AI Fake News With Real Consequences

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Morning everyone!

President Biden and Speaker McCarthy remain in a debt deadlock, ending talks last night in the Oval Office with— you guessed it— no deal.

There are now nine days until the U.S. may default on its debt according to the Treasury Department—meaning the government will not be able to pay the bills. At stake: global financial markets and the US economic reputation.

Now, Washington leaders typically wait until the last possible moment to get something done — sort of like us the night before a paper was due in college. But, this has slightly more ramifications than our poli sci grade. Rest assured, we will keep tabs on this for you.

In the mean time, have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney

🗞 FAKE NEWS WITH REAL CONSEQUENCES

SEEING IS NO LONGER BELIEVING
A picture of a reported explosion near the Pentagon rapidly spread on social media yesterday. It only took minutes for it to cause chaos, confusion, and a brief jolt in the U.S. stock market. The catch: the photo appears to be generated by AI.

PANIC OVER A PICTURE
An image purporting to show a massive cloud of smoke near our nation’s defense headquarters quickly went viral on Twitter yesterday morning. “Large explosion near the Pentagon complex in Washington DC. – initial report,” the now-deleted post read. And the photo caused some actual serious damage.

Just moments after the image began circulating on Twitter, the U.S. stock market took a noticeable dip. The Dow took a brief dive between 10:06 a.m. and 10:10 a.m. falling 80 points. When news of the forgery surfaces around 10:13 a.m., the Dow recovered. At the same time, the S&P 500 fell 0.26% in the three minutes between 10:06 a.m. and 10:09 a.m. By 10:11 a.m., the index was positive again.

A keen observer would see that the building in the photo does not look like the actual Pentagon, but it was enough to convince some media networks, people online and traders on Wall Street—at least for a few minutes.

RELIABILITY OF TWITTER’S BLUE CHECK
The fake photo was shared by numerous verified accounts with blue check marks on Twitter, including one that falsely claimed it was associated with Bloomberg News — exposing the perils of Elon Musk’s pay to play Twitter verification system.

It was then picked up by some international media outlets, including RT (Russian State media) and a major Indian TV network. When Musk took over Twitter last year, he allowed anyone willing to pay for a blue check mark to obtain one. This means that there’s no guarantee that an account with a blue check can be trusted anymore.

We saw a similar issue last year when a fake, but again, verified Twitter account claiming to be pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly posted that insulin would now be free (it wasn’t). It was a big, blue check mess for Musk to clean up.

CAN YOU SPOT THE FAKES?
We are seeing more and more AI-generated images that appear so realistic that they’ve caused widespread public deception. This photo of Pope Francis sporting a Balenciaga puffer jacket fooled millions in March.

And these realistic deepfakes of NYPD officers chasing, tackling, and arresting Donald Trump initially ignited outrage.

Until yesterday, the deep fake images have been mostly harmless. But Monday’s incident at the Pentagon shows just how powerful AI’s ability to mislead and manipulate really is.

If only we had been warned. Oh… wait a minute…

⏳ SPEED READ

📌 TikTok sues Montana over the state’s new law banning the app (FOX BUSINESS)

📌 Does God exist? Only half of Americans say a definite yes (THE HILL)

📌 Rome’s famed Trevi Fountain — known for its millions of tourists — was taken over by a climate protest group, turning its clear blue waters pitch black with diluted charcoal (TMZ)

📌 Denver Nuggets sweep LA Lakers to make first NBA Finals; Await Miami-Boston winner (USA Today)

📌 Paul Whelan, an American who has been wrongfully detained in Russia since 2018, tells CNN he’s confident ‘wheels are turning’ toward his release (CNN)

📌 For diners with deep pockets, Dallas is the new Dubai. The city’s booming economy is attracting a flock of luxury restaurants from other cities (NEW YORK TIMES)

📌 Share of adults who reported being worse off financially hits highest in 9 years (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

📌 California, Arizona and Nevada have reached a landmark deal on water cuts to help keep two of the main river system reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, from falling to critically low levels (CBS SACRAMENTO)

📌 The NFL is weighing a proposal that would allow it to shift games to better dates during the season—creating possible headaches for the fans who travel to attend (BLEACHER REPORT)

📌 Idaho college students slaying suspect Bryan Kohberger stands silent as judge enters not guilty pleas on murder charges (NBC)

📌 TikTok and other social media trends are thrusting performance crimes into the US spotlight (AP NEWS)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: MAY 23

• 1934: Law enforcement kills notorious criminals Bonnie and Clyde in a shoot-out in Louisiana after a multi-year manhunt.

• 1995: The series finale of ‘Full House’ aired on ABC after eight seasons. How Rude!

• 2000: Eminem released his third studio album 'The Marshall Mathers, LP’ featuring Stan, The Real Slim Shady and The Way I Am."