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AI chatbots wrongly claimed Gavin Newsom’s troop photos were from Afghanistan

Poynter · Loreben Tuquero · last updated

As President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and hundreds of U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests, California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted photos he said showed how the service members were being treated.

The two photos showed service members sleeping on the floor in a crowded space. Newsom posted the pictures June 9 on X, addressing Trump: “You sent your troops here without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep. Here they are — being forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another.”

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