#FactCheck - "Deepfake Video Falsely Claims of Elon Musk conducting give away for Cryptocurrency”

Introduction

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In real-time warfare scenarios of this modern age, where actions occur without delay, the relevance of edge computing emerges as paramount. By processing data close to the source in the battlefield with the help of a drone or through video imaging from any military vehicle or aircraft, the concept of edge computing allows the military to point targets faster and strike with accuracy. It also enables local processing to relay central data, helping ground troops get intelligence inputs to act rapidly in critical mission scenarios.  

As the global security landscape experiences a significant transformation in different corners of the world, it presents unprecedented challenges in the present scenario. In this article, we will try to understand how countries can maintain their military capabilities with the help of advanced technologies like edge computing. 

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Edge Computing in Modern Warfare

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Edge computing involves the processing and storage of data at the point of collection on the battlefield, for example, through vehicles and drones, instead of relying on centralized data centers. This enables faster decision-making in real-time. This approach creates a resilient and secure network by reducing reliance on potentially compromised external connections, supporting autonomous systems, precision-based targeting, and data sharing among military personnel, drones, and command centers amidst a challenging environment.

A report released by the US Department of Defence in March 2025 found a crucial reality surrounding the operation of hardware relying on outdated industrial-age processes in the digital era. In the case of applications with video, edge computing helps to deliver significant advantages to a wide range of crucial military operations, which include: 

• Situational awareness with real-time data processing that provides improved battlefield visibility and proper threat detection. 
• Autonomous warfare systems such as drones, which use a tactical edge cloud computing to get the capability to navigate faster. 
• Developing a strong communication and networking capability to secure low-latency communication for troops to stay connected in challenging environments. 
• Ensuring predictive maintenance with the help of effective sensors to carry out edge detection and attrition at an early point, thereby reducing equipment failures. 
• Developing effective targeting and weapons systems to ensure faster processing to enable precision-based targeting and response, besides a strong logistics and supply chain that can provide real-time tracking to improve delivery accuracy and resource management. 

This report also highlighted that the DoD is rapidly updating its software and investing in AI enablers like data sets or MLOps tools. This also stresses the breaking down of integration barriers by enforcing MOSA (Modular Open Systems Approaches), APIs (Application Programming Interface), and modular interfaces to ensure interoperability across platforms, sensors, and networks to make software-defined warfare an effective strategy.  

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Developing Edge with Artificial Intelligence for Future Warfare

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A significant insight from the work of the US Department of Defense is its emphasis on the importance of edge computing in shaping the future of warfare. In that context, the Annual Threat Assessment Report highlights a key limitation of traditional AI strategies that rely on centralised cloud computing, since these might not be suitable for modern battlefields with congested networks and limited bandwidth. The need for real-time data processing requires a distributed and edge-based AI solution to address contemporary threats. This report also directly supports the deployment of effective edge with AI in a defined, disrupted, intermittent, and limited-bandwidth (DDIL) environment. In that case, when the communication networks fail, the edge servers at the edge of the network offer crucial advantages that cloud-dependent systems cannot. This ability to analyse data and make decisions without consistent connectivity and operate with limited computational resources is a strategic necessity. 

The scenario of warfare is a phenomenon that requires maintaining a strong strategic and tactical approach, which, in the present times, is being examined through the domain of digital platforms. Modern warfare patterns demand faster decision-making and edge computing deliveries by shifting the power of distant servers to the frontlines. The US military is already moving in the direction of deploying edge-enabled systems to prove the nature of sensors and networks to compute at the tactical edge to transform warfighting.

However, it can be understood with the help of an example, as creating fusion in the skies with F-35s. As they have showcased the capability of edge computing by fusing sensor data with MADL (Multi-Functional Advanced Data Link) to create a unified picture, making the squadrons a force multiplier. An example of this was visible when an F-35 relayed real-time tracking data, enabling a navy ship to neutralise a missile beyond its range.

