This story was reported by Indicator, a publication that investigates digital deception, and co-published with the Guardian.
Dozens of YouTube channels are mixing AI-generated images and videos with false claims about Sean “Diddy” Combs’s blockbuster trial to pull in tens of millions of views on YouTube and cash in on misinformation.
Twenty-six channels generated nearly 70m views from roughly 900 AI-infused Diddy videos over the past 12 months, according to data gathered from YouTube.
The channels appear to follow a similar formula. Each video typically has a title and AI-generated thumbnail that links a celebrity to Diddy via a false claim, such as that the celebrity just testified at the trial, that Diddy coerced that celebrity into a sexual act or that the celeb shared a shocking revelation about Diddy. The thumbnails often depict the celebrity on the stand juxtaposed with an image of Diddy. Some depict Diddy and the celebrity in a compromising situation. The vast majority of thumbnails use made-up quotes meant to shock people, such as “F*CKED ME FOR 16 HOURS”, “DIDDY F*CKED BIEBER LIFE” and “SHE SOLD HIM TO DIDDY”.
Källa: Fake, AI-generated videos about the Diddy trial are raking in millions of views on YouTube