Description: A purported deepfake audio clip allegedly impersonating U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio falsely claimed he vowed to pressure Elon Musk into cutting Ukraine’s access to Starlink. The reported clip was inserted into a purportedly manipulated CNN interview. It was then reported to have spread across multiple languages and fueled disinformation about U.S.-Ukraine relations. Forensic analysis reportedly confirmed the audio was AI-generated.
Editor Notes: For another prominent but unrelated AI incident involving Marco Rubio, see Incident 1141.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Unknown voice cloning technology and Unknown deepfake technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Unknown disinformation actors , Disinformation spreaders and Misinformation spreaders, which harmed Truth , Relations between the United States and Ukraine , Media integrity , Marco Rubio , Government of Ukraine , Government of the United States , Journalistic integrity , Epistemic integrity and National security and intelligence stakeholders.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Unknown voice cloning technology and Unknown deepfake technology
Incident Stats
Incident ID
974
Report Count
1
Incident Date
2025-03-04
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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A video spreading online purports to show US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowing on CNN to persuade billionaire Elon Musk to cut off Ukraine's access to his Starlink internet service provider, contradicting other statements from President…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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