Unmasking Venezuelan Victory Videos and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro.

Synthetic pictures purporting to depict Nicolás Maduro in custody after his capture by the American authorities have garnered tens of millions of impressions across the internet.

How Fake Pictures of Maduro Surfaced Soon After

Initial fabricated AI image apparently displaying him led off a plane emerged shortly after. The picture was absent from any authoritative American sources; it was instead posted on the platform X by an account purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.

Our analysis used Google’s SynthID, which found the image was generated or edited with AI tools.

Further AI-generated images were disseminated in the ensuing hours, purporting to present more angles of Maduro under guard. Visible logos on these pictures reveal they came from an Instagram profile named ultravfx.

SynthID confirms the further images were similarly produced using generative models.

Real Photo Posted but Fabrications Continued

The former US president posted the initial authentic image of Nicolás Maduro handcuffed aboard the US Navy ship on Saturday morning. But even after the authentic image was published, AI-generated pictures continued to spread but were modified to show the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.

Reverse image searches show these updated fakes were originally uploaded on the video platform by a digital art account. Similarly, analysis says these subsequent pictures were generated or edited Google AI.

Main Takeaways:

• Synthetic media gained traction after the announcement of Maduro's capture.
• The first fake picture was shared within hours on social media.
• Detection software like AI-watermark detectors were used to verify the pictures as inauthentic.
• Fabrications persisted to spread and be updated despite the release of real photographs.
• The source of several fakes was traced to specific online profiles dedicated to AI art.