Google Earth's Nano Banana 2 feature allows users to create fake satellite images, such as a nuclear plant in Iran; Google says the images have AI watermarks
The question is: what on earth is Google doing? — UPDATED, with response of Google — Tonight I typed just one sentence …
Digital DiggingHenk van Ess
Context & Ripple Effects
Google Earth added a Create Image control for Nano Banana 2 only a day earlier, enabling prompted infographics and visual changes to locations. This report tests the implications of that new image-creation layer when prompts concern politically and socially sensitive places.
The rollout also extends Nano Banana 2 beyond its planned role as the default image model in Gemini. Google’s stated SynthID marking is therefore a provenance measure attached to a capability being placed in a widely recognizable mapping product.
First-order effects
Google must defend the guardrails and presentation of Google Earth’s generated-location imagery, while pointing users to SynthID as the identifier for outputs involving sensitive subject matter.
Google Earth users can now encounter or create synthetic depictions tied to real places, rather than solely using the product for geographic visualization.
Second-order effects
Teams that use Google’s geospatial tools for analysis or public communication may need clearer separation between generated visuals and source imagery or data; that distinction matters alongside Earth Engine’s research and nonprofit data-analysis uses.
SynthID makes a generated image more identifiable, but the report puts pressure on Google to ensure that provenance remains legible when an image is viewed outside the creation workflow.
Third-order effects
If generative editing becomes a standard layer in mapping interfaces, geospatial platforms will increasingly be judged on context, provenance, and safeguards—not only on image-generation quality.
The broader structural shift is from maps as observational tools toward mixed interfaces containing both geographic information and synthetic visual interpretation; whether watermarking alone is sufficient remains unresolved.
The trend: This is one data point in the convergence of generative-image models and geospatial products, where provenance controls must keep pace with easier creation of place-based synthetic media.
So it seems Google activated its AI image generation program inside its satellite image app today (blog post here: https://blog.google/...). Very curious how or if this idea was red teamed internally because the opportunities for abuse and disinfo are literally boundless.
There's no way that this new AI image generation feature on Google Earth, one of the most reliable sources of visual evidence for journalists and researchers, could possibly be abused to spread misinformation online. Absolutely no cause for concern here at all.
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. In addition, we prevent …
RIP to the trust in satellite imagery. Once the means to verify and prove events on the ground. Now completely discreditable. Extra burden of proof required. …
- Google's own description of the “fun feature” is that Nano Banana “creates concepts grounded in the real world.” — The purpose of disinformation and propaganda isn't to convince you of one lie, it is to convince you nothing can be trusted so that you not believe anything and …
Google made faking reality even easier. Because, according to the company, “it is fun”. — It is not. @henkvaness.bsky.social explaines the problem on his substack and website. Worth reading. — www.digitaldigging.org/p/how-to- pla...
Google just added AI image models to Google Earth for free. — Why would Google give every user a military grade weapon for free? The server overhead must be enormous for 0 benefit. Who is paying that server upkeep? — www.digitaldigging.org/p/how-to- pla...
Absolutely nuts: Google Earth now has a feature that lets you convincingly fabricate satellite imagery — www.digitaldigging.org/p/how-to- pla... [images]
This is INSANE. — “Today it added a button that makes things up. Google Earth on the web now has image generation built in, powered by Nano Banana 2. It went live today, worldwide, for everyone, with no waitlist and no application.” — www.digitaldigging.org/p/how-to- pla...
*Break everything, let someone else clean up after us ... if they can* — I truly believe the university community has no idea what they're doing to promote Gen AI in any way at all. Gen AI is absolute chaos, anarchy, in all things concerning information, knowledge, value and t…
I used to do some work on the ethical use of satellite and drone imagery for aid and disaster response, and it is genuinely hard to express in words what a dangerous, stupid thing Google is doing by making it easy to use GenAI to create faked satellite imagery:
“Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran. Then I put a fatal crash on a street in Amsterdam. Google's own satellite imagery underneath all three. What on earth is Google doing?”
This is wildly irresponsible of Google - allowing people to create AI generated satellite images. Satellite imagery has always been such a useful and reliable source because it came from reliable sources, but now Google is messing with it at source. — www.digitaldigging.org/p/…
Google has launched an AI image generator in Google Earth, its Nano Banana 2 model, that lets anyone fake photorealistic satellite imagery with a prompt. …
For those interested in trying out (or jailbreaking) this new feature on Google Earth, here's the link to Google's announcement. With the current attention it's getting, it will likely be shut down for retooling sooner rather than later. blog.google/products-and...