Videos circulating on Facebook claim that San Miguel Corp. chairman Ramon Ang and Tesla CEO Elon Musk supposedly partnered for a lucrative investment opportunity for Filipinos. The videos, which appear to show ABS-CBN News report, are fake and digitally altered using artificial intelligence.
The two fake videos published on June 30 and July 4 notably bore similar elements:
- a TV Patrol news ticker,
- a headline that read, “Elon Musk has joined forces with Ramon Ang”, and
- Ang, although at separate media events and wearing different clothes in each clip, saying the spiel below word-for-word:
“Elon Musk and I have joined forces to create a project capable of generating 2,860,000 pesos per month with a minimum investment of only 14,100 pesos. This innovative tool combines cutting edge technology with deep economic knowledge, providing every citizen of the Philippines with access to high yield opportunities. If you happen to lose money, our support team will return double the amount you spent. I am so confident in this project because it is funded not only by me, but also by Elon, the richest person in the world at the moment.”
ABS-CBN has told VERA Files Fact Check that these reports are not legitimate.
Generative AI – in particular, voice cloning, video generation and likely lip syncing – was used to create these clips based on old interviews of Ang.
Moreover, a project between Ang, the Philippines’ third-wealthiest man, and Musk, currently the world’s richest person, would have gotten widespread media coverage. A simple Google search does not turn up any news report about the supposed business venture.
Videos are not legit
In an emailed response to VERA Files Fact Check, ABS-CBN’s news chief Francis Toral said:
“ABS-CBN News would like to clarify that this video is not from TV Patrol, and is fabricated content. We would like to advise the public not to believe or fall prey to these false and deceitful videos, and report these to ABS-CBN or to social media platforms.”
VERA Files Fact Check used reverse image search to track the videos’ original context.
One was a manipulated version of a March 31, 2023 media interview with Ang in Bataan. Rappler streamed the interview. The topics spanned SMC’s newly-minted battery energy storage facility, plans for a motor sports complex in Bulacan, Ang’s support for collegiate sports teams, and (very briefly) an oil spill involving an SMC subsidiary.
The other clip altered a Bilyonaryo interview with the Filipino tycoon originally published on Sept. 7, 2023 about Ferrari, the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer, selecting an SMC subsidiary as its exclusive Philippines distributor.
Ang says he’ll ‘never’ endorse investment opportunities online
Ang posted an advisory against investment scams in February on his official FB page, after another scam incident manipulated an old interview of his with broadcast journalist Anthony Taberna.
He said that he has “never endorsed, and will never endorse, any investment opportunity online.”
The businessman warned the public about scammers using old interviews of his and altering them using deepfake technology to make it appear that these “endorsements” were legitimate.
Voice cloning, AI-generated visuals detected in Ang clips
Deepfakes are photos, videos and even voice recordings made with AI to depict people doing and saying things that they never actually did or said.
Dominic Ligot, a leading expert on AI in the Philippines, told VERA Files Fact Check that Ang’s interview was probably actual footage manipulated through voice cloning and lip syncing.
Running an audio file of both clips through Hiya, a voice cloning detection tool available for fact checkers through the verification tool InVID, revealed results indicating that they were “very likely” made with AI.
The June 30 audio clip got a 64% detection rate for AI-generated fragments, while the July 4 track got an even higher detection rate at 98%.
Results from Hiya.com via InVID
Results from Hiya.com via InVID
Results from Hive Moderation, which detects generated AI content in videos, also showed a 99% detection rate in several parts of the June 30 clip. It also suggested that ChatGPT’s 4o program was likely used to create the clip, including the “footage” of Musk and Ang shaking hands.
But even without using tools, there were tell-tale signs that pointed to the clips being fakes. In particular with voice cloning and synthetic speech, a common pitfall they have with non-English languages are mispronunciations.
In both clips, the deepfake-d Ang pronounced “pesos” with a Western accent (PAY-sos) instead of a Filipino one (PEH-sos). Listen to the difference below:
Beware of scams using deepfakes
The fake clips have amassed over 90,000 views as of publishing. One reader asked VERA Files to look into the claim via the VERA Files Misinformation Tip Line on FB Messenger.
Why would scammers be using deepfakes in their schemes? Ligot says:
“The footage definitely adds credibility to any scamming attempt. Celebrities and prominent individuals who have existing video footage are common targets since they have source data that can be used to train or clone via AI.”
Ang, President Bongbong Marcos and cardiologist Tony Leachon are among the public figures whose likenesses have been used in scams of this nature (which uses fake endorsements) several times over.
Be on your guard and don’t fall for scams and deepfakes. Report suspicious content via our Misinformation Tip Line: vera.ph/MessengerTipLine .