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Conclusion: The Way Ahead 

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As the changing nature of warfare moves towards adopting software-defined systems, where edge computing thrives as a futuristic military technology, it calls for the need for integration across all domains of warfighting. But at the same time, several imperatives do emerge, such as: 

• Developing an open architecture that enables both flexibility and innovation. 
• Ensuring an effective connectivity that actually combines a confluence of legacy systems. 
• Developing interoperability among the systems that can function in synergy with all platforms and can function across all domains. 
• Prioritising edge-native AI development systems, where it is also necessary to ensure the shift to adopting cloud-based AI models to create solutions optimised from the ground up for edge deployment. 
• Investing in edge infrastructure to establish a robust edge computing infrastructure that enables rapid deployment by testing and updating AI capabilities across diverse hardware platforms. Like the way the military training academies in India are developing training infrastructures for training officer cadets or personnel to handle drones and all forms of advanced warfare tactics emerging in this age. 
• Fostering talent and expertise by embracing commercial solutions where software talent could be enabled across the enterprises with expertise in edge computing capabilities and AI. In this case, the role of the commercial sector can help to drive innovations in edge AI, and the only way to move in this direction is by leveraging these advances through partnerships and collaborative efforts. 

Taking the example of the ARPANET, which once seeded the modern internet, edge computing can also help to create a transformative network effect within the digital battlespace. In conclusion, future conflicts will be defined by the speed and accuracy provided by the edge, as nations integrating AI and robust edge infrastructures can hold a strong advantage in the multi-domain battlefields in the future.

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References 

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• https://www.idsa.in/mpidsanews/rk-narangs-article-what-the-regions-first-drone-warfare-taught-us-published-in-the-new-indian-express
• https://latentai.com/blog/software-defined-warfare-why-edge-ai-is-critical-to-americas-defense-future/
• https://www.boozallen.com/s/insight/blog/how-the-us-military-is-using-edge-computing.html
• https://capsindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/RK-Narang-3.pdf
• https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2025/May/12/what-the-regions-first-drone-warfare-taught-us
• https://www.maris-tech.com/blog/edge-computing-in-the-military-challenges-and-solutions/#:~:text=In%20modern%20warfare%2C%20decisions%20need,enables%20precision%20targeting%20and%20response ‍
• https://cassindia.com/digital-soldiers/

Introduction

The most recent cable outages in the Red Sea, which caused traffic to slow down throughout the Middle East, South Asia, and even India, Pakistan and several parts of the UAE, like Etilasat and Du networks, also experienced comparable internet outages, serve as a reminder that the physical backbone of the internet is both routine and extremely important. Cloud platforms reroute traffic, e-commerce stalls, financial transactions stutter, and governments face the fragility of something they long believed to be seamless when systems like SMW4 and IMEWE malfunction close to Jeddah. Concerns over the susceptibility of undersea information highways have been raised by the incident. Given the ongoing conflict in the Red Sea region, where Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been waging a campaign against commercial shipping in retaliation for the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.  The effects are seen immediately. The argument over whether global connection is genuinely robust or just operating on borrowed time was reignited by these recent failures, which compelled key providers to reroute flows. 

A geopolitical signal is what looks like a “technical glitch.” Accidents in contested waters are rarely simply accidents, and the inability to quickly assign blame highlights how brittle this ostensibly flawless digital world is. 

The Paradox of Essential yet Exposed Infrastructure

This is not an isolated accident. Undersea cables, which carry more than 97% of all internet traffic worldwide, connect continents at the speed of light, and support the cloud infrastructures that contemporary societies rely on, are the brains of the digital economy., as cautioned by NATO’s Cooperative  Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. In a sense, they are our unseen electrical grid; without them, connectivity breaks down. However, they continue to be incredibly fragile in spite of their significance. Anchors and fishing gear frequently damage cables, which are no thicker than a garden hose, and they break more than a hundred times annually on average. Most faults can be swiftly fixed or relocated, but when several cuts happen in strategic areas, like the 2022 Tonga eruption or the current Red Sea crisis, nations and economies are exposed to being isolated for days. 

The geopolitical risks are far more urgent. Subsea cables traverse disputed waters, land in hostile regimes, and cross oceans without regard for political boundaries. This makes them appealing for espionage, where state actors can tap or alter flows covertly, as well as sabotage, when service is interrupted to prevent access. Deliberate cable strikes have been likened by NATO specialists to the destruction of bridges or highways: if you choke the arteries, you choke the economy. Ironically, the most susceptible locations are not far below the surface but rather where cables emerge. These landing sites, which handle billions of dollars’ worth of trade, can have less security than a conventional bank office.

