Has Elon Musk added the enduring automobile maker Ford Motor Co. to the record of corporations he owns?
“Elon Musk surprises the world with Ford acquisition,” a number of Fb posts stated. “In an surprising transfer, Elon Musk has introduced the acquisition of the enduring Ford automotive model, marking a milestone within the automotive business.” The posts function a picture of Ford CEO Jim Farley and Tesla CEO Musk, shaking palms with the Ford firm emblem behind them.
We discovered related claims on Instagram and X.
The Fb put up was flagged as a part of Meta’s efforts to fight false information and misinformation on its Information Feed. (Learn extra about our partnership with Meta, which owns Fb, Threads and Instagram.)
We fact-checked the same declare in Spanish and Ian Thibodeau, a Ford Motor Co. spokesperson, informed PolitiFact for that story that “this viral put up is totally false.”
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We additionally discovered no announcement on Ford’s web site or social media accounts saying a Musk acquisition. No such announcement on Musk’s X account both, the place he incessantly shares information about his corporations.
(Fb put up screenshot.)
As for the picture included with the declare of Musk and Farley shaking palms, Siwei Lyu, a College of Buffalo skilled in digital media forensics, informed PolitiFact it’s fabricated.
“This picture is clearly AI-created — as Musk’s proper hand has six fingers! It’s doubtless created from the latest AI technology fashions,” Lyu stated.
The declare doubtless originated from a Sept. 16 YouTube video on a channel known as Elon Musk Rewind. The account’s description says its movies comprise unverified info and “shouldn’t be taken as endorsed info.”
We fee the declare that Musk purchased Ford False.
PolitiFact Workers Author Maria Briceño contributed to this report.
