When Cara Hunter, the Irish politician, looks back on the moment she found out she had been deepfaked, she says it is like watching a horror movie. The setting is her grandmother's rural home in the west of Tyrone on her 90th birthday, April 2022. Everyone was there, she says. I was sitting with all my closest family members and family friends when I got a notification through Facebook Messenger.
When then-President Bill Clinton and real estate mogul Donald Trump crossed paths at the 2000 U.S. Open in New York, White House photographer William Vasta snapped a picture as the men smiled widely side-by-side in a half embrace. He caught them in mid-motion, with Trump's right arm extended toward Clinton, as if he were coming in for a full hug or finishing a handshake.
"No, I don't know him," one disgruntled father messaged their son in one TikTok video that got millions of views. "What does he want?" "He said you guys went to school together, I invited him in," the son replied, posting an AI-edited image of a man sitting on presumably the family's couch. "JOE PICK UP THE PHONE," the alarmed parent replied. "I DON'T KNOW HIM!!!!!"
Over the weekend on his Truth Social account, President Donald Trump shared (then quickly deleted) a seemingly AI-generated video that included a deep-fake version of himself promoting a nonexistent product related to the broader QAnon conspiracy theory. The video, which purported itself to be a Fox News segment hosted by Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump, featured a product called a "MedBed" - fictional health care technology that supposedly heals the ailments of any individual who lays in it.
Almost exactly a year ago, it announced a bold partnership with the AI startup Runway to develop a new model capable of generating "cinematic video" exclusively for Lionsgate to use. In return, the studio gave the firm unrestricted access to its treasure trove of movies - which include everything from the "Hunger Games" films to "American Psycho" - to train the AI model.
Despite a false announcement claiming Pride Month is cancelled, Trump has not actively tried to prevent its celebration, even amid ongoing anti-LGBTQ+ policies.