German Public Broadcaster Ran Fake AI-Generated Clip Of 'ICE Troops' Arresting Migrant Family
by Tyler Durden
Wednesday, Feb 18, 2026 - 05:00 AM
Via Remix News,
The German public broadcaster ZDF has admitted to a significant editorial oversight after its flagship news program, Heute Journal, aired AI-generated images featuring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting an immigrant family.
After uproar on social media over the fake news segment, which included a visible OpenAI’ “Sora” watermark on the screen, the broadcaster expressed regret over the error and has since updated the report to remove the synthetic content.
Critics pointed out that while it is becoming harder to differentiate fake AI content from real events, the appearance of the Sora watermark made it clear that this was AI content.
The controversy from the Feb. 15 report featured fake AI scenes of a woman and two children being led away by ICE. During the segment, ICE agents were referred to as “troops.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/german-public-broadcaster-ran-fake-ai-generated-clip-ice-troops-arresting-migrant-family