Is MrBeast giving away $2 iPhones on TikTok?
Greenville, North Carolina - Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson is giving away $2 iPhones... or is he?
If you have spent enough time perusing around TikTok in the past few days, you may have come across a video of MrBeast supposedly doing another one of his big giveaways.
"If you're watching this video, you're one of the 10,000 lucky people who will get an iPhone 15 Pro for just $2," the influencer, dressed in a pink hoodie and gray hat, appears to say in the clip. "I'm MrBeast, and I'm doing the world's largest iPhone 15 giveaway. Click the link below to claim yours now."
The clip left many users skeptical as it had some noticeable issues, such as the voice not quite sounding like the star's.
So what's with the clip?
MrBeast slams AI deepfake on TikTok
It was later revealed that the clip was a deepfake created using Artificial Intelligence, and MrBeast had nothing to do with it.
By the time it had been removed from TikTok, it had already been shared millions of times.
The real MrBeast shared the clip, asking, "Are social media platforms ready to handle the rise of AI deepfakes?"
"This is a serious problem," he added.
MrBeast is far from the only star expressing concern over how the technology can be used deceptively. It has been a leading issue with internet imitations surfacing of famous actors, and in contracts among film and television workers involved in the recent SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Cover photo: Collage: Monica Schipper / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & Screenshot / X / MrBeast