A fake AI-generated photo of an explosion at Pengaon went viral on social media on Monday, spreading panic among people.

The photo in question was also shared by Russian state-media RT on Twitter, which caused it further to spread misinformation as it was mistaken for a real explosion.

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Independent journalist Ed Krassenstein wrote: Earlier today an apparent AI-generated photo showed a fake explosion near the US Pentagon. The news was shared by Russian state-media RT on Twitter, which helped it go viral. It was also tweeted by a verified Twitter account called “BloombegFeed” which has now been suspended. This is how misinformation spreads. I’m glad to see that RT removed the tweet and Twitter suspended the verified account called “BloombergFeed,” but this shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I do think Twitter needs to try and take more caution in verifying accounts like this. I think that if you are going to put an organization’s name in your Twitter handle you should have to be part of that organization, and that should be verified. With AI growing rapidly, this will just become more of a problem. What else can be done to prevent this from happening again? I’d love to hear your thoughts.”

The photo in question shows thick black smoke erupting from the Pentagon building. After the photo was determined to be fake, an increasing number of people are sharing the photo with a red cross across it. Here are some more reactions to the fake news:

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Washington Post correspondent Yunus Paksoy posted a current photo of the Pentagon to prove that there was no explosion at the federal building.

“There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public,” the Arlington PD tweeted Monday.

It is not clear what exact AI tools were used to create this image. However, it did feature some of the hallmarks of AI-generated images. For example, the columns on the supposed building in the hoax photo varied in size. The fence also appeared to blend into the sidewalk in some places.