How AI images of Maduro emerged within hours of his capturepublished at 11:20 GMT
11:20 GMT
Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist
AI images claiming to show Nicolás Maduro in custody after his capture by the US have gained tens of millions of views online.
Maduro was captured by the US in the early hours of Saturday morning. The first fake AI image apparently showing him being escorted off a plane emerging within hours.
The image was not shared by any official US channels, it was instead posted on X by an “AI video art enthusiast” account.We’ve checked it using Google’s SynthID AI-watermark detector, which found it was generated or edited with Google AI.
More AI-generated pictures began to spread in the ensuing hours appearing to show more angles of Maduro in custody. Visible watermarks on these images show they originated from an Instagram account called ultravfx, whose profile describes it as being run by a “Professional in artificial intelligence”.
SynthID says all of these further images were generated or edited with Google AI.
Donald Trump posted the first real photo of Maduro handcuffed aboard the USS Iwo Jima ship on Saturday morning. But even after this real photo was published AI-generated images continued to spread but were updated to include the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.
Reverse image searches show these updated fakes were first posted on TikTok by a graphic design account. Once again, SynthID AI-watermark detector says these further images were generated or edited with Google AI.
