Overview

• A video circulating on Instagram and TikTok claimed a California aquarium collapsed and killed 50 people.
• Hindustan Times and KCRA published fact checks on August 6 confirming the footage was fully AI-generated and no collapse occurred.
• Google Trends data showed searches on the supposed California aquarium collapse dominated queries for the state that day.
• The clip’s visuals trace back to the December 2022 AquaDom rupture in Berlin, which injured two people and killed nearly 1,500 fish.
• The episode underscores the rising sophistication of AI video synthesis and the urgent need for timely verification.