The Pink Panther that was supposedly involved in the Paris protests turned out to be a hoax.

Protests in Paris over fuel prices and the decline of public services have drawn thousands of demonstrators, many of whom engaged in violent acts such as looting, setting vehicles and buildings on fire, and clashing with police. Among the images circulating online was one of a protester dressed as the Pink Panther, seemingly participating in the unrest, throwing flaming objects, wielding a rifle, or being dragged by two officers. However, these images were later revealed to be fabrications created using artificial intelligence. The BBC's verification team uncovered that the images were generated by AI after detecting a watermark known as SynthID, which is embedded in media produced by tools developed by major tech companies including Google, OpenAI, and NVIDIA. The investigators used a SynthID detector to identify the watermark and traced its origin to Google's AI tools. Further research showed that the original images had been posted on an Instagram account promoting AI-generated art featuring fictional characters like Homer Simpson and the Teletubbies. The creator of the content confirmed it was part of an artistic project and did not intend for it to go viral. The authenticity of the images was further questioned because none of the photojournalism agencies could find any evidence of the Pink Panther appearing in any of the thousands of photos taken during the protests. Additionally, the scenes appeared highly staged, combining elements of pop culture with the social tensions in France, which likely contributed to their rapid spread before their synthetic nature was confirmed. According to Infobae, the viral images of the Pink Panther protesting in Paris were created using AI tools. Despite becoming one of the most discussed symbols of the French protests, the character never physically participated in the demonstrations. The scenes showing the Pink Panther defying water cannons and police vehicles were generated through AI, according to multiple media outlets and verification agencies. The French newspaper Libération traced the origin of the scene and determined it did not reflect any actual moment in Paris. INFOVERITAS conducted a reverse image search via Google Images, which led only to anonymous social media accounts, with no confirmation from any agencies or media outlets of the character’s presence at the protests. Similarly, the Spanish news agency EFE analyzed a video of the masked protester running from a water cannon and concluded that the images shared on social media were generated using AI programs.