A fake image of an explosion near the Pentagon in Washington DC, which may have been created using AI technology, caused a brief market selloff. The i

AI-generated image of Pentagon explosion causes market drop

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2023-05-22 21:30:06

A fake image of an explosion near the Pentagon in Washington DC, which may have been created using AI technology, caused a brief market selloff.

The image purported to show a large cloud of smoke near the headquarters of the Department of Defense on Monday, and was shared by a string of online accounts on Twitter.

“There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public,” the department said on Twitter.

The image, which Insider says has some characteristics of AI-generated images, was shared by the Twitter account of Russian-state media RT, among others.

The fake explosion was shared by the @Deltaone Twitter account at 10.06am ET, and by 10.10am ET the US stock market had fallen by 0/26 per cent before bouncing back, Insider reported. The account later posted that the explosion picture was fake.

RT, with over 3 million followers, has posted (since deleted) what looks to be an AI generated photo of an explosion near the Pentagon pic.twitter.com/6Bl7X8ZA2M