Elon Musk’s X cracks down on deepfakes with improved image-matching

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has announced a new initiative aimed at combating the proliferation of deceptive media known as deepfakes. Musk asserted that this move "should make a big difference in defeating deepfakes (and shallowfakes)."

Shallowfakes, distinguishable from deepfakes by their creation without the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), encompass manipulated photos, videos, and voice clips achieved through widely accessible editing and software tools.

In a related development, X has implemented a feature wherein notes on images are automatically displayed on posts containing matching images.

According to a spokesperson from the company, "It’s common for these notes to match on dozens, hundreds and sometimes thousands of posts. Now, you can see how many posts an image note is matching on, right in note details."

Amidst the global election season, concerns have been raised by experts regarding the dissemination of misinformation and the potential impact of deepfakes on electoral processes. The independent Oversight Board, consisting of 22 global human rights and freedom of expression experts, has urgently called for action to address the threat posed by deepfakes to global elections.