Elon Musk Shares Manipulated Harris Video, in Seeming Violation of X’s Policies
www.nytimes.com
The billionaire owner of the social media platform X reposted a video that mimics Vice President Kamala Harris’s voice, without disclosing that it had been altered.

The billionaire owner of the social media platform X reposted a video that mimics Vice President Kamala Harris’s voice, without disclosing that it had been altered.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has waded into one of the thorniest issues facing U.S. politics: deepfake videos.

On Friday night, Mr. Musk, the billionaire owner of the social media platform X, reposted an edited campaign video for Vice President Kamala Harris that appears to have been digitally manipulated to change the spot’s voice-over in a deceptive manner.

The video mimics Ms. Harris’s voice, but instead of using her words from the original ad, it has the vice president saying that President Biden is senile, that she does not “know the first thing about running the country” and that, as a woman and a person of color, she is the “ultimate diversity hire.”

…

Pro-democracy groups have raised increasingly urgent alarms about deepfakes, a broad term for digital content that employs artificial intelligence and other technology to create audio, video or images that spread false information and could influence voter behavior.

  • palordrolap@kbin.run
    37·
    4 months ago

    That brings up an interesting if not ironic bit of birtherism: I get the feeling he’d be running for President himself if he was eligible.

    • worldwidewave@lemmy.world
      15·
      4 months ago

      I’ve seen enough Superman stories to recognize a Lex Luthor type when I see one. I could absolutely see him, or Bezos, running for President or Governor someday.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      1912·
      4 months ago

      Maybe, but I’m not so sure it would be a long campaign. At his core, he is extremely lazy. Trump, for all of his faults, is not lazy. Elon would get very tired of going on the campaign trail because it means work. He couldn’t just sit around and Tweet himself into the Oval Office.

      • IvanOverdrive@lemm.ee
        1224·
        4 months ago

        That makes zero sense. Elon Musk is a workaholic. You know, the polar opposite of lazy. He’s a POS but lazy he is not. Rather than campaigning, Trump plays golf. Dude’s as lazy as lazy gets.

          • oyo@lemm.ee
            191·
            4 months ago

            Anything to avoid spending time with his kids. But seriously, friends who used to work for him said they’d find him at 7am sleeping under conference room tables.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              151·
              4 months ago

              Used to. And also friends.

              I’ve heard he’s a brilliant engineer who really understands car design from people who used to work at Tesla too.

              I buy that just as much.

          • chaogomu@lemmy.world
            8·
            4 months ago

            Just after Elden Ring came out, Musk tweeted out his build. Internet sleuths figured out he would have needed to play about 12 hours a day to have that build, and that it was kind of shit.

        • The Octonaut
          161·
          4 months ago

          Not having a personality distinct from your work is not the same as being a workaholic.

        • TheRealKuni@lemmy.worldEnglish
          7·
          4 months ago

          I’m not sure why you’re being downvoted. Even people who don’t like him highlight his long work hours. “Workaholic” isn’t something to be proud of.