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Presidency Faces Backlash Over AI-Generated Tinubu–Kagame Paris Meeting Image With Grok Watermark
The image, which has gone viral on social media, was shared on President Tinubu’s official X (formerly Twitter) account following reports that he met Kagame on Sunday in Paris, France.
Abuja, Nigeria– A photograph circulated by Nigeria’s presidency purporting to show President Bola Tinubu in a private meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame has been found to carry a visible watermark from Grok, a generative artificial intelligence tool developed by Elon Musk’s xAI.
The image, which has gone viral on social media, was shared on President Tinubu’s official X (formerly Twitter) account following reports that he met Kagame on Sunday in Paris, France.
However, close inspection of the photograph reveals the “Grok” watermark—an identifier typically embedded in images generated or processed using the AI chatbot.
Grok is a generative AI platform known for real-time search capabilities and image generation, raising questions about the authenticity and origin of the photograph released by the presidency.
On Sunday, January 4, 2026, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, announced the meeting in a statement posted online.
“President Bola Tinubu at a private lunch in Paris with the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, discussing world affairs and advancing Africa,” Onanuga wrote.
The statement was accompanied by the now-controversial image.
While there has been no official clarification on whether the photograph was AI-generated, edited, or merely passed through an AI tool, the presence of the watermark has fuelled online debate and criticism, particularly amid growing global concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in political communication and public information.
Neither the presidency nor Onanuga has responded to questions regarding why an AI-tagged image was used to document a high-level diplomatic engagement involving Nigeria’s president.
The development comes at a time when governments worldwide are under increasing pressure to ensure transparency and accuracy in official communications, especially as AI-generated content becomes harder to distinguish from real imagery.
