Deepfakes of Bollywood stars spark worries

In fake videos that have gone viral online, two of India's A-lister Bollywood actors are seen criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asking people to vote for the opposition Congress party in the country's ongoing general election. In a 30-second video that shows Aamir Khan and another 41-second clip of Ranveer Singh, the two Bollywood actors purportedly say Modi failed to keep campaign promises and failed to address critical economic issues during his two terms as prime minister. Both AI-generated videos end with the Congress election symbol and slogan: "Vote for Justice, Vote for Congress".  Both actors have said the videos are fake. Facebook, X and at least eight fact-checking websites have said they are altered or manipulated, which the Reuters digital verification unit has also confirmed. Reuters could not ascertain who created the videos. Khan was "alarmed" by the viral "fake" video and Singh's team was looking into the matter, according to a spokesperson for both actors. Singh wrote on X on Friday: "Beware of deepfakes, friends". The two videos have been viewed on social media more than half a million times since last week.