Elon Musk Sparks Controversy with AI-Generated Image of Kamala Harris: Users React on X
Elon Musk’s antics never cease as he posts yet another artificially generated image of presidential candidate Kamala Harris. X users seem to think that Musk has gone too far this time.
Devout Trump supporter and billionaire CEO Elon Musk is back at it again, spreading misinformation about Democratic candidate Kamala Harris using artificial intelligence (AI).
This time, he’s posted an image of Harris dressed in a full communist outfit with the caption, “Kamala vows to be a communist dictator on day one. Can you believe she wears that outfit!?”
Musk’s image was a response to an image posted to X by Harris, which shows a picture of Republican candidate Donald Trump with the words “Donald Trump vows to be a dictator on day one” sprawled across the image.
By using the same verbiage as Harris’ post, this might be Musk’s failed attempt at satire. The post suggests that Harris’ claims that Trump will become a dictator are as false as the AI-generated image he posted.
Yet the statement made by Harris in the post isn’t technically false, as in an interview with Fox News, when asked whether Trump would abuse his power, he said “only on day one” as he “wants to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill,” referring to closing the US border and expanding oil drilling.
However, users seem to think this is just another immature stab at the Democrat and Musk’s attempts to further defame Harris.
Following Musk’s post, a revolt occurred on X, as users generated their own AI images of Donald and Elon.
One user said, “Back at you, Elon,” and posted an AI-generated image of Trump in a communist-style uniform similar to the one imposed on Harris.
The pro-democracy production house Eleven Films posted an AI-generated image of Musk wearing what appears to be a donkey outfit with the word Trump written across his forehead. Eleven Films seems to be calling Musk a Trump-following ass.
Another user posted, “Tell your daddy Trump to stop praising communist dictators all the time. Kamala never wrote “love letters” with Kim Jong Un.
One of the more notable images of Trump generated using AI is him dressed as a Nazi. The caption reads, “About Trump wearing this outfit.”
Similarly, images of Musk have been generated using AI where he is dressed as a Nazi, with one caption saying, “Can’t believe Elon Musk would pose in a Nazi uniform. Actually, I can. He’s nuts.”
While there are hoards of pictures depicting Trump, Musk, and Kamala as communists, Nazis, and demons, users raise important points in the comment section.
X seems to have become a space for misinformation, election interference, and propaganda, saying that these are the reasons why X is banned in certain countries.
Recently, X was banned in Brazil after a months-long feud between X CEO Elon Musk and the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes over various issues, including free speech, misinformation on the platform, and reinstating far-right accounts.
The ban’s origins are long and complex, but it is ultimately rooted in Musk and de Moraes’s conflicting ideologies. Musk thinks that content moderation threatens free speech and is essentially a form of censorship.
Despite efforts to rein in Musk’s behavior, he seems to be all gas and no brakes as he continues to spread false AI-generated images of Harris on his platform, which could be violating X’s own guidelines.
Although Musk agrees that California lawmakers should “probably pass” a controversial AI safety bill requiring tech companies and AI developers to conduct safety testing on some of their models, he continues using his AI mode, Grok, for evil.