A photograph showing Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a meeting with Paul Kagame has triggered widespread debate on social media after users noticed a visible Grok watermark on the image.
The photograph, said to have been taken during a meeting in Paris on Sunday, was first shared on President Tinubu’s official X (formerly Twitter) account and later reposted by his aide, drawing intense public scrutiny.
Grok Watermark Raises AI Concerns
Shortly after the image went public, social media users pointed out the Grok watermark, prompting questions about whether the photograph was generated using artificial intelligence.
Grok is a generative AI tool developed by xAI, owned by billionaire Elon Musk. The platform is known for image generation, editing, and enhancement capabilities.
The debate intensified after Dada Olusegun, the President’s Special Assistant on New Media, shared the same image, leading some Nigerians on X to accuse the presidency of circulating an AI-generated image of an official diplomatic engagement.
One user wrote, “Why are you using Grok to generate a picture of what was supposed to have happened? Is it incompetence or something else?”
Presidency Explains the Image
Presidency sources, however, dismissed claims that the photograph was artificially generated. According to officials, the image was authentic but had been enhanced using Grok’s image improvement feature.
The sources explained that the original photograph taken during the lunch meeting in Paris was of poor quality and was later processed to improve clarity, which resulted in the watermark being visible.
President Tinubu reportedly travelled from Lagos to Europe on December 28 as part of his end-of-year schedule, during which the meeting with President Kagame took place.
Mixed Public Reactions Online
Despite the explanation, reactions on social media remained divided. Some users expressed concern over the use of AI tools for official presidential communication, arguing that it undermines public trust.
Others questioned the judgment of the President’s media team, insisting that images from official engagements should be released without any form of AI processing to avoid controversy.
The incident has since reignited broader conversations around transparency, digital ethics, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in political communication.
As of now, the Presidency maintains that the image is genuine, insisting that only visual enhancement—not fabrication—was involved.
