Viral Gaza AI Video Sparks Buzz as Arcana Labs Secures $5.5M Funding

An AI-generated video reimagining Gaza as a luxury beachfront paradise – complete with U.S. President Donald Trump lounging with a topless Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cocktails in hand – has gone viral online. In the surreal clip, a family emerges from the rubble of war-torn Gaza into a skyline of towering beachfront skyscrapers.

Trump shared the bizarre video on his Truth Social account on February 26 without any context or explanation, blurring the line between political satire and propaganda.

The video’s outlandish imagery was prompted by a real proposal Trump floated just weeks earlier: he had suggested “cleaning out” Gaza’s 2 million residents to rebuild the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”. The clip was meant as pointed satire – not an endorsement – of what its creators call Trump’s “megalomaniac idea” for Gaza.

Filmmaker Solo Avital, who led the project using experimental AI tools, says he whipped it up in under eight hours as a creative test. Avital emphasizes that a satire’s impact “depends what context you bring to it,” lamenting that without any explanation many viewers missed the joke​.

The Israeli-born filmmakers behind “Trump Gaza” publicly condemned Trump’s context-free use of their work. They explain that the video – far from official propaganda – was a tongue-in-cheek response to Trump’s idea.

The viral clip also put a spotlight on the technology that spawned it: Arcana Labs, AI content production platform now attracting capital. The round – led by tech investment firm SEMCAP’s AI-focused arm – will bankroll new AI technology development and marketing. The two main initiatives will launch:

• Arcana Productions, to help studios and brands produce content with AI
• Arcana Academy, to train filmmakers in directing with AI​.

Launched in 2023, Arcana AI platform allows artists to rapidly generate imaginative images and video sequences, pushing the boundaries of AI-generated entertainment.

It’s already making a noticeable effect in Hollywood. The platform is being used by film studios, visual effects houses and advertising agencies, and is even co-creating a sci-fi movie with SAG-AFTRA actors.

The “Trump Gaza” saga has intensified discussion about the power of AI to shape political and cultural narratives.

On one hand, sophisticated effects that once required a blockbuster budget can now be produced by a lone creator. “It allows individuals without a lot of time, money and, frankly, skill... to generate some pretty eye-popping content,” observed Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at UC Berkeley, regarding the viral video​.

A fanciful clip made in a single afternoon ended up commandeering the attention of a former president – a demonstration of how low-budget, high-impact commentary can ricochet into mainstream discourse.

But the same tools enabling satire can easily be weaponized for deception. “There is a dark side to this new capability,” Farid cautioned, pointing out that generative AI is already being used to churn out hoaxes and fake imagery. The Gaza resort video was clearly surreal, but as AI media grows more lifelike, the incident raises unsettling questions.

What happens when you get to a point where every clip, audio piece, or anything else you read and see online can be fake? Will there be any way to discern between what is real and what isn't?