AI Video Of Diver Drowning Falsely Shared As Singer Zubeen Garg's Final Moments

An AI-generated video showing a scuba diver losing consciousness underwater and being rescued is being shared on social media with false claims that it shows Assamese singer Zubeen Garg’s final moments before his death in Singapore on September 19.

Garg died in Singapore after drowning during a diving incident. A non-invasive autopsy conducted on the island confirmed the cause of death as “drowning.” He was scheduled to perform at the fourth North East India Festival the following day. After his demise, the Assam government declared a three-day state mourning from September 20 to 22.

The Claim: Video shows Garg losing consciousness underwater

The video shows a scuba diver losing consciousness and two other divers rescuing him and asking, "Zubeen, what happend bro?". It was posted on Instagram with the caption, "Zubeen garg singapore viral video"

Click here to view an archive.

What We Found

1) Handle Posts Video on YouTube With AI-Generated Tag

We found that the Instagram handle which posted the viral video also uploaded the same clip on YouTube under the username @RajaFaizaanvlog. On YouTube, the video carries a disclaimer tag stating that it is AI-generated and altered media, unlike the Instagram post, where no such disclosure was made.

The caption of the YouTube short reads: "Disclosure: This video includes AI-generated and altered media. If you liked this AI story, don't forget to like."

We also found several other AI-generated videos posted by the same handle on its YouTube channel.

2) AI Deepfake Detection Tool results

We ran the viral video through the deepfake detection tool DeepFake-O-Meter, developed by the UB Media Forensics Lab. Two separate analyses by this tool gave the video a 100% fake probability, confirming that it is AI-generated.