Here’s the problem with putting an AI image generator in Google Earth

Now a text prompt is all it takes to generate reality-warping images using Google Earth's satellite, aerial, and 3D imagery, like these images generated by Digital Digging 's Henk van Ess that show "refugees near the Mexican border" and a bomb crater near a hospital in Gaza.

Google responded to Digital Digging 's AI-altered images, saying, "We take misinformation seriously - every image created with Nano Banana in Google Earth includes the SynthID digital watermark, so if someone is unsure about an image, they can ask the Gemini app or use Lens in Search to see if the image was AI-generated.