The Nigerian Presidency has dismissed claims that a viral photo of President Bola Tinubu and Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Paris was AI-generated, confirming the January 4 private lunch meeting was real but the image had been enhanced using Grok to improve poor phone-camera quality.

Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Temitope Ajayi clarified: “The narrative that the picture… was AI-generated is not correct. The picture is real… Both presidents met in Paris and had lunch together on Sunday. They later had dinner with President Macron the same evening. The picture was taken with a phone and obviously had poor quality. The photographer only later used Grok to improve the picture quality.”

The photo, posted on Tinubu’s official X account with a caption about global affairs and Africa’s future, bore a visible Grok watermark, sparking accusations of fabrication. Community notes on X flagged it as potentially AI-generated. Ajayi criticized the rush to judgment: “The writer or editor should have asked questions before this wrong conclusion.”

The meeting occurred during Tinubu’s European break ahead of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. While no official Rwandan confirmation of the Macron dinner has emerged, multiple Nigerian outlets reported the engagements.

The incident underscores growing scrutiny over the use of AI tools in official communications, especially when watermarks or enhancements blur the line between authenticity and digital editing.