Debunking Venezuela Victory Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Maduro.

Computer-created images purporting to show Venezuela's president detained after his apprehension by the US have gained tens of millions of views online.

The Way AI Images of Maduro Surfaced Within Hours

The first fake AI image seemingly showing him taken off a aircraft surfaced shortly after. The picture was not shared any authoritative US channels; it was instead posted on X by an account purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.

Our analysis used an AI-watermark detector, determining the picture was created or altered with AI tools.

More synthetic images were disseminated in the subsequent hours, seemingly depicting additional perspectives of the leader in custody. Noticeable watermarks on these pictures show they came from an Instagram profile called ultravfx.

SynthID says all of these pictures were also created or altered generative models.

Real Photo Posted but Fakes Continued

The former US president posted the initial authentic image of Maduro in handcuffs aboard the US Navy ship on Saturday morning. But even after this real photo was made public, AI-generated pictures persisted online but were updated to include the grey tracksuit seen on Maduro.

Reverse image searches reveal these updated fakes were first posted on TikTok by a digital art profile. Similarly, analysis found the new graphics were generated or edited generative artificial intelligence.

Key Points:

• AI-generated content gained traction after the announcement of Maduro's capture.
• The first fake image was shared very quickly on platform X.
• Detection software like Google’s SynthID were used to identify the images as synthetic.
• Fake images persisted to spread and be updated despite the publication of real images.
• The origin of many fabricated images was traced to specific online accounts dedicated to AI art.