Is Elon Musk dropping (silver) bars on Americans? No, that's an altered video | Fact check
The claim: Video shows Elon Musk promising to give away 10,000 silver bars
A Nov. 30 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, speaking about his plans for a massive giveaway.
“I was just told that we will have a massive tax bill due to unexpected profits, and instead of paying it, I would rather give that same money to the hard-working, underappreciated American public,” he says in the video. “I will be giving free silver bars to the first 10,000 people who see this video.”
Musk then directs viewers to click a link to claim the free silver.
The video was shared more than 200 times in a week.
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Our rating: Altered
The video is fabricated. The audio was digitally added to a 2022 interview Musk gave in which he makes no mention of silver bars or a giveaway.
TED Talk interview was about Tesla, Twitter and Texas
The original video comes from an April 14, 2022, TED Talk interview with Musk in which he discussed his Tesla factory in Austin, Texas, and his then-bid to buy Twitter, now X.
A transcript of the interview shows Musk made no mention of silver bars or a giveaway.
The Facebook clip has signs consistent with a deepfake: an altered image or video that makes a person appear to do or say things they never did. Musk’s mouth movements appear to have been edited in the video to match the digitally inserted audio, though the audio and video don't always sync up in the edited clip.
Fact check: Altered image of Kyle Rittenhouse circulates
As for the link below the video, it leads users to a blog post about marble flooring. Neither Musk nor silver bars are mentioned on the website.
There are no credible news reports about Musk giving away silver bars. However, there are reports that Tesla may buy into the silver mining industry to meet its own needs.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
TED Talk (YouTube), April 14, 2022, Elon Musk talks Twitter, Tesla and how his brain works — live at TED2022
KITCO, March 6, Silver mines will likely be bought by automakers like Tesla, silver to $125 per ounce - Keith Neumeyer
Investing.com, Jan. 4, The 'Elon Musk Effect' Has Also Reached Silver
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Altered video shows Elon Musk announcing silver bar giveaway | Fact check
