Market dips briefly after AI image of fake explosion near Pentagon goes viral

The U.S. stock market dipped Monday morning after a fake image of an explosion near the Pentagon went viral.

The image was apparently created with artificial intelligence and tweeted out by a verified account resembling Bloomberg News called Bloomberg Feed. The caption read, “Large explosion near The Pentagon Complex in Washington, D.C. – Initial report.”

The Pentagon confirmed to The Hill that the image was “fake.”

Arlington Fire and EMS also debunked the image, tweeting they were “aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon. There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public.”

Shortly after the now-deleted AI image went viral, the market showed a brief dip, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling about 80 points and the S&P 500 down 0.26 percent, according to CNN and Politico. The interruption to the market was brief, occurring only over a few minutes.

The incident adds fuel to debates over artificial intelligence and Twitter’s new verification policies enacted by CEO Elon Musk. The social media platform recently launched a new pay-for-verification system that some say sparks credibility concerns.

“It undermines the primary purpose of the platform if users, especially people like journalists, have trouble figuring out who’s a legitimate source,” Karen North, a clinical professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, previously told The Hill.

Twitter users are now able to purchase verification for $8 per month for individual accounts.