Wired: “Amid fast-moving events in Los Angeles, users are turning to chatbots like Grok and ChatGPT to find out what’s real and what’s not—and getting inaccurate information. Disinformation about the Los Angeles protests is spreading on social media networks and is being made worse by users turning to AI chatbots like Grok and ChatGPT to perform fact-checking. As residents of the LA area took to the streets in recent days to protest increasingly frequent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, conservative posters on social media platforms like X and Facebook flooded their feeds with inaccurate information. In addition to well-worn tactics like repurposing old protest footage or clips from video games and movies, posters have claimed that the protesters are little more than paid agitators being directed by shadowy forces—something for which there is no evidence. In the midst of fast-moving and divisive news stories like the LA protests, and as companies like X and Meta have stepped back from moderating the content on their platforms, users have been turning to AI chatbots for answers—which in many cases have been completely inaccurate. On Monday, the San Francisco Chronicle published images of National Guard troops sleeping on floors. They were later shared on X by California governor Gavin Newsom, who responded to a post from President Donald Trump by writing: “You sent your troops here without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep.” Within minutes of the posts being shared, many users on X and Facebook were claiming that the images were either AI-generated or taken from a completely different situation. “Looks like @GavinNewsom used an AI photo to smear President Trump,” conspiracist Laura Loomer alleged on X. Some users seeking clarity turned to X’s own chatbot Grok, with one user asking it to clarify where the photo was taken.

The photos likely originated from Afghanistan in 2021, during the National Guard’s evacuation efforts in Operation Allies Refuge,” Grok wrote. “Claims linking them to the 2025 Los Angeles deployment lack credible support and appear to be a misattribution. No definitive source confirms the Los Angeles connection.” When challenged about the assertion by another X user who pointed out that the images were first obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Grok replied: “I checked the San Francisco Chronicle’s claims. The photos of National Guard troops sleeping on floors are likely from 2021, probably the U.S. Capitol, not Los Angeles 2025.”

See also The Guardian: “Misinformation about LA Ice protests swirls online: ‘Catnip for rightwing agitators’ Many posts spread the idea that mayhem overtook LA while police confrontations were limited to a small part of the city…The Social Media Lab, a research unit out of Toronto Metropolitan University, posted on Bluesky: “These days, it feels like every time there’s a protest, the old clickbaity ‘pallets of bricks’ hoax shows up right on cue. You know the one, photos or videos of bricks supposedly left out to encourage rioting. It’s catnip for right-wing agitators and grifters.”