Fact Check: Viral video of Narayana Murthy announcing project ‘Quantum AI’ with Elon Musk is a deepfake

Hyderabad: A video of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy being interviewed by CNBC-TV18 news anchor Shereen Bhan is viral on social media platforms. The video starts with an anchor giving an introduction to a supposed latest investment by Murthy of more than $3 billion. She claims that the project has opened new opportunities for Indians and many have already increased their wealth ten-fold using a trading app.

After the introduction, Murthy appears talking to Bhan. He allegedly says, “I want to present our new project together with Elon Musk. Quantum AI is the world’s first quantum computing software developed by my and Elon’s team with a 94 per cent success rate. Quantum AI is an ideal tool for making a profit from trading stocks with minimal risk but our mission is not only to make money from quantum computing. This is the future that will help solve global problems such as poverty. If you want to start now, it is time to join Quantum AI in the early stages. You can expect to earn up to $3000 on your first working day.”

“Unlock the power of AI with Narayana Murthy’s new platform! Read how the new platform can help you boost your savings,” A Facebook user captioned the video.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video is a deepfake. The audio was inserted into the video using voice cloning technology.

We first identified that Murthy in the video is in a conversation with CNBC-TV18 news anchor Shereen Bhan. Taking this cue, we ran a relevant keyword search and came across a one-hour video of Murthy talking to Bhan at India Global Innovation Connect live-streamed by CNBC-TV18 on July 3. According to the description, Murthy, during the conversation, talked about the startup ecosystem, corporate culture, financial health, etc.

The viral clip appeared at the beginning of the video. After a long introduction by Bhan, Murthy starts speaking, admiring today’s entrepreneurs. However, we did not find him announcing the Quantum AI project as in the viral video.

The video has the same background; Murthy could be seen touching his cheek, and a man recording from the mobile as in the viral video. Even the clothes Murthy and Bhan were wearing were the same. Here are the similar visuals from both videos.

During our investigation, we found the same deepfake audio, talking about a project with Elon Musk, inserted in another of Murthy’s videos from Money Control Conclave on July 7, 2023. The media outlet published the video on December 14, 2023, making a comparison between the original and the altered video. While in the altered video, he talks about the project with Elon Musk, in the original video, he could be heard saying that he was a follower of leftist ideology when he was a student.

We also came across an NDTV report from December 14, 2023, stating that the Infosys founder took to X and denied investing in automated trading applications. It said Murthy had flagged a deepfake video of him doing rounds on social media. He cautioned users “to not fall prey”. He urged people not to believe in it and to report such cases to the concerned authorities.

Murthy posted his denial on X on December 14, 2023, in a thread titled “PUBLIC WARNING ISSUED IN RESPECT OF FAKE VIDEOS AND POSTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND INTERNET ABOUT ME. (sic)”

Hence, we conclude that the viral video of Murthy talking about developing a Quantum AI project in collaboration with Musk for people to make a profit from trading stocks is a deepfake.