Google Shuts Down Google Earth AI Deepfake Feature After One Day Amid Controversy
The Verge AI · rss · 2026-08-01
Google launched a new feature in Google Earth on Thursday that allowed users to edit satellite images using text prompts via AI. However, the tool was shut down just one day later.
The tool essentially let users create AI deepfakes of the real world. Investigative journalist Henk van Ess, for example, intentionally generated images adding refugees near the Mexican border and a bomb crater by a hospital in Gaza. Although Google's initial response claimed that the generated images included a digital watermark and that the company blocked "image creation on harmful topics," the company ultimately decided to shut down the feature entirely.
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