AI deepfakes of physicist Michio Kaku spread false comet conspiracy claims

Physicist Michio Kaku is warning about AI-generated deepfakes that exploit his image and voice to spread false claims about comet 3I/ATLAS being an alien spacecraft. The sophisticated deepfakes manipulate a legitimate interview Kaku gave about the comet, escalating his measured scientific speculation into definitive claims about extraterrestrial visitors and government cover-ups.

What you should know: The deepfakes distort Kaku’s actual position on 3I/ATLAS, which NASA tracks as the third object ever detected from outside our solar system.

• In his real Newsmax interview, Kaku presented two scientific perspectives: “The majority faction says ‘What’s all the fuss about? I mean It’s just a rock from outer space,'” while “Another faction, however, says ‘Now, wait a minute. Perhaps, this is a visitor. An intelligent visitor from another solar system.'”
• The AI-generated versions manipulate his words to claim 3I/ATLAS is “almost certainly an alien spacecraft or recon vehicle” and suggest it “beamed energy to Mars or the Sun.”

Why this matters: The incident highlights how deepfake technology can weaponize scientific credibility to spread misinformation about legitimate astronomical research.

• Theoretical physicist Avi Loeb, a Harvard astronomer, has been advocating for the alien spacecraft hypothesis, despite evidence that 3I/ATLAS ejects water vapor like a comet, though at an unusually high rate.
• The timing coincides with 3I/ATLAS reaching perihelion today—its closest point to the Sun—when observers are monitoring for any trajectory changes that could indicate artificial propulsion.

The broader impact: Other prominent physicists are experiencing similar deepfake exploitation targeting scientific topics.

• Brian Cox, a particle physicist and science communicator, reports seeing AI deepfakes of himself pushing similar misinformation on YouTube, tweeting “We keep telling them and they are bloody slow” about Google’s response to removal requests.
• Both scientists are calling on platforms and AI developers to take stronger action against these abuses.

What they’re saying: Kaku emphasized the urgency of addressing deepfake misuse in his recent warning.

• “There has been a sudden rise of fraudulent unauthorized deep fake AI videos, impersonating me, misleading the public with crazy false claims that are not my own,” he tweeted.
• “I call on AI thought leaders to put real efforts into stopping this blatant abuse of their inventions,” he added.

The science behind the speculation: Researchers are monitoring 3I/ATLAS for signs of artificial propulsion as it completes its solar flyby.

• “If it picks up extra energy on its flyby, that would clinch it. That means there’s extra terrestrial intelligence involved,” Kaku said in his legitimate interview.
• Loeb noted that “For a spacecraft, perihelion is the optimal time for either acceleration or deceleration by an impulse from an engine, thanks to the gravitational assist from the Sun.”