Trump calls out Iran for ‘spreading misinformation’ with AI videos
United States President Donald Trump has accused Iran of using artificial intelligence (AI) as a 'disinformation weapon' to misrepresent its wartime successes.
Sky News reports that the 79-year-old Republican revealed he had come across a video, presumably on social media, which showed the US aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, under attack and on fire.
Speaking at the Trump-Kennedy Center on Monday (16 March), he said about Iran: "They are a country that, for years, I didn't know this until recently, they're a country based on disinformation. "And now they're using disinformation plus AI. And that's a terrible situation. That's a terrible situation.
"They showed all sorts of things happening in the last two weeks that never happened between their kamikaze boats that don't exist, between blowing up the aircraft carrier, one of the great ships in the world, the Abraham Lincoln on fire."
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He said that he'd called his general and asked 'General, what's with the Abraham Lincoln? It looks like it's burning down', only for them to inform him, 'No, it's not burning down. Not a bullet was ever fired at it, sir. They know better'.
"This is my first glimpse of AI and what they've done with it. They showed buildings in Tel Aviv burning to the ground, high rises burning. They showed buildings in Qatar. They showed buildings in Saudi Arabia burning, and they weren't burning. They weren't hit. It was all AI, AI-based. Terrible," Trump added.
"This raises serious questions about the sort of content the president is absorbing and believing on social media," Sky News' US correspondent Mark Stone claimed.
"AI can be very dangerous; we have to be very careful with it," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday (15 March), shortly after he made a post on his Truth Social platform where he called out Western media outlets for allegedly spreading AI-generated 'fake news', per Reuters.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump claimed: "Iran has long been known as a Master of Media Manipulation and Public Relations. They are Militarily ineffective and weak, but are really good at 'feeding' the very appreciative Fake News Media false information.
"Now, A.I. has become another Disinformation weapon that Iran uses, quite well, considering they are being annihilated by the day. They showed phony 'Kamikaze Boats,' shooting at various Ships at Sea, which looks wonderful, powerful, and vicious, but these Boats don’t exist — It’s all false information to show how 'tough' their already defeated Military is!"
Continuing his comments regarding 'fake news', he continued: "Buildings and Ships that are shown to be on fire are not — It’s FAKE NEWS, generated by A.I.
"For instance, Iran, working in close coordination with the Fake News Media, shows our great USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier, one of the largest and most prestigious Ships in the World, burning uncontrollably in the Ocean.
"Not only was it not burning, it was not even shot at — Iran knows better than to do that! The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information"
Reuters reports that it has verified images filmed from the Iraqi port of Basra, which 'showed explosive-laden Iranian boats appearing to attack two fuel tankers, killing at least one crew member'.
"Iranian state media did claim that Iran’s military struck the USS Abraham Lincoln, though the claim was not widely picked up by Western outlets," the outlet added.
Trump's statement continued: "The fact is, Iran is being decimated, and the only battles they 'win' are those that they create through AI, and are distributed by Corrupt Media Outlets.
"The Radical Leftwing Press knows this full well, but continues to go forward with false stories and LIES. That’s why their Approval Rating is so low, and I can win a Presidential Election, IN A LANDSLIDE, getting only 5% positive Press — They have no credibility!
"I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic 'News' Organizations. They get Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves, and use it to perpetuate LIES, both in News and almost all of their Shows, including the Late Night Morons, who get gigantic Salaries for horrible Ratings, and never get, as I used to say in The Apprentice, 'FIRED'.
He signed off the rant, concluding: "Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP."
Tyla has reached out to the White House for comment.
Topics: Artificial intelligence, Donald Trump, Politics, Social Media, US News, World News, Iran, Jurassic World, Israel
Rhiannon Ingle