A video featuring Sundar Pichai, where he appears to be promoting an investment platform called 'Google Invest' and asking people to invest money in it to earn more money, is fake and has been made using a voice clone of the Google CEO.
In the video, Pichai urges people to invest 20,000 rupees for a steady income of 1,80,000, rupees claiming no investment expertise is required to invest in the platform.
BOOM found the video is doctored and has been made using a genuine video message of Pichai and overlaying it with a fake AI voice clone of him.
Furthermore, no such investment platform called 'Google Invest' exists.
The scam ad can be seen below.
Earlier this month, BOOM also reported on the same fake 'Google Invest' scheme being promoted through another deepfake video of Pichai.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on a keyframe from the video and found the original video message from Pichai, which was streamed live on July 13, 2020, on Google India's official YouTube channel.
Pichai's message begins at the 12:32 mark.
In the original video, he discussed advancements in technology in India and announced a $10 billion investment in the country as part of the Google for India Digitization Fund.
We did not find any mention of 'Google Invest' anywhere in the video.
To verify further, we tested the clip using two different AI detection tools, TrueMedia and an audio detection tool Hiya.
Both tools indicated that the video featuring Pichai promoting 'Google Invest' has been manipulated using artificial intelligence.
When we analysed the video with TrueMedia's AI detection tool, designed for journalists to combat disinformation, the report revealed substantial evidence of face manipulation, AI-generated audio, and other indicators of deepfake technology within the video.
The report further adds, "The transcript reads like a promotional advertisement rather than a natural conversation or a genuine announcement. The language is highly polished and persuasive, typical of marketing material. Phrases like "incredible opportunity," "revolutionary technology," and "your personal key to financial independence" are common in scripted advertisements. Additionally, the promise of high returns with minimal effort is a hallmark of promotional content, often seen in scams or overly optimistic investment pitches."
The other AI detection tool, Hiya, also concluded that the video has only a 1 per cent match with live human markers, indicating that the voice in the video appears to be AI-generated.
