Google pulls Earth AI image tool one day after launch over deepfake concerns

Google Alphabet Inc. ↗ 6.88% rolled back an AI image generation feature from Google Earth on Friday, just one day after launching it, following swift and widespread criticism from journalists, security researchers, and open-source investigators who warned the tool was a recipe for geospatial misinformation.

A Feature That Let Users Fabricate Reality

The feature, powered by Google's Nano Banana 2 AI model, went live on Thursday and allowed users to type text prompts to superimpose AI-generated imagery over real satellite maps. Google pitched it as a creative tool for visualizing history, planning real estate projects, or reimagining locations.cnet+1

But researchers immediately demonstrated how easily it could produce convincing fake satellite imagery of sensitive events. Henk van Ess, an open-source researcher and founder of the investigative publication Digital Digging, generated fabricated images showing refugees at the Mexican border, a nuclear plant in Iran, and a hospital with a bomb crater in Gaza. "Nothing was refused, nothing was softened, and nothing suggested I try a different prompt," van Ess told NPR.npr+1

NPR independently generated images of Iran's Kharg Island on fire and a flooded U.S. Capitol complex. Evan Hill, a visual forensics investigator at the Washington Post, wrote on X that he was "very curious how or if this idea was red teamed internally because the opportunities for abuse and disinfo are literally boundless."npr

Google's Reversal

On Friday, Google issued a statement on X acknowledging the problems. "We know that people uniquely trust Google Earth for a reliable view of the world," the company said. "We've seen geospatial professionals using this feature for a range of useful purposes, however we've also seen people sharing screenshots of generated imagery that appear to violate our policies. So we're rolling back this feature in Google Earth while we work on implementing stronger guardrails."techcrunch+2

Google noted that generated images included its SynthID digital watermark and did not appear in the main Google Earth experience for other users. But critics found those protections insufficient. Van Ess ran a screen recording of his fake imagery through the third-party AI detection tool Hive, which rated it 99.2% likely to be real.theverge+1

Why Satellite Imagery Matters

The backlash reflected a deeper concern: satellite imagery has long served as a trusted verification tool for journalists and human rights investigators working in conflict zones and hard-to-reach areas. "Satellite imagery has been kind of a safe bet when it comes to verifying an event because it's hard to fake," said Jake Godin, a senior researcher at Bellingcat.npr

Van Ess captured the core tension in a line from his newsletter: "Google spent twenty years building the reference the world checks against. Today it added a button that makes things up."cnet