Jeff Bezos in Berlin: Deepfake Video Shows Amazon Founder and His Alleged Change of Heart

Amazon billionaire Bezos stands in front of Berghain. In front of the camera, he says that he wants to be fairer to his workers, pay higher taxes and protect neighborhoods. Real?

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says in a deepfake video that he has changed his mind about Amazon settling in Berlin.Kyle Johnson/imago

A new video shows Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in front of the legendary Berlin club Berghain. He shrugs his shoulders because he was apparently sent away by the bouncers, then drives an e-scooter in other video sequences and walks along the Oberbaum Bridge. His visit to Berlin opened his eyes, he explains in the video: “Life is too short to be an asshole!” Bezos says that’s why he wants her now 14 demands of the activist alliance Berlin vs. Amazon accept.

However, the whole thing is not real, but a badly faked deepfake video with which the group Berlin vs. Amazon promotes their goals. It’s probably not supposed to look real. “We wanted to make it clear that it’s not Jeff Bezos,” says Morten from Berlin vs. Amazon. “And of course the funds were limited.”

The aim was to copy the style of a “cheesy corporate advertising video”. Morten helped organize a rally in front of the Amazon Tower in Berlin at the end of April, which the Berliner Zeitung reported on.

The Amazon Tower on the Warsaw Bridge is now the tallest skyscraper in Berlin and is now dominating the cityscape. Berlin vs. Amazon demands that Amazon not move in unless the group meets 14 demands, which include labor rights, environmental protection and the protection of Berlin’s neighborhoods.

Amazon and rents in Berlin

“It’s not fair to use a great city like Berlin for profit,” says the “Jeff Bezos,” who experienced in the video what it’s like to queue in Friedrichshain to view an apartment. One fear of activists is that the Amazon settlement in Friedrichshain will create even greater competition in the housing market. They also criticize the low wages paid to workers and the fact that the mega-corporation pays little in Europe.

In the video, Bezos walks along the Oberbaumbrücke and assures: “We will undertake to pay all our employees a living wage, respect their works council and stop avoiding taxes.” own means,” says Morten on the phone. He is not aware of any other example of this technology being used for activist purposes.

Unfortunately, the video does not contain real laughs.