Google pulls AI image tool from Earth after disinformation fears

Google on July 31, 2026, pulled an artificial intelligence tool that let users generate custom images in Google Earth, just a day after its introduction.

In a statement that day, the company said it was rolling back the feature to implement stronger guardrails after users shared screenshots that violated its policies.

The tool was described by product manager Bryan Horowitz as combining Google Earth’s satellite, aerial, and 3D imagery with an AI model called Nano Banana. He wrote that it could help students visualize the past or strengthen real estate pitches.

Open-source researcher Henk van Ess told NPR that he tested prompts including refugees at the Mexican border, a nuclear plant in Iran, a crash in Amsterdam, and a hospital with a bomb crater in Gaza, and nothing was refused.

Evan Hill, a visual forensics reporter at The Washington Post, wrote on X that 'the opportunities for abuse and [disinformation] are literally boundless.'

NPR published fake images generated by the tool, including fires in Iran and a flooded Washington, D.C. The BBC showed images of the Eiffel Tower collapsed and the Great Pyramid of Giza swallowed by a sinkhole.

The company noted that the AI-generated images were watermarked and did not appear in the main Google Earth experience for others to see.

Google Earth first launched in 2005 as a mapping application offering satellite imagery, 3D terrain, and Street View, with maps typically refreshed every few years.

The Independent has contacted Google for comment.