An image circulating online in mid-2026 purported to show exclusively Muslim customers at a Texas Costco. This image was accompanied by racist and Islamophobic commentary.
One of the earliest instances of this image found was posted on May 4, 2026, and had garnered over 1.6 million views by the time of this report. The accompanying caption stated: “This is a photo a Texas resident took while shopping at their local Costco in Texas. From ‘Don’t mess with Texas’ to Costcos transformed into Mosqos. This is how we lose our country.”
However, the image was created using artificial intelligence software. Many viewers believed it to be authentic, while others correctly identified it as fake.
Several indicators point to the image being AI-generated. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, detected its own “SynthID” watermark on the image, confirming its origin from OpenAI tools.
Visual discrepancies are also evident. For instance, one woman’s arms appear unnaturally proportioned, and the wires of a customer’s shopping cart are oddly arranged.
A sign in the background, intended to resemble an advertisement for Costco’s online shopping app, exhibits subtle but significant differences from authentic signs. The “C” in the Costco logo appears more like a “G,” product images are poorly rendered and pixelated, and the word “Installation” is misrepresented as “Selection” in the AI-generated version.
In summary, the image claiming to show Muslim customers at a Texas Costco is fabricated. This conclusion is based on visual evidence of AI generation and the detection of an OpenAI watermark.
Similar AI-generated images have been fact-checked previously, including a claim about a 200-foot lazy river for sale at Costco.
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