Fact Check: Deepfake video shows BBC anchor introducing fake investment project by Elon Musk

Hyderabad: A video reportedly of BBC news anchor Sally Bundock introducing an alleged new investment project by Tesla CEO Elon Musk is circulating on social media. Those sharing the video are claiming that because of the project, all the British residents can earn up to £5,700 a day and will no longer need to work. The video also had Musk joining in as a guest on a video call to give more details about the project.

A Facebook user shared the video with the caption, “Our platform allows you to improve your financial situation with minimal actions and time costs.”

Several other Facebook users have shared the video claiming the same. Click here, here, here and here to view the posts.

Fact Check

NewsMeter verified that Elon Musk has not announced new investment projects for British residents. The video is a deep fake created using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

On performing a reverse image search of the video’s keyframe, we found the original video published by the BBC News YouTube channel on April 12, 2023, titled ‘Elon Musk tells BBC about ‘painful’ Twitter takeover in exclusive interview - BBC News.’

The video shows news anchor Sally Bundock wearing the same clothes seen in the viral video. However, Musk was not on a video call. He was present in person for the interview at the BBC studio in a different attire, sitting across a table and speaking to BBC technology correspondent James Clayton after a brief introduction by the Bundock.

In the viral video, we found Bundock speaking on Musk’s alleged new investment for British residents. However, in the original video, she speaks about Musk giving an interview to Clayton after he took over Twitter, now called X. This confirms that the video has been digitally altered to replace the original audio.

Further, we found the section of the viral clip which shows Musk speaking on a video call. That part was cut from an interview published by the Wall Street Journal on May 24, 2023, titled “‘Tesla AI Is Actually Very Advanced:’ Elon Musk on AI, China, Twitter and More.”

During the interview, we found Musk speaking about SpaceX’s Mars mission, AI’s role in the future of society and plans for his eventual successor. He also shared his plans for Twitter and the platform’s role in politics. However, we did not find him speaking on any investment or project for British or European citizens as seen in the viral video.

Finally, we came across a BBC report titled, “MrBeast and BBC stars used in deepfake scam videos.” In the report, Bundock said, “A deepfake video of me, in the BBC News studio, apparently presenting a “breaking business news” story has been swirling around social media. It looks like me, it sounds like me, it is quite convincing, but it is not me. Wow, I was shocked.” She also confirmed that she did interview Musk but not about the topic in the viral video.

Hence, we conclude that the viral video is a deepfake, created using AI, which promotes a false investment project by Elon Musk. The video was created by merging clips from different interviews and by adding audio to replace the original content.