🔗 Share this article

AI-generated images claiming to depict Nicolás Maduro under arrest after his capture by the American authorities have gained many millions of views across the internet.

The Way AI Images of the President Emerged Rapidly

Initial fake synthetic picture apparently showing him led off a plane circulated a brief time later. The graphic was unpublished by any official American sources; rather, it was published on X by an profile purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.

We’ve checked an AI-watermark detector, determining the picture was generated or edited with AI tools.

Additional AI-generated visuals were disseminated in the subsequent period, seemingly depicting different views of Maduro in custody. Visible identifying marks on these images show they originated from an Instagram account called ultravfx.

AI analysis says the further pictures were similarly created or altered generative models.

Real Photo Released but Fakes Continued

Donald Trump released the genuine photograph of Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. But even after this real photo was made public, synthetic images continued to spread but were updated to include the gray sweatsuit worn by Maduro.

Reverse image searches reveal these updated fakes were originally uploaded on the video platform by a digital art account. Again, SynthID says these further images were produced with Google AI.

Main Takeaways:

• Synthetic media spread rapidly following the news of Maduro's capture.
• The initial fabricated picture appeared very quickly on social media.
• Tools like Google’s SynthID helped to verify the pictures as synthetic.
• Fabrications continued to circulate and evolve despite the publication of authentic photographs.
• The source of many fabricated images was traced to social media accounts focused on AI art.