Fact Check: Giant Centipede Found in Australia?

Claim:

A viral video shared in late June and early July 2024 showed a giant centipede found in Australia.

Rating:

Fake ( About this rating? )

In late June and early July 2024, a video went viral on social media, allegedly showing a giant centipede in Australia. "Australia: Giant 'centipede' spotted ... Isn't it too big?" one X post with over 3.4 million views captioned the video (we translated the post from Japanese).

(Threads user @particles343)

The video also spread on social media platforms such as TikTok , Threads , Instagram , YouTube , and X . It was also posted to r/artificial subreddit by user u/MarieDy96 with the caption, "Arthropleura - A giant millipede-like arthropod that could grow up to 8 feet long."

Because the viral video was generated using artificial intelligence (AI) software, we have rated this claim as "Fake."

The video in question was originally posted on June 20, 2024, by X user @ixitimmyixi , whose biography states he is a "Generative Art Expert" and "A.I. Consultant."

In the comments, the original poster explained he used the AI-powered tool Runway Gen-3 Alpha to create the video.

(X user @IXITimmyIXI)

Moreover, in another post, the original poster said, "The actual creature is more flat and wide, and even bigger than what I showed in my original video!"

It's not the first time we investigated a centipede-related rumor. For instance, in July 2021, we debunked a photograph allegedly showing a soldier holding a giant jungle centipede in Vietnam. In June 2022, we investigated whether, as their name implies, centipedes have 100 legs.

Sources:

Evon, Dan. "Is This Giant Jungle Centipede Real?" Snopes , 4 July 2021, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/giant-jungle-centipede-real/ .

"Gen-3 Alpha." Runway , https://runwayml.com/ai-tools/gen-3-alpha/ . Accessed 8 July 2024.

Ibrahim, Nur. "Do Centipedes Actually Have 100 Legs?" Snopes , 13 June 2022, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/do-centipedes-have-100-legs/ .