Vikki Goodwin deepfake video — Sep 2024

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick published a political advertisement on X in September 2024 that utilized artificial intelligence to simulate scenes at three prominent public universities. The video depicts political figures in settings associated with these institutions, raising questions regarding the unauthorized use of university branding and the intersection of campaign activities with state-funded entities.

What happened

The advertisement features AI-generated depictions of three Democratic political candidates: Vikki Goodwin, Gina Hinojosa, and James Talarico. The content places these individuals within simulated environments featuring the logos, slogans, mascots, and football stadiums of the University of Texas, Texas Tech University, and Texas A&M University. In the video, the candidates are portrayed making controversial statements while interacting with university-specific symbols, such as the Texas Tech "guns up" hand sign or the Texas A&M "12th Man" tradition.

While state law prohibits public universities from utilizing their resources to support political candidates, the situation is complicated by the specific rules these institutions maintain regarding the use of their trademarks. Both Texas A&M and Texas Tech have policies barring political candidates from using their symbols and slogans. However, legal experts suggest that these institutions may hesitate to enforce these rules against Patrick, given his significant influence over state senate proceedings and university funding. As of the report, it remained unclear whether the Patrick campaign received official permission to use the branding, and none of the universities confirmed providing such authorization. Texas A&M officials indicated they would look into the matter after receiving inquiries from State Representative Terry Canales.