Chinese paraglider's thundercloud survival claim likely featured AI-faked video
The current record for a planned paragliding flight is 8,407m. (EPA Images pic)
BEIJING : A Chinese paraglider's account of having been unwittingly swept into a thundercloud and dragged 8km into the sky has come under question after his video of the incident, carried by Chinese state media, turned out to have been likely faked in part.
The video, originally posted after the paraglider's May 24 flight by his support team on Douyin, China's TikTok, employed artificial intelligence to fake some of the footage, according to a review by a digital security firm consulted by Reuters.
The video's opening showed Peng Yujiang, 55, among the clouds, his face encrusted with ice.
The video, which caused a sensation in paragliding circles, was aired in China and distributed internationally by state-run broadcaster CCTV.
Other news providers also distributed the video, which was picked up globally.
California-based digital security firm GetReal said it was 'fairly confident' the first five seconds of Peng Yujiang's video contained AI-generated images.
There are also inconsistencies noted by GetReal and paragliders who pored over the video: Peng's legs are initially dangling without the insulating cocoon shown later.
His helmet is first white, then black.
Still, five expert paragliders interviewed by Reuters said it was possible Peng had flown to 8,589m as he claimed and survived.
But four of them also challenged his claim that the flight had been an unavoidable accident, which Reuters is reporting for the first time.
The current record for a planned flight is held by French pilot Antoine Girard who flew 8,407m over a stretch of the Himalayas in 2021.
Peng recorded and then deleted his flight log on XContest, a website popular among paragliders, according to Jakub Havel, a Czech paraglider who helps run the forum.
Havel said other flights by Peng remained on the site.
'Nobody intentionally lets themselves be sucked into a thunderstorm cloud in an attempt to break a record – it's something that any sane paragliding pilot tries to avoid at all costs,' said Havel, who said Peng's flight should not be considered a record.
Peng could not be reached for comment.
CCTV, which distributed the video on a platform owned by Reuters, could not be reached for comment.
Like other Chinese media, CCTV faces a pending regulation from Beijing that requires all AI-generated content to be labelled as such from September.
Contacted on the weekend, China's state council, which oversees and coordinates government policy, had no immediate comment.
In a statement, Reuters said it had removed the CCTV package on Peng's flight from Reuters Connect, an online marketplace that carries material from more than 100 news organisations.
'This content is clearly labelled as third-party content and is not verified or endorsed by Reuters,' the statement said.
'When we became aware of a piece of content that likely contained AI-generated elements on the Reuters Connect platform, we investigated and took it down because the material does not comply with our partner content policy.'
Storm clouds
In a report published on Wednesday, the Gansu Aeronautical Sports Association said Peng had broken an altitude record after being swept off the ground by a strong wind while testing second-hand gear he had just bought.
'According to Peng, he didn't plan on taking off,' the report said.
The association, a private group that oversees air sports in the province, did not respond to a request for comment.
It deleted its report on Peng's flight from its WeChat account and by Thursday the association's website was blocked.
The association suspended Peng from flying for six months.
A member of his flight team was suspended for six months for releasing the video without authorisation.
Expert pilots interviewed by Reuters said there were reasons to doubt Peng's flight was a fluke accident, saying he was either trying to make an unauthorised high ascent or should have seen the risk.
Storm clouds like the one Peng flew in 'don't just appear above your head and hoover you into space. They build over a period of time,' said Daniel Wainwright, a flight instructor in Australia.
'He shouldn't have been flying.'
The specialised heavy mittens shown in the video seem to undercut Peng's claim he had not intended to take off, said Brad Harris, president of the Tasmanian Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.
He said he believed Peng may have made up the accidental take-off to avoid sanction for entering restricted air space.
'These are not things you would normally wear or have ready if you were just ground-handling to test a wing,' Harris said.
Godfrey Wenness, a former paragliding distance world record holder, said a veteran paraglider could have managed to reverse the extreme but manageable ascent shown in Peng's flight data.
'He was either inexperienced or he was trying to (keep climbing),' Wenness said.
