A viral image claiming to show an elderly couple stripped and robbed during France’s latest riots has been flagged as having been created or altered using artificial intelligence.
Shared on Sunday, the photograph appeared to show two older people wearing only their underwear as several men dressed entirely in black stood around them.
The image was viewed more than one million times on X and circulated by several police unions as rioters took to the streets across the country over the weekend.
However, an analysis by this newspaper identified numerous inconsistencies suggesting that the scene was generated by AI rather than captured by a camera.
French media reports have also concluded that the image was produced using artificial intelligence.
The photograph contains several apparent visual errors. Two figures described as rioters appear to share the same legs, while the elderly woman’s hand seems to be missing a finger.
Elsewhere in the image, the faces of two people appear to merge in the background, and another figure seems to be missing the lower half of their body.
Specialist software also detected a watermark indicating that the image had been generated or edited with generative AI.
The first version shared online indicated that it had been created with Google Gemini, while a sharper-looking variation was associated with OpenAI technology.
The image shared on Sunday appeared to show two elderly people wearing only their underwear while surrounded by several men dressed in black.
Both versions contained an invisible watermark known as SynthID, which is embedded in images generated by AI.
Major AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, have signed up to Google’s service, which helps users determine whether digital content has been generated by artificial intelligence.
Before the image emerged, French media reported that an 80-year-old couple had been robbed and left nearly naked by rioters at Place de la Republique, a major square in Paris.
Local reports nevertheless said that Paris police had not yet confirmed the alleged incident.
Earlier, President Emmanuel Macron rejected his interior minister’s offer to resign. Instead, he instructed him on Monday to end the barricades and looting while providing a transparent account of intelligence failures as France assessed the damage caused by the weekend’s unrest.
The unrest followed weeks of student demonstrations, occasionally accompanied by street violence. It has shaken France six months before its next presidential election and added to pressure caused by a weak economy and rising debt.
Concerns about divisions within Mr Macron’s fragile government, along with apparent shortcomings in security preparations, are expected to unsettle investors further as ministers seek to pass a budget aimed at bringing the country’s finances under control.
Hundreds of thousands of people took part in demonstrations over the weekend, protesting what many described as declining and dysfunctional public services that leave citizens struggling to cope with the rising cost of living.
A protester carrying a French flag walks past a fire during clashes before a demonstration against the “high cost of living” in Marseille, southern France, on October 17, 2026.
A fire burns with the Eiffel Tower visible in the background during a demonstration against the “high cost of living” in Paris on October 17, 2026.
A fire burning and destroying the city hall after a group of individuals forced entry into the building during ongoing protest action against the ‘high cost of living’, in Limoges, central France on October 17, 2026
In many places including the capital Paris, Marseille and the city of Lyon, peaceful protests were quickly hijacked by rioters, leading to scenes of vandalism and chaos.
France deployed 60,000 police and other security forces on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told France Inter radio, but acknowledged that wasn’t enough to control violent crowds in ‘certain cities’.
Mr Macron’s presidential office, the Elysee, said on Monday that Mr Nunez, a former Paris police chief, offered the president his resignation following the riots.
Mr Macron refused but urged Mr Nunez to urgently come up with new concepts ‘to put an end to the barricades and looting,’ the Elysee said.
It added that Mr Nunez also needed to ‘ensure transparency regarding the failures in foresight and intelligence that led to the violence’.
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, a longtime Macron ally, echoed the president’s calls on Monday, telling France 2 television there were intelligence failures that left the state vulnerable in the face of what he called ‘extreme-left’ rioters it had underestimated.
