How did we find out the truth?: We noticed a watermark on the video which read 'plattepus' along with the logo of TikTok.
Taking a cue from this, we looked for social media accounts with this username.
On Instagram, we came across an account called 'plattepus', which solicited commissions for "deepfake work/cameos," while also selling courses to teach people how to make deepfakes.
This account had shared the viral video in December 2022 in a post, where a user commented about the deepfake being "creepy."
Using a VPN, we accessed the TikTok account associated with this username.
It's TikTok bio read "More AI skits to come," and the account had shared this same video in December 2022.
The Quint has reached out to 'plattepus' on Instagram and will update this story as and when a response is recieved.
What do tools say?: We submitted this video to TrueMedia's deepfake detection tool, which mentioned that the video was 'highly suspicious'.
Its analysis revealed that the voice in the video was generated using artificial intelligence and that the visuals, too, were manipulated.
Conclusion: A deepfake of Elon Musk talking about narcotics and going to Mars has gone viral on social media as a real video.
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