(Note: Strong language in paragraph 10)

By Alexandra Ulmer and Anna Tong

(Reuters) – “I actually like Ron DeSantis a lot,” Hillary Clinton reveals in a surprise online endorsement video. “He’s just the kind of guy this country needs, and I really mean that.”

Joe Biden finally lets the mask slip, unleashing a cruel rant at a transgender person. “You will never be a real woman,” the president snarls.

Welcome to America’s 2024 presidential race, where reality is up for grabs.

The Clinton and Biden deepfakes – realistic yet fabricated videos created by AI algorithms trained on copious online footage – are among thousands surfacing on social media, blurring fact and fiction in the polarized world of U.S. politics.

While such synthetic media has been around for several years, it’s been turbocharged over the past year by of a slew of new “generative AI” tools such as Midjourney that make it cheap and easy to create convincing deepfakes, according to Reuters interviews with about two dozen specialists in fields including AI, online misinformation and political activism.

“It’s going to be very difficult for voters to distinguish the real from the fake. And you could just imagine how either Trump supporters or Biden supporters could use this technology to make the opponent look bad,” said Darrell West, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation.

“There could be things that drop right before the election that nobody has a chance to take down.”

Tools that can generate deepfakes are being released with few or imperfect guardrails to prevent harmful misinformation as the tech sector engages in an AI arms race, said Aza Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Human Technology, a nonprofit that studies technology’s impact on society.

Former President Donald Trump, who will vie with DeSantis and others for the Republican nomination to face Biden, himself shared a doctored video of CNN anchor Anderson Cooper earlier this month on his social media platform Truth Social.

“That was President Donald J. Trump ripping us a new asshole here on CNN’s live presidential townhall,” Cooper says in the footage, although the words don’t match his lip movement.

CNN said the video was a deepfake. A representative for Trump didn’t respond to a request for comment on the clip, which was still on his son Donald Jr’s Twitter page this week.

While major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have made efforts to prohibit and remove deepfakes, their effectiveness at policing such content varies.

DEEPFAKE PENCE, NOT TRUMP

There have been three times as many video deepfakes of all kinds and eight times as many voice deepfakes posted online this year compared to the same time period in 2022, according to DeepMedia, a company working on tools to detect synthetic media.

In total, about 500,000 video and voice deepfakes will be shared on social media sites globally in 2023, DeepMedia estimates. Cloning a voice used to cost $10,000 in server and AI-training costs up until late last year, but now startups offer it for a few dollars, it says.

No one is certain where the generative AI road leads or how to effectively guard against its power for mass misinformation, according to the people interviewed.

Industry leader OpenAI, which has changed the game in recent months with its release of ChatGPT and the updated model GPT-4, is itself grappling with the issue. CEO Sam Altman told Congress this month that election integrity was a “significant area of concern” and urged rapid regulation of the sector.

Unlike some smaller startups, OpenAI has taken steps to restrict use of its products in politics, according to a Reuters analysis of the terms of use of half a dozen leading companies offering generative-AI services.

The guardrails have gaps, though.

For example, OpenAI says it prohibits its image generator DALL-E from creating public figures – and indeed, when Reuters tried to create images of Trump and Biden, the request was blocked and a message appeared saying it “may not follow our content policy.”

Yet Reuters was able to create images of at least a dozen other U.S. politicians, including former Vice-President Mike Pence, who is also weighing a White House run for 2024.

OpenAI also restricts any “scaled” usage of its products for political purposes. That bans use of its AI to send out mass personalized emails to constituents, for example.

The company, which is backed by Microsoft, explained its political policies to Reuters in an interview but didn’t respond to further requests for comment around enforcement gaps in its policies, such as blocking image creation of politicians.

Several smaller startups have no explicit restrictions on political content.

Midjourney, which launched last year, is the leading player in AI-generated images, with 16 million users on its official Discord server. The app, which ranges from free to $60 a month depending on factors such as picture quantity and speed, is a favorite of AI designers and artists due to its ability to generate hyper-realistic images of celebrities and politicians, according to four AI researchers and creators interviewed.

Midjourney didn’t respond to a request for comment for this article. During an online chat on Discord last week, CEO David Holz said the company would likely make changes ahead of the election to combat misinformation.

Midjourney wants to cooperate on an industry solution to enable traceability of AI-generated images with a digital equivalent of watermarking and would consider blocking images of political candidates, Holz added.

