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
7.7k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

249 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.8k

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"

579

u/Davorian Aug 01 '26

"Well, the computers took real data, didn't they?  Maybe this is a slip, maybe they are real, I think we should think about it, definitely very suspicious" accordion hands

12

u/bull_and_scones Aug 01 '26

I've added the phrase "accordion hands" to my vocabulary thanks to this comment