The United States Department of State has apologised for an inaccurate map of Africa displayed during an official presentation at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Naijaonpoint reports that the map, which was generated using artificial intelligence, incorrectly relocated Nigeria and several other African countries, triggering widespread online criticism.
The controversial slide, presented during a session on new US global health agreements, drew immediate attention after conference participants captured screenshots and circulated them on social media, questioning how such glaring geographical errors made it into an official U.S. government presentation
A review of video footage from the conference showed the map bore an OpenAI watermark, indicating it had been created using the company’s artificial intelligence tools.
OpenAI said it is looking into the incident.
Among the most striking errors, Nigeria was depicted as a landlocked country in the Sahara Desert despite being located on the Gulf of Guinea.
Mozambique, located in southeastern Africa, was shifted to the Horn of Africa, while Ivory Coast was incorrectly placed on the opposite side of the continent.
The erroneous map first gained public attention after AIDS expert Emily Bass shared screenshots in a Substack post.
Reacting, the State Department apologised for the incident, saying the mistake resulted from last-minute edits made before the presentation.
“We take full responsibility for the confusion and misrepresentation it caused for attendees, including our African partners,” the department reportedly said in a statement.
Officials said a staff member inserted the inaccurate map in a rushed modification to the presentation shortly before the conference.
Despite the controversy, the State Department maintained that discussions at the conference remained productive and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to global HIV/AIDS interventions.
