Doctored photo of Musk shared to falsely claim 'Tesla launched smartphone lineup'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on June 17, 2023 at 11:11
2 min read
By AFP Thailand

Burmese social media users have shared several images, including a doctored picture of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, alongside a false claim that the company will start selling smartphones that allow Internet access through the Starlink network. This follows reports that the network -- operated by one of Musk's other companies, SpaceX -- could be accessed in some areas of Myanmar's Kayah state in early June 2023 as fighting between government and anti-coup forces continued in the region. But as of June 16, no official statements regarding the smartphone launch or such products were available on Tesla's official website.

"The Tesla Phone has arrived to revolutionise the smartphone industry. Elon Musk, the creator of the Starlink satellite and owner of Tesla Company, designed and manufactured the Pi Phone, also known as the Tesla Phone," reads in part a Burmese-language claim shared on Facebook on June 11.

The lengthy post goes on to list the purported "functions" of the phone, including its ability to make phone calls anywhere, to access the Starlink Internet service and for users to control it with their minds.

It was shared alongside a total of five images, one of which shows Musk holding a mobile phone with the Tesla logo printed on the back.

A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, taken on June 13, 2023.

The claim began to circulate online after media reports that Starlink has provided Internet access to conflict-affected regions of Kayah state, also known as Karenni, in Myanmar (archived links here and here).

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021, with anti-coup fighters clashing with junta troops across the country.

The army has restricted Internet access in several townships over the country, including some areas in Kayah where intense armed clashes have broken out, according to local media (archived link).

The same claim and photos were shared on Facebook here, here, and here.

However, the claim is false.

As of June 16, no official statements regarding the smartphone launch or such products were available on Tesla's official website.

Keyword searches have also found no credible reports regarding the launch of Tesla-branded smartphones.

Doctored photo

A combined reverse image and keyword searches found one of the photos in the misleading posts -- the one with Musk holding a smartphone -- was digitally doctored.

The original photo of Musk was published here by the Australian Associated Press on July 7, 2017 (archived link).

The caption of the photo reads: "Tesla CEO Elon Musk at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Friday, July 07, 2017. The worlds (sic) biggest Lithium Ion Battery will be built in James Town South Australia. Friday, July 07, 2017. (AAP Image/Ben Macmahon)".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading posts (left) and the photo published by the Australian Associated Press (right):

Screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading posts (left) and the photo published by Australian Associated Press (right).

On July 7, 2017, Musk told reporters that Tesla would build "the world's largest lithium ion battery within 100 days" (archived link). There was no mention of plans of launching a smartphone lineup at that time.

AFP has previously debunked a similar claim in 2021 that Tesla released a smartphone with a "brain-computer" interface.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail