AI-generated image of Gautam Adani shared on social media to falsely claim his arrest amid indictment in US; Details inside

PTI, New Delhi, Nov 22 (Abhinav Gupta, PTI Fact Check): A day after industrialist Gautam Adani’s indictment in the United States of America for alleged fraud and bribery, a photo went viral on social media which showed the Adani Group founder held by US security personnel. The PTI Fact Check Desk found in its investigation that an AI-generated image was falsely shared on social media as a real one. 

Adani, India's second-richest man, and seven others, including his nephew Sagar Adani, have been charged by the US Department of Justice with paying bribes to unidentified officials of state governments in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha to buy expensive solar power, potentially earning more than USD 2 billion in profit over 20 years. Unconfirmed media reports have also claimed that an arrest warrant has been issued against the industrialist. 

Claim    

A Facebook user shared the photo on November 21 and claimed that Adania had been arrested. 

“And if I may ask.. Did Zakayo had to wait for so long to cansel this Adani deal?? He should be prosecuted alongside this conman…” read the caption of the post. 

Here is the link (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AqC8cuAno/) and archive link (https://ghostarchive.org/archive/UfYcd) to the post and below is a screenshot of the same: 

Investigation

The Desk ran the viral photo through Google Lens and found that several other users had shared the same image across social media platforms with similar claims. 

Two such posts can be seen here (https://www.instagram.com/wanjikustephens/p/DCoA67YCOX2/) and here (https://x.com/SurrbhiM/status/1859453785065783798), and their archived versions can be seen here (https://ghostarchive.org/archive/RgAIO) and here (https://ghostarchive.org/archive/L44c4), respectively. 

In the next part of investigation, the Desk took a closer look on the viral image and noticed several discrepancies, suggesting that it was not real. While one of the security personnel can be seen with abnormal looking six fingers, some faces in the background are deformed. The image below highlights the same: 

Taking a cue from this, we ran the image through True Media, a generative AI voice and deepfake detection app. The software suggested strong presence of AI-generated media, making it clearer that the viral photo was fake. 

In the next part of investigation, the Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google and did not find any credible report on Adani’s arrest. We, however, came across some reports which stated that an arrest warrant was issued against him in New York. 

Here is the link to a report by The Indian Express, published on November 23, whose headline read: “Arrest warrant issued against Gautam Adani in New York for alleged bribery: What this means, what happens next.”

“A Reuters report said arrest warrants were issued in the United States for Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, after a grand jury in New York indicted the business tycoon and seven others on charges of bribery of $265 million (around Rs 2,029 crore) on Wednesday (November 20),” read a section of the report. 

Meanwhile, a report by India Today stated that “an arrest warrant against Gautam Adani was unsealed in a New York court last month after the billionaire industrialist was indicted on charges of bribery and fraud.”

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that an AI-generated photo was shared on social media, which users misinterpreted as a real image. 

CLAIM

Gautam Adani was arrested in US for alleged bribery and fraud.

FACT

Adani has not been arrested as of now. The viral photo is fake.

CONCLUSION

Multiple social media users shared a photo which showed industrialist Gautam Adani in the custody of US security personnel. The photo went viral after reports stated that Adani was indicted in the US for alleged fraud and bribery. In its investigation, the Desk found that the photo was fake and created using AI. It was shared on social media as a real image and with a false claim.