A deepfake of French president Emmanuel Macron appearing to say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi pleaded before France, while France declined to act as a complete defence ally to India is circulating as real.
BOOM found the original version of the speech, which shows Macron did not make such comments during his recent trip to India. Several AI detection tools also identified signs of artificial manipulation in the viral footage.
The footage surfaced after Macron’s fourth visit to India, where he held strategic talks and attended the India AI Impact Summit 2026. BOOM debunked another deepfake of PM Modi linked to the French President’s visit that falsely claimed Modi blamed France for the Rafale setback and described it as a stain on India’s global reputation.
The video circulating online appears to show Macron stating that Modi “begged” to make India a missile partner with France. The video also features the French President allegedly saying that France cannot be a full defence partner to India because it lost a billion-dollar Rafale market due to the “inefficiency” of the Indian Air Force.
The Claim
The video was posted on X with the ANI logo and the caption, "We have already lost a billion-dollar Rafale market because of the inefficiency of the Indian Air Force, which lost 8 jets.” Emmanuel Macron doesn't sound AI".
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
What We Found: Video Is AI-Generated
1. Original Speech by Macron: When BOOM searched using the related keywords mentioned in the viral video, no such statement was found to be reported by any credible media outlet. A reverse image search led us to a February 17, 2026, livestream on The Print’s official YouTube channel from Maharashtra, where Macron and Modi addressed a joint press conference in Mumbai.
The press conference was also livestreamed on ANI’s official YouTube channel the same day.
However, we could not find any instance where Macron can be heard making the comments heard in the viral video. We also reviewed the India–France Joint Statement issued on February 17, 2026, and found no mention of such remarks.
2. AI Detector Tools Flag Manipulation: For further verification, BOOM analysed the video using multiple AI detection tools. We tested it across several parameters on Deepfake-o-Meter, an AI detection tool developed by the University at Buffalo, which indicated signs of AI manipulation in the video.
We also examined Macron’s speech in the video using the AI voice detection tool Resemble AI, which concluded that the voice was fake, confirming that the video had been produced using artificial intelligence.
