The AI-generated images began spreading Monday on social media, following the Justice Department’s release of a “huge tranche” of new Epstein files, according to an Associated Press fact check by Melissa Goldin. The photos were shared widely and claimed to show New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a child, along with his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, posing with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Goldin said the images did not match the real-world timeline. In the AI-created photos, Mamdani appears as a preteen or young teenager, and in other versions he is shown as a baby being held by Nair—scenes that were used to imply longstanding personal connections to Epstein.
The review traced the images to an X account that, in its self-description, frames its output as parody. The account’s bio says it creates “high quality AI videos and memes,” and the AP reported that the images first appeared on that account. When an inquiry was sent to the account, there was no response, but a post from the account appeared to acknowledge making the images, saying, “Damn you guys failed,” and that the poster had “purposely” made Mamdani a baby, describing the resulting picture as “34 years old.”
Goldin reported that the images also show technological signals typical of AI manipulation. The AP said Google’s Gemini app detected SynthID, a digital watermarking tool for identifying content that has been generated or altered with AI, in all of the images described above. That detection, the AP reported, indicates the pictures were created or edited using Google’s AI models.
In one of the AI-generated group photos, Mamdani and Nair appear in the front of a crowd scene at night that includes Maxwell, Epstein, and other prominent public figures such as former President Bill Clinton, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. In other images circulating with similar claims, Goldin said the group appears with variations—such as a version that removes Nair and shows Epstein holding Clinton while Maxwell has her arm around Mamdani.
The AP fact check also addressed follow-on falsehoods that built on the AI imagery after it spread. Goldin said one claim circulating online asserted that Epstein was Mamdani’s father, and that this is not true; Mamdani’s father is Mahmood Mamdani, an anthropology professor at Columbia University. Goldin also reported that another allegation claimed Nair’s first marriage was to a relative of Epstein, but that her previous marriage was to photographer Mitch Epstein, and that a search of public records and existing reporting found no evidence of familial ties between the two men.
Goldin said there were additional context problems tied to the purported time the photos were meant to represent. While the AI images depict Mamdani as a child or baby, the AP reported that Mamdani was 18 in 2009, when Nair is said to have attended an afterparty connected to Maxwell’s townhouse. The AP reported that this afterparty context comes from an email in which a publicist, Peggy Siegal, wrote to Epstein about seeing “a variety of luminaries,” including Clinton, Bezos and Nair.
In seeking confirmation, Goldin reported that the NYC Mayor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment, while a representative for Mitch Epstein declined to comment. The AP fact check also said the AI images were watermarked as AI and that “other elements they contain do not add up,” framing the overall conclusion that the images were not genuine depictions of real events.
In response to the viral spread, the AP fact check also pointed to the broader pattern of misinformation enabled by AI-generated visuals—where digitally produced images can be used as “evidence” for claims that are undermined by watermarking detections and basic timeline checks.