It’s a glimpse of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds, as told through artificial intelligence.
The market dipped on Monday morning after reports of an explosion near the Pentagon in Washington DC spread on social media. The report was based on what appears to be an AI-generated image showing plumes of dark smoke in the area near the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense.
The “explosion” was reported by DeltaOne on Twitter at 10:06 a.m. ET, and by 10:10, the S&P 500 dropped 0.30% but bounced back quickly when the image was confirmed to be a hoax.
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The image was spread quickly on social media and was picked up by the Russian state media outlet RT on its Twitter account with over 3 million followers. The post was retweeted by accounts that “appear to be affiliated with conspiracies or the war in Ukraine,” according to Insider.
Reports also say that the market jitters followed after a fake, blue-checked Bloomberg account shared the image. The image was also shared just after the markets opened for trading.
Arlington, Virginia police and fire officials tried to quickly shoot down the rumors on social media. Most posts about the explosion, including RT’s and DeltaOne’s have since been deleted.
Information for this story was found via AP News, Insider, Twitter, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
