Google Earth's Nano Banana AI tool is abused to make deepfakes, and is promptly taken down while the company works to put in place stronger guardrails
MANILA, Philippines – Google pulled back its new AI image tool, Nano Banana, on Saturday, August 1, after finding users had bypassed safeguards to create disinformation and fake disaster images.
Google Earth’s Nano Banana feature, released on July 30, was an AI tool meant to allow users to “generate custom images using Google Earth’s satellite, aerial, and 3D imagery alongside Nano Banana, which creates concepts grounded in the real world.”
It was originally envisioned to help bring historical sites to life, or aid in the creation of real estate plans, among other potentially beneficial implementations.
A BBC report, however, pointed to the risks inherent in allowing AI to generate things over topographical images.
