OpenAI and Meta tell the US federal evidence-rules committee that no reliable way to detect AI images will exist, as judges weigh a deepfake rule

Why it matters

【Key points】

Reuters reports that the US Judicial Conference's Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules met in Boston on October 15 with an expert panel on deepfakes. OpenAI policy counsel Shira Anderson said AI images keep improving and she does not believe a scientific method will exist to detect them; each company uses its own watermarking, so there is no universal way to check them all, and they will never be fully reliable. Meta product director Devin Norder said output from recent models cannot be told apart by humans and costs little time or money to make.

Chair Judge Jesse Furman noted deepfakes have rarely surfaced in real cases: in a March Federal Judicial Center survey, 15 of 931 responding judges had seen evidence challenged as a deepfake.

【Verifiable】

Reuters (via Investing.com): https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/openai-and-meta-warn-us-judicial-panel-about-deepfake-evidence-4952449

Agenda book (panelists, draft rules): https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/2026-10-evidence-rules-agenda-book.pdf

Meeting notice: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/15/2026-11982/advisory-committee-on-evidence-rules-meeting-of-the-judicial-conference

【Our read】

1. Two drafts are pending. Rule 901(c): once an opponent shows enough to support a deepfake finding, the proponent must show the item is more likely than not authentic. Rule 707 would hold AI output offered without an expert to expert reliability standards; it was withdrawn after public comment for revision. Neither is final.

2. Model makers telling judges detection won't be reliable undercuts relying on detectors, shifting weight to provenance, metadata and witnesses.

3. These are representatives' views, not formal company positions, and rules take years to take effect.