Narayana Murthy's deepfake videos ‘endorsing trading app’ goes viral, Infosys founder cautions public

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy on Thursday pointed out that there are a few deepfake videos of him circulating on the internet. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he said some web pages claimed that the tech tycoon invested in automated trading applications.

“In recent months, there have been several fake news items propagated via social media apps and on various webpages available on the internet claiming that I have endorsed or invested in automated trading applications," Murthy wrote on the microblogging site.

"These named BTC AI Evex, British Bitcoin Profit, Bit Lyte Sync, Immediate Momentum, Capitalix Ventures, etc. The news items appear on fraudulent websites that masquerade as popular newspaper websites and some of them even publish fake interviews using deepfake pictures and videos,” he said.

Through multiple tweets, the Infosys founder refused such involvement in the activity. He then requested people not to fall prey to such information being circulated on the internet. 

He wrote, “I categorically deny any endorsement, relation or association with these applications or websites. I caution the public to not fall prey to the content of these malicious sites and to the products or services they are trying to sell to you. Please report any such instances to the concerned regulatory authorities.”

Deepfake videos of many prominent personalities have recently gone viral on social media, causing netizens to react with a mixture of shock, horror, and panic.

Recently, Industrialist Ratan Tata also called out a deep fake video of him giving investment advice on Instagram. The fake video, shared by an Instagram user named Sona Agarwal, deceptively showed the industrialist giving investment advice and the caption of the post offered users a 'chance' to exaggerate their investment 'risk-free'.

The fraudulent Instagram post featured a deep fake interview of Ratan Tata, in which he referred to Agarwal as his manager. 

The caption of Agarwal's Instagram post read, “A recommendation from Ratan Tata for everyone in India. This is your chance to exaggerate your investment right today risk-free with 100% guarantee," the caption of the video post read. "Go to the channel right now."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday raised concerns over deep fake and other cons of artificial intelligence at the newly-built Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan. 

He said that the deep fake challenge is for the entire world as it could be used to create 'deepfakes' to purposefully spread false information or have malicious intent behind their use. “If AI enables arms to reach the hands of terror groups, then it could have a devastating effect, and the world needs to think about it.”

“AI has several positive impacts, but it has many negative impacts too, which is a matter of concern. AI can become the biggest tool in the development of the 21st century. But it can also play the biggest role in destroying the 21st century... Deepfake is a challenge for the whole world... AI tools going into the hands of terrorists are also a big threat,” the Prime Minister added.