AI-generated images of bank notes circulate online after Myanmar armed group declares independence
An ethnic armed group in Myanmar’s Karen State declared it had established an independent republic in the war-torn country in early January 2026, but social media posts about its purported new currency share AI-generated images. The visuals feature illegible Burmese text and was made with Google’s AI tools. A spokesperson for the group, the Kawthoolei Army, told AFP it has not issued money.
A Burmese-language Facebook post claiming “Kawthoolei money has been released” and 5,000 of the currency was equal to US$100 was shared on January 11, 2026.
It includes three images of banknotes in denominations of 1,000 and 5,000 that feature a picture of Nerdah Mya, a general who leads an ethnic armed group, and supposedly Burmese-language script that is illegible.
The purported currency features the abbreviation KTLA, referring to the Kawthoolei Army, a splinter group of the Karen National Union (KNU) that has been fighting the Myanmar junta for decades for more autonomy along the border with Thailand (archived link).
Myanmar has been mired in civil war since a 2021 coup deposed the civilian government, with the military battling a myriad of pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic armed organisations.
Nerdah Mya, who formed the KTLA after his dismissal as the commander-in-chief of KNU’s armed wing in July 2022, reportedly announced the formation of the independent “Republic of Kawthoolei” on January 5, 2026, according to media reports in the region (archived link).
The KNU has dismissed the KTLA’s declaration, saying Nerdah Mya “represents no territory and no people” and calling it “nonsense” (archived links here and here).
Screenshot of false Facebook post taken on January 16, 2026, with a red X added by AFP
The images of the KTLA’s purported new currency circulated after Nerdah Mya’s announcement on Facebook and TikTok in Burmese, English and Thai .
However, the images were created with AI tools and the KTLA denied it has issued bank notes.
A reverse image search on Google found the picture was labelled as “Made with Google AI” in its “About this image” feature.
A subsequent analysis conducted with Google’s SynthID tool — launched in May 2025 to detect AI-generated content — identified with a “Very High” degree of confidence that the images were created with the help of its AI tools (archived link).
Screenshots of results of SynthID analysis
KTLA spokesperson Captain Saw Nyi Zaw told AFP on January 15 they had not issued such bank notes, nor could they recognise the script printed on it.
“We do not issue money or passports. We do issue Kawthoolei citizenship cards,” he said via Telegram message.
AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the unrest in Myanmar here.
