A controversial directive of Elon Musk
Elon Musk recently published a memo on X (formerly Twitter) for American federal employees. He said:
"In accordance with the instructions of the president @realdonaldtrump, all federal employees will receive an email asking them for what they did last week. The lack of response will be considered a resignation."
The email in question, entitled "What did you do last week?" Asked federal employees to list, in the form of points, five tasks accomplished in the past few days . Sent on a Saturday, outside the usual hours of work in the United States, he nevertheless imposed an answer before Monday at 11:59 p.m., arousing a wave of indignation on social networks.
A warning addressed to federal officials
The following Monday, Elon Musk reiterated his warning to federal employees, declaring that those who refuse to return to the office would be placed on administrative leave.
In a message that generated more than 10 million views and 10,000 comments, he said:
"Those who have ignored President Trump's order to go back to work have now received more than a month of notice. From this week, those who have still not returned to work will be placed on administrative leave."
This communication has been widely criticized on social networks, where many Internet users have denounced a management method deemed authoritarian and disrespectful of internal procedures. Several unions and federal employees have announced demonstrations and legal proceedings against Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), accusing them of abusive layoffs, massive data and funds and jobs freezing.
A digital satire -like attack
In this context of tensions, a Deepfake by Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk's feet was broadcast on the internal screens of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
According to several sources, unknown hackers have hacked the internal display system of the HUD headquarters in Washington to broadcast this sequence manufactured by artificial intelligence.
The video, with a characteristic rendering of the content generated by AI-with artificial movements, a frozen background and visual inconsistencies-seems to want to illustrate the dynamics of being perceived between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, this last leader now the Department of Government Efficient (DOGE).
The image showed a false Donald Trump caressing and kissing the feet of a character resembling Musk, accompanied by an explicit legend: “Long live the real king. »»
To date, neither Elon Musk nor the White House have officially reacted to the broadcast of this video, which has been circulating widely on social networks for several days. Internet users have noted several typical anomalies of Deepfakes , including the representation of Musk with two left feet, a detail highlighting the artificial manufacturing of the content.
The rise of AI and its drifts
Elon Musk has often praised the advances of artificial intelligence, going so far as to predict that it will surpass individual human intelligence by 2025, and collective by 2030. However, neither he nor the main defenders of this technological revolution have yet further addressed the risks linked to the manipulation of images and videos generated by IA.
The boom in Deepfakes is raising major challenges for the current digital ecosystem, making the distinction between true and false. Faced with these challenges, a global response involving cybersecurity experts, AI ethicians, social media platforms and specialized journalists appears essential. The fight against disinformation requires increased vigilance, reinforced public education and constant media adaptation to respond to growing threats linked to artificial intelligence.
Charity Ani Kosisohukwu