🔗 Share this article Unmasking Venezuelan Celebration Footage and AI Images of Maduro. AI-generated images claiming to show Venezuela's president under arrest following his capture by the US have garnered countless of impressions on social media. How Fake Pictures of Maduro Emerged Within Hours The first inauthentic AI image seemingly showing him taken off a aircraft emerged a brief time later. The picture was unpublished by any verified US channels; it was instead uploaded on the platform X by an account describing itself as an “AI video art enthusiast”. We’ve checked Google’s SynthID, determining the image was created or altered with AI tools. Additional AI-generated images began to spread in the ensuing hours, appearing to show additional perspectives of Maduro under guard. Visible watermarks on the graphics reveal they were posted by an Instagram account called ultravfx. SynthID says these additional pictures were similarly generated or edited generative models. Real Photo Posted but Fabrications Persisted The former US president posted the initial authentic image of Nicolás Maduro handcuffed aboard the USS Iwo Jima on Saturday morning. However, despite this real photo was published, AI-generated pictures continued to spread but were altered to show the grey tracksuit seen on Maduro. Online investigation indicate the new fake images were originally uploaded on the video platform by a digital art profile. Once again, SynthID found these further images were generated or edited generative artificial intelligence. Key Points: Synthetic media spread rapidly following the announcement of the president's apprehension. The initial fabricated image appeared within hours on platform X. Tools like AI-watermark detectors helped to confirm the pictures as synthetic. Fake images continued to circulate and be updated despite the publication of authentic photographs. The source of several fakes was linked to social media profiles dedicated to graphic design.