YouTube channels used AI-generated and manipulated media to create and spread false, salacious content about dozens of Black celebrities, generating millions of views through fake news videos that mixed real events with fabricated allegations.
YouTube has been flooded with AI-generated fake content targeting Black celebrities including Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Steve Harvey, Denzel Washington, and Bishop T.D. Jakes. NBC News reviewed a dozen YouTube channels posting AI-generated fake news content about Black celebrities, with videos receiving millions of views and channels averaging 21 million combined views. The content used AI text-to-speech technology, manipulated thumbnails, and false narratives often stemming from real legal cases against Combs but extending unfounded allegations to other celebrities. AI detection analysis found audio from videos was 87-98% likely to be AI-generated. YouTube took some enforcement actions including terminating three channels and removing others from monetization programs, but content continued to proliferate. Some channels pivoted from technology reviews to celebrity fake news after low viewership, with two channels linked to Swedish company Crealon Entertainment. The fake content exploited cultural trust in Black media sources and created confusion among audiences who believed the fabricated stories, with some legitimate news outlets having to address why they weren't covering the false narratives.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that inadvertently generate or spread incorrect or deceptive information, which can lead to inaccurate beliefs in users and undermine their autonomy. Humans that make decisions based on false beliefs can experience physical, emotional or material harms
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed