Elon Musk has been criticized by Kamala Harris' campaign and prominent Democrats for praising a fake AI-generated video in which Harris says, “I was selected because I'm the ultimate diversity hire.”
The X boss tweeted the video over the weekend, commenting, “This is amazing,” followed by a crying-laughing emoji.
The AI-generated video, which can be viewed in its entirety below, sees the fake presidential candidate say, “Now that Joe Biden has finally shown his signs of aging in the debate, I, Kamala Harris, am your Democratic candidate,” before overlaying images of Harris and Democratic supporters.
A Harris campaign spokesman told The Associated Press: “The American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security that Vice President Harris is providing, not the false, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.”
And she calls herself the “ultimate diversity hire,” stating, “I'm a woman and a person of color, so if you criticize anything, I say you're sexist and racist.” The fake Harris also identifies herself as a “deepfake puppet” who learned from another “puppet,” Joe Biden.
Musk's apparent support for the video comes as concerns grow over the spread of fake, AI-generated videos during heated election campaigns.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar suggested the video violated X's synthetic and manipulated media policy.
The original post was labeled as a parody, but Musk's repost, which has been viewed more than 100 million times, does not make the label clear.
In the video, the fake Harris can be heard saying, “If you criticize anything, I say you're sexist and racist because I'm a woman and a person of color,” and calling herself the “ultimate diversity hire.” The fake Harris also identifies herself as a “deepfake puppet” who learned from another “puppet,” Joe Biden.
Musk has been a donor to the Trump campaign, but recently denied a Wall Street Journal report that he planned to donate $45 million a month to Trump. Musk endorsed Trump on July 13 in the aftermath of the assassination attempt.
Harris has emerged as the Democratic front-runner after Biden dropped out of the race last weekend.