The New Theatre of Geopolitics 

Legal frameworks exist, but they are patchwork. Intentional damage is illegal under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and previous agreements, but attribution is still infamously challenging. Covert sabotage and intelligence operations are examples of legal grey areas in hybrid warfare scenarios. Even during times of peace, national governments that rely on their continuous operation but find it difficult to extend sovereignty into international waters, private telecom consortia, and content giants like Google and Amazon that now finance their own cables share the burden of protection.

Cables convey influence in addition to data. Strategic leverage belongs to whoever can secure them, tap them or cut them during a fight. Even though landing stations are the entry points for billions of dollars’ worth of international trade, they frequently offer less security than a commercial bank branch. 

India at the Crossroads of Digital Geopolitics 

India’s reliance on underwater cables presents both advantages and disadvantages. India presents a classic single-point-of-failure danger, with more than 95% of its international data traffic being routed through a 6-km coastal stretch close to Versova, Mumbai. Red Sea disruptions have previously demonstrated how swiftly chokepoints located far from India’s coast may impede its digital arteries, placing a burden on government functions, defence communications, and financial flows. However, this same vulnerability also makes India a crucial player in the global discussion around digital sovereignty. It is not only an infrastructure exercise; it is also a strategic and constitutional necessity to be able to diversify landing places, expedite clearances, and develop indigenous repair capability.

India’s geographic location also presents opportunities. India’s location along East-West cable lines makes it an ideal location for robust connectivity as the Indo-Pacific region becomes the defining region of geopolitics in the twenty-first century. India may change from being a passive recipient of connectivity to a shaper of its governance by investing in distributed cable architecture and strengthening partnerships through initiatives like Quad and IPEF. Its aspirations for global influence must be balanced with its home regulatory lethargy. By doing this, India can secure not only bandwidth but also sovereignty itself by converting subsea cables from hidden liabilities into tools of economic might and geopolitical leverage. 

CyberPeace Insights 

If cables are considered essential infrastructure, then their safety demands the same level of attention that we give to ports, airports, and electrical grids. Stronger landing station defences, redundancy in route, and sincere public-private collaborations are now a necessity rather than an option.

The Red Sea incident is a call to action rather than a singular disruption. The robustness of underwater cables will determine whether the internet is a sustainable resource or a brittle luxury susceptible to the next outage as reliance on the cloud grows and 5G spreads. 

References

• https://forumias.com/blog/answered-assess-the-strategic-significance-of-undersea-cable-networks-for-indias-digital-economy-and-national-security-discuss-the-vulnerabilities-of-this-infrastructure-and-suggest-measures-to-e/ 
• https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/red-sea-cable-cuts-disrupt-internet-across-asia-middle-east-2025-09-07/ 
• https://pulse.internetsociety.org/blog/what-can-we-learn-from-africas-multiple-submarine-cable-outages 

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Executive Summary

Claims are circulating that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack allegedly carried out by Israel and the United States. Amid these claims, a video is being widely shared on social media in which Khamenei can be heard saying, “Beware of fake news, I am alive.” Research conducted by CyberPeace has found the viral claim to be false. Our research revealed that the video being shared is old and that Khamenei’s voice has been altered using artificial intelligence to support a misleading narrative.

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Claim

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On March 1, 2026, an Instagram user shared the viral video in which Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is heard saying, “Beware of fake news, I am alive.” The link to the post and its archived version are provided above along with a screenshot.

• https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVWWA9vkU-6/ 
• https://archive.ph/g30Ce 

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Fact Check:

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To verify the authenticity of the claim, we extracted key frames from the viral video and conducted a reverse image search using Google Lens. During the research, we found the same video on the YouTube channel of Sky News Australia, published on June 19, 2025. In the approximately 43-minute-long video, the portion used in the viral clip appears around the 10-minute mark.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mmZblh3blo 

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According to Sky News Australia’s report, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had rejected US President Donald Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender. The Ayatollah regime also warned that any American military intervention would be accompanied by “irreparable damage.” Upon closely listening to the viral clip, we noticed that Khamenei’s voice sounded robotic, raising suspicion that it may have been AI-generated. We then analyzed the video using the AI detection tool AURGIN AI. The results indicated that the viral clip had been generated using artificial intelligence.

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Conclusion

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Our research establishes that the viral video is old and has been digitally manipulated. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s voice has been altered using artificial intelligence and the clip is being shared with a misleading claim.

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