EQUIPThe Verge · 5h ago
Google Earth’s AI deepfake tool only lasted one day
Executive Brief
The 30-second read
Google terminated a new generative AI feature for Google Earth only one day after its public launch. The tool allowed users to manipulate satellite imagery via text prompts, raising immediate concerns regarding geographic deepfakes.
- 01Google disabled the satellite image editing tool following its launch on Thursday
- 02The software enabled users to generate artificial geographic features using simple text prompts
- 03Security researchers demonstrated the tool's potential for creating deceptive imagery of sensitive border regions
- 04Rapid deactivation highlights ongoing corporate sensitivity toward AI-generated misinformation and digital security risks
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Google has shut down Google Earth feature it launched Thursday that allowed users to edit satellite images with text prompts using AI. The tool essentially let users create AI deepfakes of the real world using text prompts; Digital Digging's Henk van Ess, for example, intentionally generated images adding things like refugees near the Mexican border […]