Google announced the suspension of a newly launched AI image generation feature in Google Earth. The feature was temporarily shut down less than 48 hours after its launch due to potential risks of misinformation. The official stated that further security measures will be strengthened. Previously, Google integrated the image generation model Nano Banana2 into Google Earth, allowing users to generate fictional scenes on real satellite images, aerial photographs, and 3D maps through text instructions.

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According to a test by the BBC, the feature can generate fake scenes including "the collapse of the Eiffel Tower," "a huge sinkhole swallowing the Egyptian pyramids," and "Russian tanks appearing in Kyiv," which can be directly downloaded and shared. This type of AI-generated content, when combined with real geographic coordinates and the base map of Google Earth, has strong authenticity and can easily be mistaken for real satellite imagery.

Safety experts pointed out that during sensitive events such as wars or natural disasters, these highly realistic synthetic maps could be used to spread misinformation, misleading the public, media, and even investigators, posing new challenges for information verification.

Google stated that all AI-generated images are embedded with an invisible digital watermark and support authenticity verification through Gemini or Google Lens. However, the BBC test found that some verification mechanisms may still be bypassed, and some third-party detection tools are also unable to reliably identify AI-generated content.

The temporary suspension of the service reflects that as generative AI gradually enters high-trust information scenarios such as maps and remote sensing, how to enhance creative capabilities while preventing deepfakes and the spread of misinformation has become a key security issue that needs to be addressed in the deployment of AI products.