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Is an alien spacecraft visiting our solar system? A wave of videos featuring famed physicist Michio Kaku touting this claim is spreading across social media. But the scientist is warning the public that the clips are actually AI deepfakes that spread misinformation.
“There has been a sudden surge of fraudulent deep fake AI videos, impersonating me, and misleading the public with crazy false claims that are not my own,” Kaku tweeted this week.
The videos look convincing and exploit an actual interview Kako gave about 3i/Atlas, which NASA has tracked as a comet. This made the rounds after a recent research paper speculated that 3i/Atlas could be “alien technology”, despite the overwhelming consensus that this is not the case.
3i/Atlas (Credit: NASA, ESA, David Jowett (UCLA) Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STSCI))
“The majority group has said, ‘What’s the fuss about this? I mean, it’s just a rock from outer space,'” Kaku told NewsMax. “However, another group says, ‘Now, wait a minute. Perhaps, this is one to come. Another intelligent visitor to the solar system.’
That’s because 3i/Atlas is the third object discovered by astronomers to originate outside our solar system. In the interview, Kako added that the scientific community will be looking for signs that 3i/Atlas is accelerating as it orbits the Sun — a sign that the mysterious object is not simply a comet, but features artificial propulsion. “If it gets extra energy on its flyby, it ends up doing that. That means it has extraterrestrial intelligence involved,” he said in the interview.
Theoretical physicist Avi Loeb has been the most vocal figure in pushing the hypothesis that 3i/Atlas could be an alien spacecraft, despite evidence that it is spewing water vapor like a comet, albeit at a surprising rate.
The problem is that Kaku’s AI-generated videos exploit their image and sound to further think things like the 3i/Atlas is almost certainly an alien spacecraft or reentry vehicle, and it has influenced the energy of Mars or the Sun. Some clips even suggest the mysterious nature of 3i/Atlas is already known to the US government and is being covered up.
Physicist Brian Cox has also reported seeing AI deepfakes on YouTube pushing a similar fallacy. “We keep telling them and they’re bloody lazy,” he tweeted about trying to get Google to remove the videos.
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Kaku has also been calling on YouTube and TikTok to do more to crack down. “I call on AI thought leaders to make real efforts to stop this blatant abuse of their inventions,” he added.
In the meantime, others are monitoring changes in 3i/Atlas, which today reached its perihelion, the closest point in its orbit to the Sun. “For a spacecraft, perylene is the optimal time for acceleration or deceleration by an engine, thanks to gravitational support from the Sun,” Loeb said. Therefore, observers are watching closely for 3i/Atlas and any changes in its speed.
YouTube and TechTalk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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About our expert
Michael Kahn
Senior reporter
Experience
I have been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite Internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware and more. I am currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s StarLink satellite Internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also regulatory battles over expanding satellite constellations, battles with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and efforts to expand satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and reached out to remote corners of California to test StarLink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling its personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint Investigation Along with the motherboard
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. Now I’m following how President Trump’s tariffs will affect the industry. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump into the comments with feedback and send me pointers.
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