors reported that the audio in this video post was most likely AI-generated. Lead Stories also located the authentic video recording of the interview on YouTube featuring Musk and Joe Rogan, and there was no mention of the words "Oreos" or "satanic"…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wife, Olena Zelenska, buy a Bugatti sports car for almost 4.5 million euros in June 2024? No, that's not true: The invoice supposedly proving the claim contained multiple errors. Both Bugatti and Bugatti's Paris-based dealership denied the authenticity of the document shared online and a video supposedly showing a Bugatti employee confirming the claim appears…

Did Dr. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary, endorse a "government-funded" cure for erectile dysfunction, as a video on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for Carson said the claim is "completely fake." Additionally, a digital forensics website concluded that the audio portion of the clip was "100% likely to…