Viral video of Musk and Meloni kissing is AI-generated

A video circulating online appears to show Tesla CEO Elon Musk sharing a passionate embrace with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The clip has been widely shared across social media platforms like X and Instagram, often with captions suggesting the pair’s affection for one another. One caption, for instance, reads "è amore," meaning "it's love" in Italian, which is often considered one of the most romantic languages.

In some variations of the video, there’s a slightly less intimate kiss — in the one below, Meloni keeps her hands behind her back rather than caressing Musk's face.

Bad news for any Musk-Meloni shippers out there though, because these videos have been AI-generated.

There are some classic tell-tale signs that this is the case: if you look closely at the pair's hands, they appear distorted and blurred at certain points.

The characters' facial features change as they move as well, so much so that they don't even look like Meloni and Musk at times. Other figures in the background are also blurred.

The fake videos appear to have been generated off the back of Meloni and Musk's meeting in Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral.

Real pictures from the event, which gathered leaders and other high-profile figures from around the world, show the pair smiling and laughing together.

The images prompted a widely shared meme online, hinting at a possible romantic relationship between Musk and Meloni, which some dubbed "Muskloni".

At other moments, the two were pictured chatting and laughing with US President-elect Donald Trump.

It's not the first time the Italian prime minister has been paired with other prominent figures due to her expressive nature.

She has previously caught the eye of social media users for her interactions with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Aside from any unlikely blossoming romance between them, Meloni and Musk appear to be forging a strong political alliance, particularly thanks to their shared anti-immigration and so-called "anti-woke" views.

They first expressed their admiration for each other during a visit by Musk to Meloni's official residence in June 2023. Musk was later a guest at an event for young members of Meloni's right-wing populist Brothers of Italy party.

This year, Musk presented Meloni with a Global Citizen Award in September on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly in September. The prize is granted by the Atlantic Council, a think tank that has been working for cooperation between the US and Europe since 1961.

He has publicly praised Meloni's political stances before too, for example once commenting "Bravo!" on X in response to a video which showed the Italian prime minister vowing a harsh crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Meloni is also routinely touted as a prime candidate to help bridge the gap between the US and the EU, as Trump's reentry into the White House draws near. With Musk poised to take a prominent role in the proposed US Department for Government Efficiency, the groundwork appears to be set.