Unmasking Venezuelan Victory Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Maduro.

Computer-created images claiming to portray Venezuela's president detained following his capture by the United States have amassed countless of views across the internet.

The Way AI Images of Maduro Emerged Within Hours

The first inauthentic synthetic picture apparently showing him taken off a aircraft circulated shortly after. This image was absent from any official government accounts; it was instead uploaded on the platform X by an account purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.

We’ve checked Google’s SynthID, which found the picture was created or altered with generative AI.

More synthetic visuals started circulating in the following hours, seemingly depicting different views of the leader under guard. Noticeable logos on these images reveal they were posted by an Instagram profile named ultravfx.

SynthID says these additional images were similarly created or altered Google AI.

Authentic Image Released but Fakes Continued

The former US president released the initial authentic image of Nicolás Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. However, despite this confirmation was made public, synthetic pictures persisted online but were modified to show the gray sweatsuit worn by Maduro.

Reverse image searches show these updated fakes were first posted on the video platform by a graphic design account. Similarly, analysis found the new graphics were created or altered Google AI.

Key Points:

• Deepfakes circulated quickly following the announcement of the president's apprehension.
• The first fake picture was shared within hours on platform X.
• Detection software like AI-watermark detectors were used to verify the pictures as inauthentic.
• Fake images continued to spread and be updated despite the publication of real photographs.
• The origin of several fakes was linked to specific online accounts focused on AI art.