Fact Check: Do the photos prove Elon Musk and Sydney Sweeney are in a relationship?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A viral photo of tech billionaire Elon Musk and actor Sydney Sweeney spending time together has been widely shared on social media, with the claim that Sweeney has confirmed they are involved romantically. However, the photograph has also sparked speculations about the authenticity of the claim. Let us fact-check the viral claim.

Claim: Sydney Sweeney and Elon Musk are dating

Two images were spread online this month, claiming Musk and Sweeney are dating.

One image showed the pair kissing, another shows them looking into each other’s eyes, and a third image shows many people, including paparazzi, photographing the pair in front of the Nobu restaurant in Los Angeles. 

The photo was posted on X by a user named @distributedkv with the caption, 'BREAKING: Elon Musk and Sydney Sweeney are reportedly dating,' and has garnered millions of views.

The second image was posted by a user, @alpaysh, with the caption, 'BREAKING: Elon Musk and Sydney Sweeney are reportedly dating.'

The third image appeared on another user’s account, accompanied by a caption, 'BREAKING: Elon Musk and Sidney Sweeney spotted together in LA.'

Fact Check: The images are AI-generated

A closer examination revealed that all three images are fake and were generated using AI. Prompts with the Google Gemini AI tool SynthID Detector scanned all three images for a SynthID watermark, a hidden label Google adds to images made or manipulated with its AI platforms, and all of them proved to be AI-generated.

Searches on Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google, and Yahoo also found no news media outlets reporting any news of the pair dating.

If the alleged romantic development had really occurred, entertainment news outlets would have widely covered it, especially if photographers captured pictures of the pair in front of a restaurant in LA.

Sydney Sweeney in a relationship with Scooter Braun

Days before the images surfaced, news outlets and tabloids, including People, Page Six, and others, reported Sweeney was in a relationship with investor and former talent agent Scooter Braun.

The couple has been spotted together several times this fall and into the holiday season. In November, the couple shared a sweet kiss while sitting on a rock in New York City’s Central Park. They were also seen holding hands during a night out in Los Angeles on September 30.

A source told reporters that Sweeney and Braun share a lot in common and don’t care about 'what others think.' Their happiness also brings joy to their friends and family.

The source added that people close to Sweeney are 'really happy about this relationship' and feel 'it’s such a relief to see her genuinely happy.'