Wenness said, however, he believed Peng hit the altitude he claimed based on flight data posted on XContest and then deleted.
That data has to be transferred from a GPS in a 'tamper-proof' format, he said.
'We conclude and are confident that the actual flight did occur,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
19 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
Stock markets rise as traders eye possible Trump-Xi talks
NEW YORK, June 4 — Major stock markets rose and the dollar climbed Tuesday as investors kept tabs on the China-US trade war, with speculation swirling that the countries' leaders will soon hold talks. After a period of relative calm on tariffs, US President Donald Trump accused Beijing last week of violating an earlier deal to temporarily lower staggeringly high tit-for-tat levies and unveiled plans to double tolls on steel and aluminium. 'Trade tensions threatened a sharp sell-off on Monday, before news that President Trump and President Xi (Jinping) would speak on the phone helped to ease fears,' said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets closed higher Tuesday, and Wall Street made solid gains. Trade Nation analyst David Morrison noted that investors had been largely brushing off negative news about the economy linked to Trump's tariffs. 'Many remain convinced that Mr Trump's trade wars will soon come to an end, perhaps basing this view on 'TACO', or Trump Always Chickens Out,' he said. Europe's main indices also pushed higher despite the collapse of the Dutch government. Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders withdrew his party from the government in a row over immigration, bringing down a shaky coalition and likely ushering in snap elections. It opens up a period of political uncertainty in the Netherlands — the European Union's fifth-largest economy and a major exporter — as far-right parties make gains across the continent. The Netherlands is part of the eurozone, where official data on Tuesday showed the area's inflation eased in May to its lowest level in eight months, back below the European Central Bank's two-per cent target. The ECB had already been widely expected to cut eurozone interest rates this week, putting pressure on the euro. Among companies, Nvidia shares gained 2.8 per cent as it overtook Microsoft as the biggest US company by market value. Growth downgrade Overall, investors were focused on the United States and China. Officials from both sides are set for talks on the sidelines of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ministerial meeting Wednesday in Paris. The OECD on Tuesday slashed its 2025 growth outlook for the global economy to 2.9 per cent from 3.1 per cent previously expected. It also said the US economy would expand by 1.6 per cent, down from an earlier estimate of 2.2 per cent. The group noted that 'substantial increases' in trade barriers, tighter financial conditions, weaker business and consumer confidence, as well as heightened policy uncertainty would all have 'marked adverse effects on growth' if they persist. 'For everyone, including the United States, the best option is that countries sit down and get an agreement,' OECD chief economist Alvaro Pereira told AFP. Data on Tuesday indicated Chinese factory activity shrinking at its fastest pace since September 2022. Also in focus was Trump's signature 'big, beautiful bill,' headlined by tax cuts slated to add up to US$3.0 trillion (RM12.7 trillion) to the nation's debt at a time of heightened worries over the country's finances. US senators have started what is certain to be fierce debate over the policy package, which partially covers an extension of Trump's 2017 tax relief through budget cuts projected to strip health care from millions of low-income Americans. Crude prices rose on concerns that Canadian wildfires could impact oil supplies. — AFP
Malay Mail
29 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
Lee Jae-myung takes power in South Korea after landslide snap election win
SEOUL, June 4 — South Korea's centre-left Lee Jae-myung was declared president Wednesday after winning a snap election, taking the helm of a nation deeply divided after his predecessor's disastrous attempt to declare martial law. Lee won a thumping victory over conservative Kim Moon-soo, of disgraced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol's former party, with his term begining immediately after the National Election Commission certified the vote tally early Wednesday. In a regular presidential election, South Korea allows for a months-long transition period — but as Lee's victory came in a snap election after Yoon's impeachment, his term began right away. 'The National Election Commission hereby declares Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party as the elected president,' National Election Commission chairperson Roh Tae-ak said early Wednesday. Kim had conceded hours earlier, as final votes were still being counted. Official results showed he had no chance of winning. Lee assumes office with a bulging in-tray, from sluggish growth and a global trade war to mounting concerns over military ties between nuclear-armed Pyongyang and Moscow. He also faces the challenge of leading a nation still reeling from the turmoil sparked by Yoon's martial law declaration in December and the rise of the far right in its aftermath — a development experts say has deeply shaken the country's collective sense of democracy. In a speech to supporters early Wednesday, Lee urged South Koreans to move 'forward with hope and make a fresh start from this moment on'. 