Vanity Fair flags Free Press election-night photo as AI-generated, confirmed via SynthID
ScottNover · x · 2026-11-06
Per Vanity Fair, an election-night event photo from Michigan posted by The Free Press's Olivia Reingold appears to be AI-generated. Reporter Scott Nover replicated the check with Google SynthID, confirming the image carries an AI-generation watermark (detected as "Generated with OpenAI tools").
A notable case of synthetic media slipping into news reporting—and a working demonstration of provenance tools like SynthID. Nover has reached out to The Free Press and parent company Skydance for comment.
Related event: Reporter's ChatGPT Photo Edit Sparks Authentiaty Debate and SynthID Doubts(8 posts)→
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