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Actress Whoopi Goldberg issued a public warning on 'The View' regarding fraudulent Instagram advertisements that used an AI-generated deepfake of her likeness to promote weight-loss supplements. Goldberg clarified that she has no involvement with these products and urged viewers not to trust such ads. The incident highlights the use of synthetic media for deceptive commercial practices.
Whoopi Goldberg warned viewers of The View about an AI-generated scam using her likeness to promote fraudulent weight-loss products on Instagram. Goldberg stated that she had no involvement with the ads, which falsely depicted her endorsing harmful supplements.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
Also classified as
The deepfake ad generated false and misleading claims about Whoopi Goldberg endorsing a weight-loss product.
The incident involves malicious actors using an AI-generated deepfake of a celebrity's likeness to create a fraudulent advertisement to scam users into buying faulty weight-loss supplements.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
The incident was caused by human actors intentionally using AI deepfake technology post-deployment to create a fraudulent advertisement for financial gain.
Added categories peak at 3: Substantial (Epistemic Harm, Inferred)
An AI-generated deepfake of actress Whoopi Goldberg was used in fraudulent Instagram advertisements to promote weight-loss supplements. This incident represents a minor national security threat, categorized primarily as commercial fraud and epistemic harm, with no broader implications for critical infrastructure, government functions, or state sovereignty.
The AI system was used as a tool to generate synthetic media (deepfake video and audio of Whoopi Goldberg's mouth and voice) based on direct inputs from the creators. The report describes the ad as having Goldberg 'AI-mouthed, saying all kinds of stuff', indicating a media generation tool was utilized.
Risk Level 3: Limited Risk. The report describes the creation of a deepfake, which falls under the transparency obligations of the EU AI Act where users must be informed they are interacting with AI-generated content. The definition explicitly lists 'AI-generated content such as deepfakes' under Risk Level 3.
The AI system was used to generate a synthetic video of Whoopi Goldberg ('AI-mouthed') speaking words she did not say to promote a product.
The report clearly details the nature of the incident: a celebrity's likeness was deepfaked to sell fraudulent weight-loss supplements on Instagram. While the specific AI tool used is not named, the classification of the incident as a deepfake scam (4.3) is highly unambiguous and supported by direct quotes from the victim.
None. The incident is a clear-cut case of commercial deepfake fraud.
Technology
AI Deepfake Generation
AI-mouthed video generation allowed realistic impersonation of the celebrity.
Anonymity of AI Tools
Difficulty in tracing the origin and creators of the AI-generated media.
Data Inputs
Publicly Available Media
Celebrity's public videos were harvested to train the AI deepfake model.
Public Health Discussions
Public comments on her weight loss provided context for the deceptive ad.
Human Factors
Malicious Intent of Scammers
Cybercriminals deliberately exploited AI to deceive the public for profit.
Consumer Susceptibility
Viewers may trust celebrity endorsements, making them vulnerable to scams.
Process and Methods
Inadequate Ad Vetting
Instagram failed to detect and block the deceptive AI-generated advertisement.
Lack of Rapid Takedown
No swift mechanism was in place to remove deepfake ads once reported.
Regulatory Environment
Lack of Deepfake Regulations
Absence of strict legal frameworks governing AI-generated likenesses in ads.
AI system involved
An AI system was involved, but the reports do not identify it.
Identified by automated extraction; can differ from the alleged developers above.
