A map of Africa with every country inaccurately depicted was shown during a U.S. State Department presentation at the Aids 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, according to Reuters.

The error occurred during a presentation about the State Department's new health agreements. A video of the event showed the incorrect map displayed midway through the presentation. A Reuters analysis indicated that the map bore a watermark suggesting it was created using OpenAI's artificial intelligence tools.

The State Department has taken responsibility for the mistake, stating that a team member altered the slide deck shortly before the event. The department acknowledged the confusion and misrepresentation it caused for conference attendees, particularly African partners.

Specific inaccuracies noted in the map included Nigeria, where U.S. troops are deployed, depicted as landlocked in the Sahara Desert. Mozambique was shown in the Horn of Africa instead of its actual location in southeastern Africa, and Côte d'Ivoire was placed on the opposite side of the continent from its West African position.

Screenshots of the erroneous map first surfaced on a Substack post by AIDS expert Emily Bass and gained significant traction on LinkedIn, with one post reaching approximately 40,000 views. Critics, such as Matt Petit, who focuses on AI and geopolitics at the Atlantic Council, noted the lack of basic geographical knowledge in the slide's creation and approval.

The speaker at the conference was Jeff Graham, the top U.S. health envoy responsible for the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR). Graham did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite the map incident, the State Department stated that discussions at the conference were substantive and constructive and reiterated its commitment to combating AIDS. The department also noted that while some funding areas, including prevention and surveillance, are being scaled back, and PEPFAR is planned to phase out in South Africa, the core work, such as providing life-saving drugs, has largely resumed. The U.S. remains the largest public funder of HIV/AIDS efforts globally, accounting for 74 percent of public funding, according to a UNAIDS report released for the Rio conference.