Video of ‘Giant Sea White Octopus’ is Fake

A video shared to TikTok on Nov. 9, 2024, claimed to show a “giant sea white octopus caught by fishermen” and included a geolocation tag of the “United States.” In the video, multiple people were shown looking at what seems to be a giant, white cephalopod as it stands on – and then sinks onto – a ship’s deck.

Though the video poster did not specify whether the video was authentic, many commentators speculated it was real. 

However, the video, which had garnered more than 11,000 views as of this publication, was fake. True Media and Hive Moderation artificial intelligence (AI) detectors did not establish that the video was generated using AI technology, but these systems have limitations in their capabilities. A closer look from the human eye found several indications that this video was made with AI.

According to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, octopuses have eight arms. Squid and cuttlefish, on the other hand, have six arms and two specialized arms called tentacles. The video shared on TikTok at times showed the octopus with more than a dozen arms.

Both arms and tentacles are equipped with suckers on their bottom that function as suction cups – the video on TikTok shows these suckers on top of their arms.  

Looking at how the arms moved throughout the 10-second clip also revealed signs of AI generation, such as when the arms seemed to morph into one another or split into two.

An octopus is also considered an invertebrate, meaning it does not have a backbone. For one to have the ability to seemingly stand when out of water largely defies possibility.

When stretched from tip to tip, the world’s largest octopus species, the giant Pacific octopus, has an arm measurement of 7 feet or more, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

“A full-grown giant Pacific octopus can weigh more than 50 pounds. The heaviest on record was a creature weighing 200 pounds and measuring nearly 20 feet across,” the institution said on its website.