Over 2 million people have watched an AI-generated video showing an elderly woman allegedly smashing a glass bridge in China with a rock. Some viewers believed the footage was real and even shared condolences and theories about what caused the bridge to collapse.
“There are several indicators that suggest the clip is artificially created — such as people morphing or vanishing, as well as unnatural movements and transitions that reflect what modern generative video tools are capable of,” explained Jacobo Castellanos, a coordinator at the human rights group WITNESS, which established a Rapid Response Task Force for Deepfakes.
While China is indeed home to more than 2,000 glass bridges, the last officially documented accident occurred in May 2021. At that time, a man was left clinging to a damaged bridge in Jilin Province after strong winds shattered the glass panels beneath him.
Nonetheless, the fabricated video went viral across platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, racking up over 2 million views. Many users appeared convinced by the footage, with comments ranging from speculation about structural overload to messages of sympathy.
“Terrifying, isn’t it?” one user commented.
“The bridge must’ve been overloaded,” another added.
