Jump to contentIndependentSwipe for next articleIndependent Bulletin homepageDownload our appAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleJessica DonatiThursday 30 July 2026 22:02 BSTA screen shows a U.S. government map of Africa with mislabeled countries during a State Department presentation at a global conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 26, 2026 (Reuters)A U.S. State Department presentation at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, caused widespread embarrassment by displaying a map of Africa with every country mislabeled.The erroneous map, which bore an artificial intelligence watermark, was attributed by the State Department to a staffer who hastily altered the slide deck, with OpenAI initiating an investigation into the AI generation claim.Significant inaccuracies on the map included Nigeria being depicted as landlocked in the Sahara Desert, Mozambique relocated to the Horn of Africa, and Ivory Coast inexplicably placed on the opposite side of the continent.The gaffe quickly drew attention online after screenshots were shared, prompting the State Department to take full responsibility for the confusion and misrepresentation it caused for attendees, including African partners.The presentation was part of discussions regarding the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), an initiative whose funding was previously disrupted by the Trump administration, and which is now seeing the U.S. scale back prevention and surveillance efforts, including a planned full phase-out in South Africa.In fullUS government’s map of Africa mislabels every country sparking confusion at global conferenceMore bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in