Fact-Check: This Image Showing Neha Bora and Shashi Tharoor Is AI-Altered

The image was altered using AI. The original one shows Bora with YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.

An AI-edited photo is being widely shared with the false claim that it shows AISA's Neha Bora seated with Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

(Source: X/Instagram/Altered by The Quint)

A photograph showing Congress leader Shashi Tharoor with All India Students' Association (AISA) National President Neha Bora is being widely shared on social media.

An archived version of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

The Quint also received a query to verify this image on its WhatsApp tipline.

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, and here.)

But...?: The image was edited using AI.

• The original photo shows Bora with YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.

How do we know?: A reverse image search on the image showed us that there were no credible sources sharing it on the internet.

• However, one result led us to an Instagram post which showed the student leader with YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.

We went through both their social media accounts and found that the image was first shared on 14 October, as a collaboration on Instagram.

The photograph was also shared in a report by Times of India, which had published a report about the two interacting.

(Source: Times of India/Screenshot)

While Tharoor and Bora have met, with the former sharing photos of the two together, the viral image in the claim is an edited one.

Is it AI?: We ran the viral photo through AI-generated content detectors, namely Hive Moderation and Sightengine, both of which confirmed that the image was created or manipulated using AI. (Swipe).

Hive showed almost full confidence in the image being an AI-generated one.

Sightengine gave the image a 99 percent chance of being an AI-generated one.

Google's SynthID detector found that the viral image had been created or edited using OpenAI's generative AI tools.

The image was made or altered using OpenAI's tools.

(Source: SynthID/Screenshot)

Conclusion: An AI-manipulated image is being shared to claim that it shows Neha Bora with Shashi Tharoor.

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