A fresh controversy has erupted over viral images purporting to show President Bola Tinubu in a meeting with Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, in Paris, after observers flagged that the pictures were likely generated by artificial intelligence.
The photographs, which were widely circulated on social media on Sunday, bore a visible watermark from Grok, a generative AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company, xAI. This has raised questions about the authenticity of the reported meeting.
Naijaonpoint reports that the meeting was first disclosed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who posted about it on Facebook.
According to Onanuga, the two leaders held a private lunch in the French capital, where they discussed world affairs, Africa’s place in the shifting global order, and shared visions for the continent’s development.
“This afternoon, I had a private lunch with H. E. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda to discuss the current state of world affairs and advancing Africa in an ever-changing global landscape,” President Tinubu posted on 𝕏 (formerly Twitter), attaching the image in question.
Dada Olusegun, the president’s Special Assistant on New Media, also reposted the image.
However, neither Onanuga nor other presidential aides have provided an explanation for the use of an AI-generated photo, fuelling speculation about whether the meeting occurred as reported or was merely symbolic.
Grok, the tool linked to the image, is capable of real-time search and image generation and is part of Elon Musk’s push into AI innovation under xAI.
See the image below:
