Google pauses AI satellite images, after fears of deepfakes in the sky
An AI-generated image showing multiple fires on and near Kharg Island, an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf that is home to a strategic oil terminal. Generated and annotated by NPR hide caption
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Generated and annotated by NPR
A day after Google unveiled a new feature that allowed users to create AI-generated satellite images with the click of a button on its Google Earth platform, the company announced it was removing the tool.
"We've seen geospatial professionals using this feature for a range of useful purposes," Google said in a statement on X. "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."
In its initial announcement of the new feature on Thursday, the company said it was designed to work with users' imaginations: "Just zoom in to a place in Google Earth on web (sic), tap 'create image,' and type whatever you want to see," Bryan Horowitz, a product manager wrote.
But for experts and analysts who rely on Google's imagery to verify breaking news and atrocities in hard-to-reach parts of the world, the potential to create deepfake satellite imagery at the click of a button was horrifying.
"I tried refugees at the Mexican border, a nuclear plant in Iran, a crash in Amsterdam, a hospital with a bomb crater in Gaza. Nothing was refused," Henk van Ess, an open-source researcher who first wrote about the potential damage the tool could cause, told NPR via text.
NPR was able to easily generate images of Iran's Kharg Island on fire, and a flooded U.S. Capitol complex. Both events, which have not happened, would constitute major news if they were real.
Online, journalists and open-source investigators wondered aloud about Google's decision. "Very curious how or if this idea was red teamed internally because the opportunities for abuse and disinfo are literally boundless," Evan Hill, an visual forensics investigator at the Washington Post wrote on X.
So it seems Google activated its AI image generation program inside its satellite image app today (blog post here: https://t.co/z7JlLrNuB8). Very curious how or if this idea was red teamed internally because the opportunities for abuse and disinfo are literally boundless. https://t.co/Dnjx3D1Gwr
As the online world fills with AI-generated deepfakes and slop, satellite imagery has been a key tool for understanding what's real and what's not. Open-source investigators have used satellite images to verify events on the ground, and as reference for understanding videos and images shared online.
Google Earth imagery is not always the most up-to-date, but its sweeping, high-resolution coverage of the planet can provide important reference imagery for both images from the ground and more current images from other satellites.
"Satellite imagery has been kind of a safe bet when it comes to verifying an event because it's hard to fake," says Jake Godin, a senior researcher with the online group Bellingcat, which does visual forensic investigations. Satellite images are usually controlled by companies or institutions, and their source, a camera hundreds of miles above the earth's surface, has historically been hard to imitate.
Godin noted fake satellite imagery has already cropped up in limited cases. Early on in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, for example, fake images circulated of a damaged U.S. base in Bahrain. The images, which popped up in Iranian media, appeared to use Google Earth images and Google AI to generate fake damage at the base. (Real satellite images later showed that the base was, in fact, damaged, just not in the way shown in the fake image.)
An AI-generated image showing significant flooding around the U.S. Capitol. Generated and annotated by NPR hide caption
toggle caption
Generated and annotated by NPR
But putting the tools together to create AI-generated satellite images with a single click has the potential to vastly accelerate the generation of AI fakes, Godin said. "It's just streamlining the process, which I think is going to make it proliferate more."
Godin worries that the spread of fake images will add to confusion and misinformation. "Misinformation travels further and faster than any sort of correction," he said. Moreover, governments will now be more likely to claim satellite images are fake, even if they are real, undermining public trust.
In an posting on X on Thursday, the company said it "takes misinformation seriously." The company noted that all images are marked with its SynthID watermark, which ensures it will be flagged as AI-generated in other Google tools such as Gemini. "In addition, we prevent image creation on harmful topics and are continually updating our protections," it said.
But few in the open source community seemed reassured by Google's statements. For van Ess, the decision particularly stings because Google Earth has long been regarded as one of the best tools to verify information posted on social media.
If Google continues to develop the AI tool, he said, it would mean that "the fake is made inside the thing people use to check whether pictures are true."
Read the full story at NPR ↗
Google released a feature letting users generate AI satellite imagery in Google Earth with text prompts. Within a day, the company paused the tool after researchers showed it could create convincing false images of strategically sensitive locations without restrictions. Experts expressed concern that integrating AI generation into a platform historically used to verify ground truth could accelerate the spread of satellite image deepfakes and erode public trust in satellite verification. Google stated the images carry watermarks and that it prevents creation on harmful topics, but researchers remain unconvinced these safeguards are sufficient.
Read the full story at NPR ↗
An AI-generated image showing multiple fires on and near Kharg Island, an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf that is home to a strategic oil terminal. Generated and annotated by NPR hide caption
toggle caption
Generated and annotated by NPR
A day after Google unveiled a new feature that allowed users to create AI-generated satellite images with the click of a button on its Google Earth platform, the company announced it was removing the tool.
"We've seen geospatial professionals using this feature for a range of useful purposes," Google said in a statement on X. "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."
In its initial announcement of the new feature on Thursday, the company said it was designed to work with users' imaginations: "Just zoom in to a place in Google Earth on web (sic), tap 'create image,' and type whatever you want to see," Bryan Horowitz, a product manager wrote.
But for experts and analysts who rely on Google's imagery to verify breaking news and atrocities in hard-to-reach parts of the world, the potential to create deepfake satellite imagery at the click of a button was horrifying.
"I tried refugees at the Mexican border, a nuclear plant in Iran, a crash in Amsterdam, a hospital with a bomb crater in Gaza. Nothing was refused," Henk van Ess, an open-source researcher who first wrote about the potential damage the tool could cause, told NPR via text.
NPR was able to easily generate images of Iran's Kharg Island on fire, and a flooded U.S. Capitol complex. Both events, which have not happened, would constitute major news if they were real.
Online, journalists and open-source investigators wondered aloud about Google's decision. "Very curious how or if this idea was red teamed internally because the opportunities for abuse and disinfo are literally boundless," Evan Hill, an visual forensics investigator at the Washington Post wrote on X.
So it seems Google activated its AI image generation program inside its satellite image app today (blog post here: https://t.co/z7JlLrNuB8). Very curious how or if this idea was red teamed internally because the opportunities for abuse and disinfo are literally boundless. https://t.co/Dnjx3D1Gwr
As the online world fills with AI-generated deepfakes and slop, satellite imagery has been a key tool for understanding what's real and what's not. Open-source investigators have used satellite images to verify events on the ground, and as reference for understanding videos and images shared online.
Google Earth imagery is not always the most up-to-date, but its sweeping, high-resolution coverage of the planet can provide important reference imagery for both images from the ground and more current images from other satellites.
"Satellite imagery has been kind of a safe bet when it comes to verifying an event because it's hard to fake," says Jake Godin, a senior researcher with the online group Bellingcat, which does visual forensic investigations. Satellite images are usually controlled by companies or institutions, and their source, a camera hundreds of miles above the earth's surface, has historically been hard to imitate.
Godin noted fake satellite imagery has already cropped up in limited cases. Early on in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, for example, fake images circulated of a damaged U.S. base in Bahrain. The images, which popped up in Iranian media, appeared to use Google Earth images and Google AI to generate fake damage at the base. (Real satellite images later showed that the base was, in fact, damaged, just not in the way shown in the fake image.)
An AI-generated image showing significant flooding around the U.S. Capitol. Generated and annotated by NPR hide caption
toggle caption
Generated and annotated by NPR
But putting the tools together to create AI-generated satellite images with a single click has the potential to vastly accelerate the generation of AI fakes, Godin said. "It's just streamlining the process, which I think is going to make it proliferate more."
Godin worries that the spread of fake images will add to confusion and misinformation. "Misinformation travels further and faster than any sort of correction," he said. Moreover, governments will now be more likely to claim satellite images are fake, even if they are real, undermining public trust.
In an posting on X on Thursday, the company said it "takes misinformation seriously." The company noted that all images are marked with its SynthID watermark, which ensures it will be flagged as AI-generated in other Google tools such as Gemini. "In addition, we prevent image creation on harmful topics and are continually updating our protections," it said.
But few in the open source community seemed reassured by Google's statements. For van Ess, the decision particularly stings because Google Earth has long been regarded as one of the best tools to verify information posted on social media.
If Google continues to develop the AI tool, he said, it would mean that "the fake is made inside the thing people use to check whether pictures are true."
Read the full story at NPR ↗
Google unveiled an AI image generation feature in Google Earth on Thursday Google removed the feature the following day after observing people sharing generated imagery that violated its policies Open-source researchers tested the tool and generated images of Iran's Kharg Island on fire, a flooded US Capitol, and other sensitive locations without refusal Satellite imagery has historically been a reliable verification tool because the source—cameras hundreds of miles above Earth—is difficult to imitate Fake satellite images have already appeared in limited cases, including Iranian media sharing false images of a damaged US military base during the US-Israel conflict with Iran The feature represents a concerning streamlining of the process to create AI-generated satellite fakes that will likely proliferate The tool creates a paradox where the platform people use to verify images becomes the place where convincing fakes are manufactured Governments may increasingly claim legitimate satellite images are fake, further undermining public trust
Read the full story at NPR ↗
- Google launched an AI image generation feature in Google Earth allowing users to create satellite imagery, then paused it within a day
- Researchers demonstrated the tool could generate realistic-looking but false satellite images of sensitive locations (Iranian oil terminal, US Capitol, Gaza hospital)
- The move threatens satellite imagery's role as a verification tool for journalists and open-source investigators who rely on it to confirm real-world events
- Google cited policy violations in shared screenshots; experts worry the tool streamlines deepfake creation and will increase misinformation