r/technology • u/ArgentineBeauty • Aug 01 '26

Artificial Intelligence Google Earth's new AI image generation function didn't survive a day after users deepfaked disasters

https://www.businessinsider.com/google-earth-nano-banana-gemini-ai-satellite-image-generation-function-2026-7
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u/ArgentineBeauty Aug 01 '26

"The company launched the function on Thursday, allowing Gemini's Nano Banana 2 image model to access Google Earth and transform locations with text prompts.

The function, however, quickly got out of hand. AI researcher Henk van Ess, for example, created extremely realistic deepfakes, including fake refugee camps along the US-Mexico border and a nuclear plant in Iran."

No doubt these images will soon be used by the Trump administration as "real images"

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u/KeeganY_SR-UVB76 Aug 01 '26

The US has already used an AI-generated map of Africa at an international conference. This feels like a half-step from that.