Politicians and business leaders raise a toast at a black-tie dinner: real or AI?

As shared

View the post on X

Posted on X by @sarrah_bellus · Shown as an embedded post · Source

AI-MADE

A machine made this.

How sure we areHigh

Based on 1 strong and 0 supporting piece of evidence.

What we found

The picture appears to show Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, Elon Musk and Sam Altman seated at a black-tie dinner, with business leaders such as Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook and Jensen Huang standing behind them raising a toast. It was posted on X by the account @sarrah_bellus on 25 September 2026, the day after a real White House state dinner for China's President Xi Jinping. The caption told people to remember this picture the next time they were struggling at the petrol station or to put food on the table. Lead Stories checked it on 28 September 2026. OpenAI's checking tool found a hidden watermark showing it was made with OpenAI tools. Searches on Google Images, TinEye and Yandex found no matching real photo. Many of the people shown were on the expected guest list for the real dinner, which made the fake easier to believe. A real news event is often the hook for a fake picture, so check for a photo from a news agency first.

Key facts

Original source: Posted on X by @sarrah_bellus
First published: Not recorded
Earlier appearances: Not recorded
The claim you saw: No caption recorded
Signs of AI: Yes. Shown below, but not what decided it

The evidence, strongest first

Strong Decides the answer

Published fact-checkLead Stories, 28 September 2026↗

Supporting Points the same way

None.

Weak Shown, not relied on

How it looksEleven famous people are squeezed into one tidy group, and every one of them is smiling at the camera. Each face is sharp and evenly lit, even at the back of a dim room. The glasses and lights on the table at the front are soft, blurry shapes.

Detector scores are often wrong, so they never decide a verdict here.

What we couldn’t establish

Exactly how it was made, and with which prompts, beyond what the sources above say. If you know more, tell us.

Bottom line

Made by AI: a published fact-check traced it.

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Politicians and business leaders raise a toast at a black-tie dinner: real or AI?

A machine made this.

Strong Decides the answer

Supporting Points the same way

Weak Shown, not relied on

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