Fact Check: Viral Group Selfie of BRICS Leaders Including Modi and Putin Is AI-Generated
Cooperation areas
Source: Jansatta | Original Published At: 2026-09-15 10:30:25 UTC
Key Points
- Lighthouse Journalism investigated a viral photo claiming to show a group selfie of BRICS leaders.
- The image purportedly depicted leaders from Russia, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, India, China, Turkey, South Africa, and Iran at the BRICS summit in New Delhi.
- Fact-checkers found that the photo was AI-generated and showed leaders incorrectly.
- Iran was represented at the summit by President Masoud Pezeshkian, but the fake image showed former President Ebrahim Raisi.
- Brazil was represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, not President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
- AI detection tools indicated a 99.9% likelihood that the image was AI-generated, with suggestions it was created using OpenAI tools.