Fact Check: Tall buildings and taller tales! Burj Khalifa is not on fire, this photo is AI-made

The world's tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, is on fire — at least according to a photo going viral on social media. An X user wrote while sharing a photo of a massive fire in the tall tower, “The Highest Building in the world Burj Khalifa caught fire in UAE.” Its archive can be seen here.

India Today Fact Check found that this photo is AI-generated.

Why Burj Khalifa fire news is fake

Firstly, if the Burj Khalifa had caught fire, local and international news outlets would have covered it. However, we did not find any media report suggesting a major fire had broken out in the skyscraper — not just in April 2024, but ever.

We also observed that only one photo of this incident has been going viral. For a landmark like the Burj Khalifa, which tourists and citizens frequent, a fire this massive would have been captured in hundreds and thousands of photos and videos, shared across social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and X. So, the absence of any other photo or video of the alleged fire suggests that the photo may have been digitally created.

We noticed several discrepancies in the photo, including no point of origin for smoke in several parts of the building, a neighbouring building appearing two-dimensional, soot on parts of the building that were not on fire, and general distortions that one usually sees in AI-generated photos.

We then checked if the photo of the Burj Khalifa on fire was AI-generated. The AI detection software HIVE Moderation suggested with 99.8 per cent certainty that this image was AI-generated and that it was likely created using the tool Midjourney.

We also found a post by UAE-based journalist Muhammad bin Al-Nawaif who works for the Government of Dubai Media Office. He had shared the viral photo as well as another photo of the skyscraper, where no fire could be seen. He wrote, “FAKE News Alert! There is a news circulating about the Burj Khalifa catching fire. A totally fake news!”

We then contacted Al-Nawaif, who confirmed to India Today that the news was false and no such incident was reported there. He said, “Yes, I can confirm no such incident took place,” adding, “These pictures are only viral in eastern & south Asian countries as the majority of the people in these parts of the world didn't believe in cross-checking or confirmation; they just spread things like fire in the jungle.”

Thus, it is more than clear that the photo of the Burj Khalifa on fire is fake.