Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released another video message on Monday after an earlier clip posted from a coffee shop sparked widespread discussion online and was flagged by the AI chatbot Grok as a possible deepfake. The new video appeared to be an attempt to address the growing speculation surrounding rumours of his death that had circulated on social media.
The latest clip shows Netanyahu speaking to people in what appears to be an outdoor location with greenery and mountains visible in the background. The video surfaced hours after the previous clip, which had been shared on his X account, attracted significant attention and scrutiny across social media platforms.
Netanyahu captioned the new post in Hebrew with a message that translated to, “Sticking to the guidelines and winning together.” The video was seen as a response to the controversy surrounding the earlier footage and the rumours that had been spreading online.
The earlier video had been posted after claims circulated on the internet suggesting that Netanyahu had been killed in an Iranian attack. In the clip, the Israeli leader appeared seated at a coffee shop and appeared to mock the rumours. At one point in the video, he joked about the claims by saying, “I am dead for coffee.”
However, the coffee shop video quickly became the centre of debate after Grok, the AI chatbot associated with the social media platform X, suggested that the footage might be artificially generated. The chatbot described the video as a satirical post and pointed out what it claimed were several irregularities that resembled characteristics commonly found in deepfake videos.
According to Grok’s analysis, certain visual elements in the clip appeared unusual. The chatbot noted that the level of coffee in Netanyahu’s cup seemed unchanged throughout the video and also pointed to lip movements that it said did not appear to align naturally with the spoken audio. These elements led the AI system to question whether the video was authentic.
When an X user asked about the clip’s authenticity, Grok responded that it believed the video was not real and described it as an AI-generated deepfake. The chatbot suggested that the footage had likely been posted as a humorous or satirical response to the rumours circulating about Netanyahu’s death during the ongoing tensions with Iran.
Grok’s comments quickly fueled further speculation online, with many users debating whether the video was genuine or artificially generated. The controversy surrounding the analysis prompted renewed attention toward Netanyahu’s public appearances and online communications.
In response to the speculation and the debate sparked by the AI analysis, Netanyahu posted a fresh video message on Monday. The new recording appears intended to counter the rumours and reassure the public about his well-being while also addressing the controversy surrounding the earlier clip.
