US President Joe Biden went into quarantine due to a COVID-19 infection on July 17, and released a letter resigning from the 2024 presidential campaign a few days later. Since then, a conspiracy theory has been circulating on social media platforms spreading doubts about whether he is even alive.
The theory is unfounded. On Tuesday, Biden made his first public appearance since stepping back from the race, telling reporters he was feeling "fine." He also made a surprise phone call into a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, urging the Democratic Party to "embrace" her candidacy.
Despite Biden's public appearance and phone call, posts containing rumors and conspiracy theories about his well-being continue to spread. One viral example is a video circulating on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, claiming that Biden's recent call to the Harris campaign was generated by ElevenLabs, a famous AI voice cloning tool.
The video's caption reads: "The White House Gets Caught Using Popular AI Voice Cloning Tool @ElevenLabs to Fake Call To Vice President Kamala's HQ Event." Since it was published on Tuesday it has garnered more than 8.1 million views, and other posts sharing the video are also getting millions of views.
The video purports to show a computer screen where a user uploads a recording of a segment from Biden's phone call to ElevenLabs' AI Speech Classifier, a tool designed to detect whether audio was created using ElevenLabs' services. The on-screen results allegedly indicate that the phone call was "very likely" generated or manipulated using the technology.
DW fact check: Fake. The video is a fabricated demonstration. When the original audio of Biden's phone call is analyzed using ElevenLabs' AI Speech Classifier, the probability of it being generated with ElevenLabs tools is determined to be only 2%.
DW also conducted a test using Trumedia, a nonprofit AI project that aims to fight disinformation in political campaigns. Trumedia's analysis corroborated that the likelihood of the audio being AI-generated is minimal.
The official ElevenLabs account on X responded to the viral video, stating: "The user runs a different clip through our speech classifier than the phone call played in the video to create the false impression it was created on our platform. You can always run the audio through our AI Speech Classifier to check results yourself."
Several media outlets have published videos of the event. A more extended version is available on the YouTube channel of USA Today, showing that Biden remained on the line after the speech and later engaged in a cheerful exchange with Harris.
"Joe, are you watching? You hear this clapping?" Harris asked Biden, as applause filled the room. "I'm watching. I'm watching it." Biden replied. The two then continue to share compliments and jokes.
On the same day the AI claim was made, the same account also posted a fabricated CNN news screenshot featuring two AI-images of Biden in a hospital. The fake headline read: "BREAKING: Joe Biden Hospital Rumors Confirmed. In Critical Condition at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center." However, in small print beneath the headline, it stated: "Other sources such as [the user] on Twitter who created this screenshot claim you idiots will believe anything, so reports are conflicting..."
Despite this, the content from these accounts has been widely shared by numerous far-right accounts promoting conspiracy theories.
Conclusion: The recent viral video claiming that President Joe Biden's call to a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris was generated using AI voice cloning technology is false. An analysis by DW Fact Check using ElevenLabs and Truemedia has confirmed the audio was not generated by artificial intelligence. The video is a deliberate attempt to mislead people.