News outlets have retracted video of a Chinese paraglider who purportedly reached 27,000 feet since they’re concerned it was generated by artificial intelligence.
The outlets included Reuters, NBC News, the BBC, the Guardian and CNN.
The supposed flight took place on May 24, with footage shared by Chinese state-linked CCTV and subsequently by international media.
The video purportedly showed glider Peng Yujiang, 55, in the air with his gear coated in frost. In most of the video, the glider is seen with a black helmet, surrounded by clouds and sitting in a pod seat attached to the gliding apparatus. One portion of the video, however, shows the glider with a partially white helmet, with legs dangling and with greenery visible below.
While that portion didn’t have an AI watermark in the video footage shared by the Chinese and international news outlets, Facebook user Zhang Qianmin shared the five seconds of video with a Doubao AI watermark visible in the bottom right corner.
NBC News was the first outlet to retract the video, according to Deadline. NBC received the video from Reuters, who had landed it from CCTV.
SEE ALSO: Chinese man’s claims of 27,000-foot paraglider flight now in doubt over AI video concerns
“We have reason to believe this is an AI-generated video and are currently working on killing this footage,” Reuters told NBC News on Friday.
The BBC took down the video Friday, writing that the video “has been removed while we investigate further after questions were raised about its authenticity.”
CNN wrote about the supposed flight that “parts of the video appear to be AI-generated; all of the footage is being investigated for authenticity by CNN.”
Not every outlet that shared the initial video has taken it down. As of Saturday afternoon, a New York Times article about the purported flight still had a YouTube video from Chinese state broadcaster CGTN embedded.
A cropped version of the clip shared on Facebook, missing the AI watermark, can be seen at the beginning of the CGTN video.
