Fact Check: AI-generated image shows Cybertruck-like Soviet vehicle from 1930
Claim:
A photo authentically shows a 1930 Russian or Soviet "Tarantaika," also known as "Boneshaker."
Rating:
A rumor circulating online in May 2025 claimed a photo authentically showed a 1930 Russian or Soviet vehicle called "Tarantaika," or "Boneshaker."
For example, users shared this rumor with the caption "1930 Russian/Soviet 'Tarantaika' (Boneshaker)" on Bluesky, Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and X (archived). Some commenters under various posts mentioned the alleged vehicle's striking visible similarities to the Tesla Cybertruck.
(Image courtesy of Bluesky Fanatic/Bluesky)
However, the picture did not show a Russian "Tarantaika" or "Boneshaker." A user created the image — a fake — with an artificial-intelligence (AI) tool. Snopes found no evidence that a Russian vehicle known by those names ever existed.
In October 2024, Snopes examined the same fake image in another fact check, back when users captioned the photo as allegedly showing a "fully restored 1875 chuckwagon." We traced the roots of the picture to Facebook user Joshohoho, who told us he created the image with the generative-AI platform Midjourney.
The user first posted the picture in the Crazed AI and Cursed AI groups on June 24, saying it showed a "Tesla Cybertruck Frontier Edition." They later reposted the image in the Midjourney Official group on June 28 with the caption, "Tesla Cybertruck: Oregon Trail edition."
Searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo and Google failed to locate any information about a historic vehicle with the name "Tarantaika." A search for "Boneshaker" found a stock image of a "Bone-shaker" bicycle from France dating back to 1869, displayed at a March 2011 exhibition in Moscow, Russia, according to the Shutterstock image-licensing website.
For further reading, a previous fact check examined a photo allegedly showing a crash involving two Tesla Cybertrucks.
Anokhin, Nikita. "Moscow March 25 Bike Bone-Shaker France Stock Photo 74604073." Shutterstock, 25 Mar. 2011, https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/moscow-march-25-bike-boneshaker-france-74604073.
DuckDuckGo - Protection. Privacy. Peace of Mind. https://duckduckgo.com.
Google. https://www.google.com/.
Liles, Jordan. "Photo Authentically Shows Fully Restored 1875 Chuckwagon?" Snopes, 30 Oct. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/1875-chuckwagon-photo/.
Microsoft Bing. https://www.bing.com/.
Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos. https://www.yahoo.com/.
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