Deepfake case study · Multi-modal
Hollywood Sign deepfake (Jan 2025)
AI-generated images and videos falsely depicting the Hollywood Sign engulfed in flames went viral on social media platforms like Instagram and X. McAfee researchers confirmed these images as deepfakes, tracing many…
- Incident date
- Jan 2025
- Target
- Hollywood Sign
Updated May 6, 2026 · 1 min read
AI-generated images and videos falsely depicting the Hollywood Sign engulfed in flames went viral on social media platforms like Instagram and X. McAfee researchers confirmed these images as deepfakes, tracing many to Google's Gemini AI image generation platform. The deepfakes were easily created and spread rapidly, reaching over a million views within 24 hours. The Hollywood Sign remains undamaged.