REPUBLICAN AI-GENERATED AD

Even as the industry wrestles with how to prevent misuse, some political players are themselves seeking to harness the power of generative AI to soup up campaigns.

So far, the only high-profile AI-generated political ad in the U.S. was one published by the Republican National Committee in late April. The 30-second ad, which the RNC disclosed as being entirely generated by AI, used fake images to suggest a cataclysmic scenario should Biden be reelected, with China invading Taiwan and San Francisco being shut down by crime.

The RNC didn’t respond to requests for comment on the ad or its wider use of AI. The Democratic National Committee declined to comment on its use of the technology.

Reuters polled all the Republican presidential campaigns on their use of AI. Most did not reply, although Nikki Haley’s team said they were not using the technology and longshot candidate Perry Johnson’s campaign said it was using AI for “copy generation and iteration,” without giving further details.

The potential for generative AI to produce campaign emails, posts and adverts is irresistible for some activists who feel the low-cost tech could level the playing field in elections.

Even deep in rural Hillsdale, Michigan, machine intelligence is on the march.

Jon Smith, Republican chair for Michigan’s 5th Congressional district, is holding several educational meetings so his allies can learn to use AI for social media and ad generation.

“AI helps us play against the big cats,” he said. “I see the biggest upswing in the local races. Someone who is 65 years old, a farmer and county commissioner, he could easily be primaried by a younger cat using the technology.”

Political consultancies are also seeking to harness AI, further muddying the line between real and unreal.

Numinar Analytics, a political data company that focuses on Republican clients, has begun experimenting with AI content generation for audio and images, as well as voice-generation to potentially create personalized messaging in a candidate’s voice, founder Will Long said in an interview.

Democratic polling and strategy group Honan Strategy Group is meanwhile trying to develop an AI survey bot. It hopes to unroll a female bot in time for the 2023 municipal elections, CEO Bradley Honan said, citing research that both men and women are more likely to speak to a female interviewer.

(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer and Anna Tong in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Christina Anagnostopoulos, Zeba Siddiqui and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Kenneth Li, Ross Colvin and Pravin Char)

Despite playing Robert Redford‘s love interest in a handful of movies, Jane Fonda believes the actor despised filming physical scenes with her.

The Grace & Frankie alum made the confession while at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, May 26.

“He did not like to kiss. I never said anything [to him about it]. And he’s always in a bad mood, and I always thought it was my fault,” the actress recalled of working with Redford. “He’s a very good person. He just has an issue with women.”

Making matters worse, Fonda, 85, admitted she “was in love with” the Oscar winner, 86.

Eventually, the Barbarella lead realized she wasn’t the one to blame for his attitude.

“The last movie I made with him was six years ago. What was I, about 80 years old or something like that. And I finally knew I had grown up,” she said. “When he would come on the set three hours late in a bad mood, I knew it wasn’t my fault.”

Despite the awkwardness, the actress insisted they “always had a good time” together.

Fonda has been spilling quite a few tales from her storied past, revealing on the May 15 episode of of Watch What Happens Live that she once saw “skinny” Michael Jackson in the buff!

“He came and visited me when we were shooting On Golden Pond, and I had a little cottage right on the lake, and it was a beautiful, moonlit night,” the mom-of-three said, noting the singer asked her to go skinny-dipping.

“I think because he knew he was going to die young and I would talk about him being naked,” she joked of the situation.

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On that same WWHL episode, the star confessed she saw Swedish actress Greta Garbo naked as well.

“I have stories for you, kid,” she teased to host Andy Cohen. “We don’t have time!”

Deadline reported on Fonda’s comments about Redford.

By Jacqueline Thomsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Two members of the far-right Oath Keepers were sentenced to prison on Friday for their roles in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump who tried to overturn his presidential election defeat.

Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins were convicted in November by a federal jury in Washington of obstruction of an official proceeding for their roles in the storming of the Capitol, which saw rioters battle police, smash windows and send lawmakers running for their lives.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta on Friday sentenced Harrelson to four years in prison. Earlier on Friday, the judge imposed a prison sentence of eight and a half years for Watkins.

Harrelson was also found guilty of conspiring to prevent members of Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election win as well as tampering with documents and proceedings. Watkins was also convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of officers during the riots.

Watkins and Harrelson were acquitted of seditious conspiracy charges.

Mehta said he believes Harrelson is “genuinely remorseful” and that he did not think the Oath Keeper was as responsible as other members of the far-right militia he was charged alongside.

