New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has opened up about the images circulating on social media showing him and his mom alongside disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and termed “incredibly difficult” to confront.
Talking to the press Mamdani said that a wave of “fake” images circulating on social media falsely depicting him and his mother alongside disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has been “incredibly difficult” to confront, underscoring the urgent need for stronger regulation of artificial intelligence at all levels of government.
Following the US. Department of Justice’s release of a new batch of Epstein-related files, several AI-generated images began spreading online that appear to show Mamdani as a child with his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, and Epstein.
According to Google’s SynthID detection tool, the images were artificially generated.
The images originated from a parody account on X that describes itself as “an AI-powered meme engine that turns stupidity into content.”
In addition to Mamdani and Nair, the fabricated images also feature Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, philanthropist Bill Gates, and former President Bill Clinton.
Multiple media outlets have reported that the images were created using an AI tool developed by Google. One image depicts Mamdani and Nair in a group photo with Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Clinton, Gates, and Bezos. Another shows Nair holding a baby Mamdani alongside Epstein, Clinton, Maxwell, and Bezos—an image that would date back more than three decades.
The Associated Press noted that the account responsible for generating the images openly identified itself as an AI-driven parody operation.
“At a personal level, it is incredibly difficult to see images that you know to be fake—patently photoshopped and AI-generated, yet capable of spreading across the world in an era of rampant misinformation,” Mamdani said.
Nair responds
Nair told Reuters via email that the images do not depict her or her son and are “completely fabricated and false.”
“We did not pose for any such picture, nor do I know the people in the background,” she said.
The DOJ released millions of additional Epstein-related documents on January 30, cautioning that the files may include unverified claims, third-party submissions, and pornographic material. Epstein died in 2019.
This is not the first time Mamdani has been targeted using AI-generated content. During last year’s mayoral race, Andrew Cuomo’s campaign briefly released an AI-generated advertisement that included an image of Mamdani eating rice with his hands.
The ad went on to depict a series of stereotyped characters, including a Black man shoplifting while wearing a keffiyeh and an older white woman driving drunk, each labeled as “criminals for Mamdani.”
The Cuomo campaign later said the ad had been published in error.
