AI-generated images used to deceive food delivery consumers in China
Food delivery shops in China are using AI-generated images and manipulated videos to misrepresent their premises as well-established dine-in restaurants, misleading consumers about the actual location, appearance and dining experience. Services to create fake storefront images and videos cost as little as 10-200 yuan, and authorities have proposed requiring platforms to label vendors that offer delivery only.
What happened
Food delivery shops in China are using AI-generated images and manipulated videos to misrepresent their storefronts. CCTV reported that one shop with ratings of 4.9 and reported monthly sales of 5,000 units displayed images showing a prominent storefront with crowds and customers in queues, but on-site inspection revealed the shop was actually located deep in a second-floor corridor as a shared small space with no dine-in seating and conditions far different from the platform images.
Third-party vendors provide services to create fake storefront images and videos for delivery-only shops. Services to generate a dine-in label image cost as low as 200 yuan, while AI image generation services cost tens of yuan and can produce images in seconds from keywords like 'restaurant storefront' or 'bustling atmosphere'. Additional services modify real photos by replacing original shop names with new ones, and composite videos by 'grafting' shop names onto footage from other venues, with prices ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan.
Reported impact
Consumer Wang in Beijing's Chaoyang District found a rice restaurant with an AI-generated storefront image showing an outdoor location with prominent signage and crowds at the entrance and inside. Upon investigation, she discovered the shop was actually a basement-level vendor stall in a food court with no dedicated dining area, and across the platform three identically-named shops shared the same fake image with reported sales of over 400,000 units.
According to a lawyer at Beijing De Heng Law Firm, vendors using false pictures and videos infringe on consumers' right to know and right of choice. Service providers who knowingly supply such materials for false or misleading commercial promotion may be liable.
Index analysis
Fake storefronts created with AI images and video compositing mislead consumers who tend to select delivery vendors they perceive as high-quality dine-in establishments. The low cost of generating AI images and modifying real photos has made creating 'virtual storefronts' a shortcut for some delivery vendors, with such services widely advertised on secondary market and short-video platforms.
Governance controls
The State Administration for Market Regulation drafted a regulation requiring third-party platforms to display a 'no dine-in' label on the platform's listing page and on the homepage of vendors that do not provide dine-in service.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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