Trending 
A U.S. government map of Africa displayed during a State Department presentation at a global conference in Brazil mislabelled every country on the continent, resulting in public criticism as screenshots circulated online, according to Reuters.
The erroneous map was shown during a presentation at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, halfway through a slide deck detailing the State Department‘s new health agreements.
Reuters viewed a video of the presentation and confirmed the map contained multiple errors.
An image of the map included in the presentation contained an artificial intelligence watermark indicating it was created with OpenAI tools, according to a Reuters analysis.
OpenAI said it was investigating the report.
The State Department admitted to the error, saying it took “full responsibility” for the confusion caused and that the map had been produced by a team member who hastily changed the slide deck before the event.
The State Department said: “We take full responsibility for the confusion and misrepresentation it caused for attendees, including our African partners.”
The map showed Nigeria, where the U.S. currently has several hundred troops deployed, as landlocked in the Sahara Desert.
Mozambique, located in southeastern Africa, was relocated to the Horn of Africa, while Ivory Coast in West Africa was placed on the other side of the continent.
The map’s screenshots first surfaced in a Substack post by AIDS specialist Emily Bass. They were extensively shared on LinkedIn, with one post receiving about 40,000 views.
“Whoever created and approved this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work,” wrote Matt Petit, who focuses on AI and geopolitics at the Atlantic Council.
