On the evening of August 13, 2025, a segment aired on the cable channel One America News (OAN), known for its MAGA-aligned programming, that would soon ignite controversy across political and media circles. At the center of the storm was a discussion about a reported surge in female military recruitment, featuring Defense Department spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson and hosted by Matt Gaetz. What initially seemed like a straightforward celebration of recruitment success quickly unraveled into a debate about the use of artificial intelligence and the credibility of news reporting in a polarized era.
During the broadcast, Wilson enthusiastically spoke about what she described as a remarkable uptick in female enlistment under the current administration. “Happy to be with you and happy to highlight this incredible success that we are seeing across our armed forces — women in particular. These numbers are fantastic. Under the previous administration, we had about 16,000 female recruits last year. Now, we’ve got upwards of 24,000. This is a nearly 7,000 person increase in female recruits alone. And again, it’s not just women. It’s men, too. The Army, the Air Force, the Navy, everyone is hitting their metrics early; and it is a testament to Secretary Hegseth and President Trump’s leadership,” Wilson stated, according to a report by Newsweek.
As Wilson spoke, viewers saw a series of images of women in combat fatigues, presumably real-life service members, reinforcing the narrative of growing female participation in the military. However, eagle-eyed observers noticed something odd: small watermarks in the corner of the images, indicating they were not photographs but creations generated by artificial intelligence—specifically, Elon Musk’s Grok technology.
The revelation that the images were AI-generated and not authentic photographs of U.S. service members set off a flurry of questions. According to CNN, the Pentagon itself had not officially released comprehensive data on female military recruitment, though a spokesperson later confirmed that the numbers cited by Wilson were similar to figures communicated to other news outlets. Still, the use of synthetic imagery to illustrate this recruitment boom raised concerns about the boundaries between reality and fabrication in contemporary media.
On August 14, the Department of Defense’s Rapid Response X/Twitter account shared a clip from the OAN segment, amplifying Wilson’s message about “fantastic” levels of recruiting since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. The video, featuring the same AI-generated images, was meant to showcase the military’s success in attracting new talent—particularly women. Wilson credited this turnaround to the leadership of Secretary Hegseth and President Trump, contrasting the current approach with what she described as the “ideology that the previous administration tried to hoist on them.” She continued, “They want to get back to basics, and that’s what we’re doing here at DOD; and the numbers are just proof in the pudding.”
But as scrutiny mounted, OAN found itself on the defensive. CNN reached out to the network, seeking clarification on whether OAN had produced the AI-generated images and what policies it had in place regarding the use of artificial intelligence. An OAN spokesperson admitted that the images violated company policies, stating that “measures have been re-enforced among staff to prevent such occurrences in the future.” The spokesperson also noted that an on-air correction had been implemented, reflecting the network’s efforts to address the misstep.
Indeed, during the following evening’s broadcast, Matt Gaetz publicly acknowledged the error. “We made a mistake,” he said, clarifying that the images should not have been featured as part of their B-roll content. Gaetz was careful to emphasize that the Defense Department had not provided the images and that the responsibility lay with the AI tool Grok. He committed to exercising better judgment in future broadcasts—a rare admission of fault in an industry often reluctant to concede errors.
OAN’s reputation for promoting conspiracy theories and supporting the MAGA framework has long made it a lightning rod for controversy. The network, founded in 2013, gained notoriety for its endorsement of unfounded claims regarding the 2020 election, leading to multiple defamation lawsuits. Most recently, OAN settled litigation with Smartmatic over allegations that it had amplified false election narratives to boost its viewership. The network also faced a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, though it had already settled a separate case involving a Dominion executive.
Since DirecTV dropped OAN from its lineup in 2022, the network’s viewership and revenue have been on the decline. Yet, it has managed to remain in the public eye, receiving a recent public relations boost from Kari Lake, Trump’s nominee for a position at Voice of America. Lake asserted that OAN would provide “newsfeed services” to VOA and other U.S.-funded international broadcasters, a move seen by some as an attempt to revitalize the network’s influence.
The controversy over AI-generated images comes at a time when the boundaries between news, opinion, and synthetic content are increasingly blurred. The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence tools like Grok has made it easier than ever to create convincing—but ultimately fictional—visuals. As the OAN incident shows, even seasoned media professionals can fall into the trap of using AI-generated content without proper disclosure or verification.
For critics of OAN, the episode is further evidence of the network’s willingness to blur the line between reality and narrative to serve its political agenda. For supporters, the swift on-air correction and public apology by Gaetz may be seen as a sign of accountability—albeit one prompted by public exposure rather than internal vigilance.
Meanwhile, the Defense Department’s decision to amplify the segment on its own social media channels has raised eyebrows about the standards of information vetting at the highest levels of government communications. The Pentagon’s spokesperson reiterated that while the recruitment numbers matched those shared with other outlets, the department had not provided or endorsed the AI-generated images used in the OAN broadcast.
This episode highlights the growing challenge facing both media organizations and government agencies: how to maintain public trust in an era where technology can easily manufacture convincing fakes. As deepfakes, AI-generated imagery, and synthetic news become more common, the need for rigorous editorial standards and transparent disclosure has never been greater.
For now, OAN’s misstep serves as a cautionary tale about the perils of relying on artificial intelligence without sufficient oversight. The network’s quick correction and Gaetz’s on-air apology may have stemmed the immediate backlash, but the broader questions about media credibility and the use of AI in shaping public perception remain unresolved. In a media landscape already rife with mistrust, every mistake—especially one involving synthetic content—can have outsized consequences.
As newsrooms and government agencies alike grapple with the implications of AI, the OAN incident stands as a reminder that, in the age of artificial intelligence, seeing is no longer always believing.