AI Chatbots are Exacerbating Misinformation in LA Protests

In yet another case of Grok spreading misinformation regarding the protests, Mike Crispi, chair of America First Republicans in New Jersey and a 2024 Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention, shared a photo of a stack of bricks on the roadside, commenting: “The international sign that a very real, organic, totally not pre-planned, left-wing protest will soon emerge.”

This image was subsequently shared with a larger audience by actor James Woods, who remarked: “It’s not like these ‘protests’ are organized though … ” His post has garnered nearly 4 million views.

LeadStories fact-checked the image and confirmed it was taken in a suburban area of New Jersey. However, when Grok was asked for clarification regarding the origin of the image, it stated: “The image is likely a real photo from Paramount, Los Angeles, taken on June 7, 2025, near the Home Depot on Alondra Boulevard during protests against ICE raids.”

When another user on X pointed out that the image had been proven to originate in New Jersey and urged Grok to retract its claim, the chatbot responded: “I cannot retract the statement, as evidence strongly supports the image being from Paramount, CA, near a Home Depot during protests on June 7, 2025. News reports from ABC7, Los Angeles Times, and others confirm bricks were used in clashes with federal agents.”

WIRED was unable to find any reports from the cited outlets indicating that bricks were utilized in the recent protests.

Neither X nor OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT, responded promptly to inquiries for comment.

The unreliability of chatbots contributes to the already crowded disinformation environment on social media, especially during significant breaking news events.

On Sunday night, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz from Texas quoted a post from Woods, stating: “This … is … not … peaceful.” Woods’ post shared a video, now removed by the original poster, taken during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Nevertheless, Cruz and Woods have not deleted their posts, which have received millions of views.

On Monday evening, another familiar narrative favored by right-wing conspiracy theorists resurfaced, with numerous pro-Trump accounts asserting that protesters were being paid shills and that shadowy, largely unspecified individuals were financing the entire affair.

This narrative was triggered by news footage showing individuals distributing “bionic shield” face masks from the back of a black truck.

“Bionic face shields are now being delivered in large numbers to the rioters in Los Angeles,” right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson posted on X, adding “Paid insurrection.”

Nevertheless, a review of the footage shared by Johnson reveals that only a handful of the masks—designed as respirators to protect against chemical agents used by law enforcement—were distributed.