Exposing Venezuela Victory Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro.
Computer-created pictures claiming to depict Nicolás Maduro under arrest after his capture by the US have amassed many millions of impressions online.
How Fake Pictures of Maduro Emerged Rapidly
Initial inauthentic AI image seemingly showing him taken off a plane circulated shortly after. The graphic was unpublished by any verified American sources; it was instead published on the platform X by an profile purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Verification involved Google’s SynthID, confirming the picture was created or altered with Google AI.
More AI-generated images began to spread in the ensuing hours, seemingly depicting additional perspectives of Maduro in custody. Noticeable watermarks on the graphics indicate they were posted by an Instagram account named ultravfx.
SynthID indicates all of these pictures were likewise generated or edited generative models.
Real Photo Released but Fabrications Continued
Donald Trump released the first real photo of Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on Saturday morning. However, despite this confirmation was made public, synthetic images kept circulating but were modified to show the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.
Reverse image searches reveal the new fake images were first posted on the video platform by a graphic design profile. Similarly, the AI-watermark detector says these further images were generated or edited Google AI.
Key Points:
- Deepfakes gained traction following the announcement of Maduro's capture.
- The initial fabricated image appeared very quickly on platform X.
- Detection software like Google’s SynthID were used to verify the pictures as AI-generated.
- Fake images continued to circulate and evolve even after the release of real photographs.
- The source of several fakes was traced to specific online profiles focused on AI art.
