'L'Abuso': Real Italian Magazine Cover of Israeli Settler Sparks Online Storm
L'Espresso released a cover titled "L'Abuso" featuring an armed Israeli settler pointing a smartphone at a distressed Palestinian woman, prompting the Israeli ambassador to denounce the image as manipulative and hateful. Photographer Pietro Masturzo asserted the photo is genuine, captured on 12 October 2025 in Idhna, West Bank, during a settler‑blocked olive harvest. The magazine has refused to apologize, sparking a diplomatic row and a heated online debate over media ethics and potential AI‑generated misinformation. The controversy underscores the fraught intersection of journalism, conflict imagery, and international relations.
YouTube Bans Viral Pro-Iran AI-Generated LEGO Videos Trolling Trump
YouTube suspended the Explosive Media channel, an Iran‑linked group that produced AI‑generated LEGO‑style videos mocking President Donald Trump and claiming Iranian victory in the Middle East conflict. The ban cited violations of YouTube’s violent content and spam policies after a...
Iran Targets US Public Opinion with Online Information War
Following President Trump’s announcement of US‑Israel strikes on Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps quickly launched an online information campaign using AI‑generated videos and images. Within 24 hours, dozens of IRGC‑linked accounts posted deepfakes that mocked Trump and fabricated battlefield...
Four Tips for Detecting Images Generated by AI
AI‑generated images are proliferating across social platforms and news feeds, driven by tools such as OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Gemini. The article offers four practical tips—checking source credibility, scrutinizing visual details, spotting invisible watermarks, and using Google Lens reverse‑image search—to...
Where to Next for AI? The Farm? The Church, Even?
AI is branching into unexpected arenas, from Australian farms using computer‑vision to count sheep, to French priests experimenting with AI‑generated sermons, and Spanish clergy launching an AI‑driven marriage video game. At the same time, the United States is witnessing a...
Are We in an AI Bubble?
Investors are questioning whether the rapid surge in artificial‑intelligence funding has created a speculative bubble. Professor Jon Danielsson of the London School of Economics argues the AI market is likely at its peak, with growth and financing levels that cannot...
The Problem with AI-Generated Animal Videos
AI‑generated animal videos depicting rescues and emotional encounters are amassing millions of views on social platforms. Scientists warn that these fabricated clips mislead audiences, encouraging risky wildlife tourism and reinforcing harmful narratives of humans as saviours. Research from the University...
How AI-Generated Images Are Being Used to Deny the Massacre of Protesters in Iran
Iranian security forces have killed thousands of anti‑government protesters, with the Kahrizak morgue in Tehran holding hundreds of bodies. Pro‑government outlets, notably Fars News Agency, attempted to dismiss the massacre by claiming that photos of the morgue were AI‑generated. Fact‑checking...
"It's a Scam": French AI Envoy on X Making Grok Chatbot Pay-to-Perve
French AI ambassador Clara Chappaz called X’s decision to place Grok’s public image‑generation behind a paywall a “scam,” condemning the move as profiteering from illegal deep‑fake sexual content. Malaysia and Indonesia have already suspended Grok, while France, the UK, Australia and...
How a Real Photo of Donald Trump Linked to Jeffrey Epstein Was Doctored Using AI
On December 14, 2025, an AI‑generated image purporting to show Donald Trump with six women from a Jeffrey Epstein‑related photo was posted online. The synthetic version contains obvious AI artifacts—a misshapen right hand, a Google Nano Banana watermark, and one missing...
Fake Video Claiming ‘Coup in France’ Goes Viral – Not Even Macron Could Immediately Get It Removed
A fabricated AI‑generated video claiming a coup in France and the ousting of President Emmanuel Macron went viral, reaching 13 million views before Meta finally removed it. The clip, posted by a user named “ISLAM,” featured staged footage of police and...
EU Opens Probe Into Google for Training AI without Paying Content Creators
The European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation into Google, alleging the company used YouTube videos and other online publisher content to train its generative‑AI models without paying creators or offering opt‑out options. The probe focuses on potential unfair terms...
US to Allow Exports of Advanced Artificial Intelligence Chips to China
President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping that will allow Nvidia to export its H200 artificial‑intelligence GPUs to approved Chinese customers, reversing a key Biden‑era restriction. The deal excludes Nvidia’s most advanced Blackwell and upcoming Rubin...
Did Iran Release 'New' Videos of Israeli Strikes on Its Military Sites?
A four‑video compilation circulating on X claims to show Iranian military command centres destroyed by Israeli strikes during the June 2025 conflict. Verification reveals only one clip is genuine, originally aired by Iran’s state broadcaster SNN TV, while the other three are...
This Mummy Portrait Isn’t From Roman Egypt - It Was Generated by AI
An Instagram post claimed a newly discovered Fayum portrait of a young man was a genuine Roman‑Egyptian artifact, but investigators traced the image to Midjourney, an AI image generator. The AI prompt instructed the system to mimic the encaustic technique...