The judge added that the evidence in Harrelson’s case did not include messages from him that talked about “revolution” or other extremist terms, like other Oath Keepers had, and noted that he did not physically attack or threaten to assault any police officers at the Capitol that day.

Evidence displayed during trial included a video in which Harrelson could be heard chanting the word “treason” as he entered the U.S. Capitol.

“He wanted to intimidate members of Congress and people working in that building,” prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler said.

Harrelson told the court on Friday that he never thought about politics before Jan. 6, and that he would have tried to stop others’ violence against police officers that day if he knew about it.

“I am responsible, and my foolish actions have caused immense pains in my life and to our children,” Harrelson said, crying.

Prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence for Harrelson, while his attorney asked that the judge issue an unspecified lighter sentence.

Federal prosecutors had asked Mehta to sentence Watkins to 18 years in prison. Watkins’ lawyer asked that she be sentenced to five years in prison.

Mehta earlier Friday said it was “particularly hard” to issue a sentence for Watkins. He mentioned her testimony during trial about the struggles she faced with her transgender identity and her cooperation with law enforcement officials during their investigation of her conduct on Jan. 6.

But he said that “doesn’t wipe out” what she did during the attack.

“Your role that day was more aggressive, more assaultive, more purposeful than perhaps others,” Mehta said.

During tearful remarks in court, Watkins asked Mehta to issue a just sentence.

“My actions and my behavior that fateful day were wrong and, as I now understand, criminal,” she said.

Federal prosecutor Alexandra Hughes on Friday told Mehta that the actions of Watkins and other Oath Keepers on that day “were not an aberration” and that a significant sentence should be imposed.

Friday’s court proceedings are taking place one day after Mehta sentenced Oath Keepers’ founder Stewart Rhodes to 18 years in prison for crimes including seditious conspiracy, or using force to try to overthrow the federal government. That is the steepest penalty yet against those charged in the Jan. 6 violence.

Members of the Oath Keepers, founded in 2009, include current and retired U.S. military personnel, law enforcement officers and first responders. They have appeared, often heavily armed, at protests and political events including racial justice demonstrations that followed the 2020 murder in Minneapolis of a Black man named George Floyd by a white police officer.

Some of the Oath Keepers, including Watkins and Harrelson, breached the Capitol, a few clad in paramilitary gear. Others at a suburban hotel staged a “quick reaction force” prosecutors said was equipped with firearms that could be quickly transported into Washington.

Four other Oath Keepers members convicted of seditious conspiracy in a second trial are due to be sentenced next week.

(Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen in Washington; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Mark Porter)

Madonna has plans to make her upcoming Celebration tour memorable and sources said she hopes to get arrested on stage, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Sources revealed Madonna, 64, who once posed in handcuffs for her coffee-table book Sex, has big plans for her final stadium tour — including getting locked up.

“Madonna still knows how to press people’s buttons and enjoys it!” said a source. “She knows her success has as much to do with her ability to shock as with her talent, and that’s why she’s preparing to be arrested while performing with drag queens in Tennessee, where they have laws about it. To be slapped in cuffs onstage would be the highlight of her career.”

Back in the ‘90s, Madonna was nearly arrested during her Blonde Ambition tour. During her set, the pop star simulated a sexual act while singing Like A Virgin.

In May 1990, Madonna was scheduled to perform at Toronto’s SkyDome. Law enforcement arrived at the venue to inform Madonna’s team that if the singer performed the act in question, she would be arrested.

Madonna famously responded, “I’m not changing my f—— show.”

Last year, Madonna spoke about the issues during the tour. She revealed police had threatened to “arrest me three times” during the set of shows.

“Police threatened to arrest me three times as I traveled around the world performing ‘Like a Virgin’ during the Blonde Ambition tour,” she wrote. “The Vatican canceled all my shows in Rome! See how I paved the road for you b—–??”

The tour caused such controversy the Pope instructed followers not to attend Madonna’s concert. He labeled the show, “one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity.”

As RadarOnline.com first reported, insiders revealed Madonna has been taking preparation for this tour incredibly serious. Sources said Madonna even has plans to dissolve her face fillers to achieve a more natural look for when she appears on stage.

“Madonna’s hinted she wants more natural look and might be willing to get some of the fillers dissolved to speed up the process,” said an insider. “She’s desperate to undo some of the fillers and work she’s had done before she embarks on her tour.”