Exposing Venezuelan Celebration Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Maduro.

Synthetic graphics purporting to depict Venezuela's president in custody following his capture by the American authorities have gained many millions of impressions on social media.

How AI Images of the President Surfaced Within Hours

Initial fabricated AI image seemingly displaying him led off a plane surfaced within hours. The picture was absent from any authoritative US channels; rather, it was posted on X by an account describing itself as an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.

Verification involved an AI-watermark detector, which found the image was generated or edited with generative AI.

More AI-generated visuals started circulating in the ensuing hours, purporting to present more angles of the leader under guard. Visible watermarks on these images reveal they came from an Instagram account called ultravfx.

AI analysis confirms all of these pictures were also generated or edited Google AI.

Real Photo Posted but Fabrications Persisted

The former US president released the initial authentic image of Nicolás Maduro in handcuffs aboard the USS Iwo Jima on that morning. Yet following this real photo was released, synthetic images continued to spread but were updated to show the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.

Online investigation reveal the new fake images were originally uploaded on the video platform by a graphic design account. Similarly, SynthID found these subsequent pictures were generated or edited Google AI.

Key Points:

• AI-generated content gained traction after the announcement of Maduro's capture.
• The first fake image was shared on the same day on platform X.
• Tools like Google’s SynthID helped to confirm the pictures as AI-generated.
• Fake images continued to spread and evolve despite the release of authentic photographs.
• The source of many fakes was traced to specific online profiles dedicated to graphic design.