JAKARTA — Claims about a new rupiah note featuring Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, said to be circulating in June 2026, turned out to be false. Tempo examined three versions of the image that spread across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, and YouTube, and found that all of them were AI-generated visuals.
The image carried the Garuda Pancasila emblem and the Bank Indonesia logo. The denominations used were also unusual: Rp18,000 in two design versions, then Rp1,000,000. At first glance, they looked convincing. But BI never announced the issuance of a new rupiah note with that design.
The new rupiah was never issued by BI
Bank Indonesia said the circulating image was fake currency in the visual sense, not an official note issued by the central bank. Through its official Instagram account, BI said the design in the post did not appear in the list of legitimate rupiah banknotes.
“The Rp18,000 rupiah you attached is not available, and Bank Indonesia has never issued that denomination,” BI wrote in a written statement on Monday, June 15, 2026.
BI also asked the public to check rupiah designs through the Rupiah menu on its official website, www.bi.go.id. There, users can view the security features, official images, and correct issuance information. This matters because fake visuals like this often borrow the look of official designs to fool people who only see them briefly in their feeds.
Fact check: AI-made, not an official currency design
Tempo did not stop at BI’s statement. The newsroom also tested the image with AI-based content scanners and compared it with credible information. The result was consistent: the images were digitally created.
For the Rp18,000 version with a Monas image, the AI or NOT tool detected a 77 percent likelihood that it was AI-generated, with signs of a model similar to GPT-4o. The Zhuque AI Detector Assistant gave a stronger signal, estimating a 99.14 percent chance that the image was synthetic. The same detector also concluded that the Rp18,000 visual featuring Prabowo-Gibran was AI-generated.
For the Rp18,000 image themed around the Free Nutritious Meals program, Zhuque AI Detector Assistant rated it 99.8 percent as a digital fake. Decopay.ai and Undetectable.ai reinforced that conclusion because food elements in a currency design are clearly not typical of official banknotes. State banknotes usually follow tightly regulated elements: national symbols, heroes, art, or cultural motifs. Not lunch menus.
The Rp1 million note was fake too
Another circulating image showed a Rp1,000,000 note with the faces of Prabowo and Gibran. The verification results did not change. Hive Moderation detected the image as 99.9 percent machine-made, with some analyses suggesting the use of Google DeepMind’s Imagen4 model. Gemini rejected the idea that the image came from its own AI and said the visual was made by an internet user with another generator.
On Zhuque AI Detector Assistant, the Rp1,000,000 image was rated 98.26 percent synthetic. Tempo then checked again against official BI information. There was no announcement of a new denomination, no redenomination, and no release of new banknotes in early June 2026.
If official money were actually issued, the trail would not be vague. There would usually be a public announcement, an explanation of security features, coordination across institutions, and information that is easy to trace on official channels. In this case, none of that was present.
Why the new rupiah claim was easy to believe
Fake currency images spread quickly because they trigger curiosity. They include a president’s name, an institution’s logo, and a denomination that sounds “special.” That mix makes people stop scrolling and briefly assume the image is real.
The spread also rode on a bigger issue: the weakening of the rupiah against foreign currencies between May and mid-June 2026. In public discussions, that kind of sentiment is often used for satire, economic commentary, or simply attention-seeking. The problem is that satire without context can turn into a hoax that people take as fact.
Law No. 7/2011 on Currency gives BI full authority over the rupiah, from planning and printing to distribution and destruction. That means issuing new money is not a matter of posting an image on social media. There is an official process, an official announcement, and official verification. That is why the public should not rely on screenshots shared in chat groups or short video clips.
What readers should do
If you receive an image of a new banknote that looks odd, the safest step is simple: check BI’s website, compare it with the official rupiah design, and see whether there is an announcement from an institutional channel. If the information only lives on an unclear account, stop there. Do not forward it.
Tempo concluded that the claim that BI issued Rp18,000 and Rp1,000,000 rupiah notes in June 2026 is false. The circulating images were AI-generated visuals. Going forward, the public still needs to stay alert because this pattern may appear again, especially when economic issues are sensitive and images that look official seem too easy to trust.
Brief summary: BI denied issuing new Rp18,000 and Rp1,000,000 rupiah notes; Tempo’s review showed the images were AI-made; the best verification is still through BI’s official channel at bi.go.id.
Short FAQ: Has BI ever issued a Rp18,000 denomination? No. Was there an official redenomination in June 2026? No official announcement was made. Where can you check authentic rupiah notes? On BI’s Rupiah menu and Bank Indonesia’s official accounts.
BI will likely keep facing waves of fake visuals like this, so public verification remains the first line of defense before false images are believed by too many people.
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