AI-Generated Video Viral As Real Clip of Firefighters Saving Animals In LA Fire
The video was created by an Instagram user who had marked the clip as AI-generated content.
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A video showing firefighters rescuing animals, ranging from wolf pups, dogs, rabbits, to mountain lion cubs, has gone viral on social media, as visuals of wildlife rescue operations in California amid the ongoing wildfires in and around Los Angeles (LA).
How did we find out the truth?: We carefully observed the video and found some inconsistencies in it.
In one of the frames, we can see garbled text on a firefighter's helmet and arm patch.
The helmet carries garbled text.
(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
In another one, we spotted a wolf pup with five paws.
The wolf pup has more than four paws.
(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
Additionally, throughout the video, all the firemen are well lit despite the wildfires burning behind them.
Next, we ran a reverse image search on one of the frames of the video.
For this, we used Google Fact-Check Explorer's limited access 'Image Contexts' feature, which shows an ordered list of links containing the visual which Google had crawled.
This led us to an Instagram post shared on 12 January 2025, with a caption in Spanish.
The user credited the video to another Instagram account, '@futureriderus'.
Another user had shared the video, tagging the creator's account.
(Source: Instagram/Screenshot)
We went through this account and found that they had shared the viral video on 11 January 2025 and had tagged it with 'AI Info'.
The reel was tagged with 'AI Info'.
(Source: Instagram/Altered by The Quint)
On tapping on the tag, Instagram showed a message which said that "AI may have been used for a range of purposes, from photo retouching to generating entirely new content."
Instagram provided more details about the use of AI labels.
(Source: Instagram/Altered by The Quint)
The post also carried a pinned comment from @futureriderus, where they clarified that the video was "indeed created using AI," but the problems shown were "very real."
Speaking about firefighters, the user added, "They don't have the time to produce visually stunning and powerful footage to raise awareness about these issues. That's why I took the initiative to create something that could help people see and truly think about these tragedies."
The user clarified that the video was made using AI.
(Source: Instagram/Screenshot)
We also ran the video through Bengaluru-based start-up Contrails.ai's deepfake detection tool, which also confirmed that the video was not real.
Their tool detected manipulation in the video.
(Source: Contrails.ai.Screenshot)
Conclusion: An AI-generated video is being shared to falsely claim that it shows real visuals of firefighters in LA saving animals.
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