AI-Generated Video Viral as Visual Showing Cyclone Montha in Andhra Pradesh

AI-detection tool Hive Moderation concluded that the clip was generated using AI.

A video showing a water body in distress, making a whirlpool is being shared as visuals of the recent Cyclone Montha in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Some context: Severe cyclonic storm Montha struck Andhra Pradesh, killing two people and damaging crops across 87,000 hectares, along with roads and infrastructure.

• The storm crossed near Narsapuram with winds up to 90 kmph before weakening into a deep depression on 29 October.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.) We received a query about the same on our WhatsApp tipline number.

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false as this video is created using artificial intelligence (AI).

• We were also able to trace this video back to April.

What we found: At first, we divided the clip into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• It led us to older versions of the same viral video dating back to April. We also found posts from 10 September and 16 September. Swipe right to see the posts.

• We noticed some comments under these older posts which noted that visual could be 'AI.'

• This led us to run the viral clip on AI-detection website Hive Moderation. It concluded that the video was 99 per cent 'likely' AI-generated.

Conclusion: The viral video is created using AI and does not show the recent Cyclone Montha.

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