India, June 9 -- A viral video that appeared to show a tiger sniffing a man asleep on a footpath has captured millions of views across social media, sparking shock, admiration, and humour. But experts have now confirmed: the clip is AI-generated.

The footage shows a large tiger calmly approaching a man sleeping outside a shuttered shop, sniffing him, and walking away without harm. Its seemingly real-life danger and the man's unflinching calm drew widespread attention. The clip was reshared by verified accounts, many mistaking the AI-generated tiger for a lion, with captions like: "Even lion knows the power of desi," and "Indian man survives after a Lion sniffs him and leaves him alone, thats crazy."

One widely circulated post warned, "T...