New York, USA – A video purporting to show late‑night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewing a holographic version of former President Barack Obama has gone viral, prompting a wave of skepticism and a broader conversation about AI‑generated deepfakes in entertainment.
The clip, which appeared on TikTok and Twitter earlier this week, features Kimmel laughing at a joke about climate change, followed by a seamless response from a digitally‑rendered Obama that mimics the former president’s speech patterns and facial expressions. Within hours, the video amassed over 12 million views, with many users sharing it as proof of a new “augmented reality” segment on the show.
However, media watchdog group DeepTruth quickly released an analysis indicating that the video was created using a combination of generative adversarial networks (GANs) and voice‑cloning software. “The lip‑sync and eye‑movement are consistent with state‑of‑the‑art deepfake technology, not a live broadcast,” the group wrote.
In response, NBCUniversal issued a statement confirming that the clip was not part of any official Kimmel episode and that the network is actively monitoring the spread of AI‑generated content that could mislead audiences. “We are committed to transparency and will work with platforms to label synthetic media appropriately,” the statement read.
The incident has reignited calls for clearer regulations on AI‑generated media, with lawmakers in both the U.S. and Europe proposing legislation that would require explicit disclosure when deepfakes are used for entertainment or political purposes.