Dominican Republic rebukes Spanish opposition party over ‘vicious’ AI video

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MADRID (Reuters) – The Dominican Republic has rebuked Spain’s main opposition party over an AI-generated video in which it indirectly linked the Caribbean nation to corruption while attacking its own country’s government, leading Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to apologise.

On Wednesday, Spain’s conservative People’s Party (PP) posted on X an AI-generated video featuring government officials including a shirtless Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez lounging on a beach under the title “The Island of Corruption”.

The video parodied the popular reality TV show “The Island of Temptations”, which is shot in the Dominican Republic, showing the country’s flag and including a map of its location.

In a statement on Thursday, the Dominican Foreign Ministry called the video a “vicious and incomprehensible attack” using its national symbols for internal Spanish matters.

The PP later deleted the post, which had been viewed more than 400,000 times, and said it did not intend to damage the Dominican Republic’s image.

Late on Thursday, premier Sanchez said he had not seen the video but was “deeply ashamed” by the incident and apologised on behalf of Spain.

The spat comes a week after U.S. President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video depicting the Gaza Strip as a beach resort that sparked widespread outrage.

The use of AI in political campaigns looks set to proliferate as it is a cheap way to create photos and videos on any topic.

In Spain, the PP is competing with far-right party Vox to attract younger voters, who tend to overwhelmingly rely on social media platforms for information, according to recent surveys.

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Hugh Lawson)