Fact Check: SRK promotes AI-powered money-making scheme? No, video is a deepfake - NewsMeter

A viral video falsely depicting actor Shah Rukh Khan endorsing an AI-powered investment platform has been identified as a sophisticated deepfake. The content, which promises significant financial returns, utilizes manipulated footage to deceive viewers into visiting a fraudulent website.

What happened

The deepfake was created by extracting a short segment from a 2017 interview between Shah Rukh Khan and film critic Anupama Chopra, originally published on the Film Companion YouTube channel. The scammers manipulated this authentic footage to falsely suggest that the actor was promoting an AI-linked money-making scheme.

Analysis revealed several technical anomalies indicating artificial manipulation. While the cloned voice mimics the actor's tone, it lacks natural breathing patterns, emotional inflection, and the typical cadence of human speech. Furthermore, the lip movements appear robotic and fail to align accurately with the phonetic sounds, suggesting existing footage was altered to match generated audio.

The video employs classic social engineering tactics, including a false sense of urgency by claiming limited availability and promising high returns on small investments. The clip directs users to a website named 'Nexus.AI,' which features additional deepfake content, including a video of Sudha Murty. The site requests personal information and an initial payment of Rs 24,000. Investigations confirmed that Shah Rukh Khan has not endorsed any such financial platforms, and the original 2017 interview focused solely on his film career and personal life, with no mention of investment opportunities or government-backed schemes.