As the US and Israel continue their war against Iran, an AI-generated video mocking Donald Trump is going viral on Chinese social media platforms.
One of the videos is a cartoon depicting President Trump answering questions from reporters at a press conference.
In the AI-generated clip, a journalist questions the president about Minab School.
The attack killed 168 people, including more than 100 children attending the school.
Amnesty International later reported that the United States was responsible for the attack, and although President Trump and his allies denied U.S. responsibility, U.S. officials confirmed that an investigation had been launched.
After the reporter asks a question, the AI video cuts to Trump’s brain, where a goblin-like creature instructs him to lie.
Video mocks President Trump, while Chinese cartoon accuses him of escalating the situation (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
They then pressed a button that read “Lie,” before President Trump shot back: “We didn’t attack Minab’s school. America doesn’t have any Tomahawk missiles!”
The video appears to have originated from the Chinese embassy in Iran and has been allowed to be distributed on Chinese social media.
Another AI-generated video that has gone viral in the country is a cartoon of the United States’ eagle trapping several white doves of peace in a cage.
Meanwhile, a Chinese cartoon published in state media depicts Uncle Sam, a popular personification of the United States, adding fuel to a fire labeled “Hormuz crisis.”
Social media is tightly controlled in China, and censors can choose to block the spread of content, especially political content.
CNN reported that this suggests that Chinese censors have made a decision to allow the AI video to spread.
The conflict is now in its third week (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Officially, China maintains a more neutral position, with CNN reporting that China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the United States and China “maintain communication.”
The Strait of Hormuz has been plunged into darkness due to the US-Israel war against Iran.
It is a narrow stretch of water located between Iran’s southern coast and the United Arab Emirates, and is one of the world’s busiest oil shipping routes.
This allows tankers to leave the Gulf states and exit into the Arabian Sea, where they can turn west to the Suez Canal or east to India.
Approximately 20% of the world’s oil shipments have to pass through Hormuz, and its blockade caused the price of crude oil to soar from prewar prices of about $70 per barrel to an unprecedented level of over $100.
The United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that around 3.2 million people are currently displaced in Iran since the start of the war.
