The Verge found dozens of TikTok accounts using AI-generated characters posing as struggling small-business owners to sell dropshipped goods; the most-viewed characters were Black women. The goods included belt buckles sold on Shein for a quarter of the price. Researcher Jeremy Carrasco estimates his team finds up to 100 such accounts a day, and academics call the trend digital blackface.
The SEC alleges Nathan Fuller raised about $12.3 million from roughly 150 investors by touting AI trading bots that, per the complaint, never did his trading. Only about 3% of funds bought crypto, the agency says; at least $6.2 million allegedly went on a home, gambling and vehicles, and he allegedly used AI to fake a letter from a purported auditing firm.
A New York model sued Rainbow on May 22, alleging the retailer used AI to put her likeness in suggestive poses and new settings for ads that ran after her contract expired on March 15. Rainbow denied wrongdoing, saying it used its images properly. She dropped the suit on Friday; her lawyer said the parties are "seeking to resolve this matter privately."
Pennsylvania and its Department of State and State Board of Medicine have sued Character AI, accusing it of violating the Medical Practice Act. According to the state, a chatbot named Emilie, billed as a "Doctor of psychiatry" with a state license number, told an investigator that assessing medication was "within my remit as a Doctor." The state seeks an injunction.
Five months into WISeR, a federal pilot using AI to review certain Medicare procedure requests, 16 Washington hospitals report authorizations taking two to four times longer, according to the state hospital association. Vendor Virtix Health, paid a share of "averted expenditures," acknowledged procedural problems. On May 12 the GAO agreed the pilot required congressional review; lawmakers then introduced repeal measures.
A video circulating on X on May 28 shows an Australian police officer calling for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to be shot, but #CivilNetCheck found the lines were added with AI to a July 2025 police video about academy mentoring. The Bot Blocker initiative says the account and post belong to the Russian-origin "Matryoshka" network's campaign.
A Beijing court held a first hearing in a consumer fraud suit by 10 Tesla owners seeking more than 3.95 million yuan ($583,000). The plaintiffs, who each paid 56,000 yuan for FSD between 2019 and 2021, allege sales staff and Elon Musk said full self-driving was imminent; Tesla says some functions are "fully operational."
Paris Hilton and journalist Laurie Segall launched Searching for Mr. Deepfakes, a 14-part TikTok series, on May 27. It names David Do, a pharmacist whom a May 2025 CBC, Bellingcat, Politiken and Tjekdet investigation identified as the most prominent figure in administering MrDeepFakes, a site with an estimated 2.2 billion views. No charges have been publicly filed; Do has not commented.
Days after actor-turned-politician Vijay was sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, a viral picture purportedly showed him posing with police inside a police station. NewsMobile found no credible reports or official posts backing it, noted distorted hands and odd shadows, and says detection tools Sightengine and Hive Moderation flagged it as AI-generated with high probability.
A Facebook page posted a photo purporting to show Vetëvendosje committee coordinator Dejona Mihali meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, captioned with words she supposedly said to him. Fact-checker Krypometër rated it false: HIVE found a high probability of AI generation, and the party's information office said no such photo exists. It circulated ahead of Kosovo's June 7 snap election.
