Aug. 1 at 2:05 AM
Alphabet has withdrawn a newly launched AI image-generation feature for Google Earth after users created realistic fake satellite images that appeared to violate the company's policies. The tool, introduced on Thursday, allowed users to generate photorealistic aerial scenes from text prompts, raising concerns that fabricated images could be mistaken for genuine satellite imagery. Google said it is temporarily removing the feature to implement stronger safeguards and emphasized that AI-generated images never appeared in the main Google Earth platform.
The issue gained attention after Dutch intelligence researcher Henk van Ess demonstrated that the tool could generate a fictitious nuclear facility in Iran, highlighting the potential risks for journalists, intelligence analysts, and fact-checkers trying to distinguish authentic satellite imagery from AI-generated content.
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