'Though we may have clashed for a while, even those who did not support us are still fellow citizens of the Republic of Korea,' he said. He also promised to 'pursue dialogue, communication, and cooperation' with North Korea, with whom the South remains technically at war, 'to find a path toward peaceful coexistence and shared prosperity'. Lee is expected to start his first day with a traditional phone briefing from the military's top commander, formally confirming the transfer of operational control of the country. He is then likely to visit the National Cemetery, a longstanding tradition observed by his predecessors, including Yoon. A modest inauguration ceremony will likely follow at the National Assembly — the same site where Yoon deployed armed troops on the night he attempted to declare martial law. Blue House calling? It will be a muted affair with just a few hundred guests expected to attend, in contrast to the large outdoor events held after regularly scheduled elections, which often attract tens of thousands. The new leader will then head to the presidential office to begin naming key cabinet members. Disgraced ex-president Yoon moved the seat of power from the traditional Blue House to a hastily-converted government building in Yongsan, which Lee has previously said he would not use. The focus will be on who is tapped to serve as presidential chief of staff, prime minister and director of the National Intelligence Service. The day is expected to end with a flurry of congratulatory phone calls from world leaders, with US President Donald Trump likely to be the first on the line. Trump's top diplomat, Marco Rubio, was swift to offer his own congratulations and voice hope for working with Lee, who previously has sought greater distance from the United States. Washington's alliance with Seoul was 'ironclad', the US secretary of state said in a statement, citing 'shared values and deep economic ties'. For many voters, like Noh Min-young, 20, who spent months in the street protesting Yoon's martial law declaration, the election was a relief and would allow the country to get back on track. 'I'm just glad now. There's no risk of the result being overturned, and the margin is enough not to lose momentum when it comes to clearing up the insurrection or implementing policies,' she told AFP. But experts warned that Lee's success in this election — after he lost to Yoon in 2022 — was due as much to his rivals' failings as his own strengths, with Kim hampered by political infighting and a fractured right-wing vote, split by a third party candidate. Lee is also likely to herald a major shift in South Korea's foreign policy, Gi-Wook Shin, a sociology professor at Stanford University, told AFP. 'Lee is expected to prioritise the alliance with the United States while simultaneously seeking engagement with both China and North Korea,' he said. That marks a departure from the policies of predecessors including Yoon, 'who largely focused on North Korea and the United States, respectively.' — AFP
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
China FM urges ‘healthy' ties in meeting with new US ambassador
BEIJING: China's top diplomat met with the new US ambassador to Beijing on Tuesday, calling for 'healthy' bilateral ties while Washington's envoy pressed Beijing on trade, drugs and immigration as the two powers wage a tariff war. The meeting came ahead of what the White House said was a likely call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week, after the world's two biggest economies accused each other of jeopardising a preliminary trade deal. Beijing and Washington last month agreed to slash staggeringly high tariffs on each other for 90 days after talks between top officials in Geneva. But the United States has since accused China of violating the terms of the deal, a claim that Beijing called 'bogus' and 'contrary to the facts'. China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Tuesday said he hopes recently appointed US ambassador David Perdue 'will play a positive role in promoting the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US relations', according to a readout published by Beijing's foreign ministry. Wang said China opposed what he called recent US measures that 'jeopardise China's legitimate rights and interests'. Washington should 'create the necessary conditions for China-US relations to return to the right track', Wang said. Meanwhile Perdue said on X that he 'emphasized President Trump's priorities on trade, fentanyl, and illegal immigration'. Washington has long accused China of exporting chemicals used to make the fentanyl sold in the United States, which has reported tens of thousands of deaths related to opioids annually. And the Trump administration has targeted Chinese nationals who entered the United States both legally and illegally, with the president vowing last week to aggressively revoke Chinese student visas.
