A dramatic video described as showing a Chinese paraglider surviving an unplanned 8,500m (27,000 ft) ascent and subzero temperatures has been pulled from the website of NBC News over concerns that it may be AI generated.
In a note on its news site, the network said: “NBC News has determined that some of the footage provided by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV and distributed by Reuters that appeared in our initial coverage was AI-generated. We have removed this video and are continuing to report on the veracity of the story. This note will be updated in due course.”
The network was among thousands of news organisations worldwide to have posted the video in recent days, ranging from the UK’s BBC and to France’s TF1 to the websites of newspapers such as The Guardian and The New York Times.
According to the story which broke earlier this week the video is described as showing 55-year paraglider Peng Yujiang’s terrifying ascent after his equipment became caught in an updraft known as a “cloud suck”.
The video, which features Peng battling with strong winds and then looking dazed and frostbitten above the clouds, was first posted on Chinese video-sharing App Douyin, the country’s version of TikTok.
The footage was then licensed by Chinese State TV network CCTV and a number of other viral video distributors.
Concerns over the footage come amid growing challenges for news organizations around AI-generated video and authenticating real footage.
With a question mark hanging over the authenticity of the video, the veracity of the story is also being re-investigated.
In a separate story, NBC said it had reached out to several social media accounts connected to Peng but had not received a response.
MyRumors has contacted NBC and a number of other news outlets which posted the material for comment, as well as CCTV, but has not received a response from any of the organizations.