The Presidency has dismissed claims that a photograph showing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris was generated using artificial intelligence, describing the allegations as misleading and unfounded.

 

The image, which surfaced online following reports of a meeting between the two leaders, triggered debate on social media after users noticed a Grok watermark on the photograph, leading to speculation that it had been artificially generated.

 

Reacting to the controversy in a statement issued on Monday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, clarified that the photograph was genuine and accurately reflected a real meeting between the two presidents.

 

Ajayi confirmed that President Tinubu and President Kagame met in Paris on Sunday, where they had lunch together. He further disclosed that both leaders later joined French President Emmanuel Macron for dinner the same evening.

 

According to the statement, the photograph in question was originally taken with a mobile phone and was of low quality due to lighting and technical limitations. Ajayi explained that the Grok watermark appeared because the photographer later used the Grok artificial intelligence tool to enhance the image quality, not to fabricate or generate the picture.

 

“The photograph is authentic,” Ajayi said, stressing that the use of AI was limited strictly to image enhancement and not content creation.

 

The Presidency urged the public to disregard claims suggesting the image was fake, noting that such interpretations distort facts and fuel unnecessary misinformation.

 

The clarification comes amid growing public scrutiny over the use of artificial intelligence in media content and increasing sensitivity around the authenticity of images involving public officials.