Deepfake video of Elon Musk circulated to promote fake crypto giveaway

What is the claim?

A video circulating on social media appears to show Tesla CEO and X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk announcing a cryptocurrency giveaway worth $20 million. In the clip, Musk is seen in an interview with American commentator Tucker Carlson, stating, "Here’s the surprise for everyone, I’ll be doing a 20 million dollar crypto giveaway at elon21.com for 48 hours starting on November 5th.” 

Carlson responds, “How do I join it?” Musk allegedly replies, “Go to elon21.com, it’s just a few quick steps that shouldn’t take longer than three minutes.” Carlson then says, “I’m definitely joining.” An archived version of an X post with the video is available here.

Screenshot of the viral social media posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is false. The viral video was likely created using AI technology, combining clips from a Tucker Carlson interview with Musk.

How did we find the truth?

A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to the full interview between Musk and Carlson. The original 1:48:41-long interview video (archive here) was published on X from Tucker Carlson’s account on October 8. After reviewing the entire interview, we found no mention of a cryptocurrency giveaway.

The viral video was created using clips from different parts of this interview. The section in which Musk supposedly says, “Here’s the surprise for everyone, I’ll be doing a 20 million dollar crypto giveaway at elon21.com for 48 hours starting on November 5th,” was clipped from the 45:36 to 45:44 mark. In this part of the actual interview, Musk is discussing an unrelated issue, stating, “They got no place to park a car and they feel that they shouldn’t really move the dead bodies. Like call 911 and so there’s a dead body outside.”

The next part of the viral video, in which Musk reportedly says, “Go to elon21.com, it’s just a few quick steps that shouldn’t take longer than three minutes,” was taken from the 46:21 to 46:27 mark. In reality, Musk says, “You know, like, it’s like took like 24 hours or something like that eventually pick up the body and the like that how’s this worth living?”

During this part of the interview, Musk and Carlson discussed drug use in New York, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, particularly the issues of drug addicts, public defecation, and unattended bodies in these cities. Musk was sharing a story related to these topics.

Usage of deepfake technology

While the voice in the viral clip resembles Musk’s, it has a robotic quality, and the lip movements in the video have been manipulated to match the fake audio. These discrepancies suggest the use of deepfake technology to alter both the audio and visual elements, creating the impression that Musk was announcing the giveaway.

The fake website

The website “elon21.com” contains only a single homepage with no additional pages or contact information. The page reads, “WE DID IT! Trump won! Democracy is saved! The whole world is saved! The giveaway? It’s our way to say: Thank you!” It offers options for Bitcoin and Ethereum giveaways, each prompting users to send cryptocurrency with the promise of doubling and returning it immediately.

Image shows a screengrab of the fake website. (Source: Elon21.com/Screenshot)

Previously, we have reported similar instances of deepfake videos claiming that Musk announced cryptocurrency giveaways. Numerous cases have involved users losing money in scams falsely attributed to Musk.

Furthermore, no credible reports exist of Musk announcing a giveaway in response to a victory for Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election.

The verdict

A deepfake video was used to falsely claim that Elon Musk announced a cryptocurrency giveaway. The video was fabricated by altering clips from an interview to create misleading footage.