🔗 Share this article Exposing Venezuelan Victory Videos and AI Images of Nicolás Maduro. AI-generated graphics claiming to portray Venezuela's president in custody following his apprehension by the United States have garnered tens of millions of impressions on social media. How Fake Pictures of Maduro Emerged Rapidly The first fake AI image seemingly displaying him being escorted off a plane circulated within hours. The picture was absent from any authoritative American sources; rather, it was uploaded on the platform X by an profile purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”. Verification involved the SynthID tool, confirming the image was produced or modified with generative AI. More synthetic visuals were disseminated in the following hours, seemingly depicting more angles of Maduro in custody. Discernible identifying marks on these pictures indicate they came from an Instagram account named ultravfx. SynthID indicates all of these images were also created or altered AI technology. Real Photo Released but Fakes Continued Donald Trump shared the first real photo of Nicolás Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on Saturday morning. However, despite this real photo was released, synthetic pictures persisted online but were updated to show the grey tracksuit seen on Maduro. Reverse image searches show these updated fakes were first posted on TikTok by a digital art account. Again, the AI-watermark detector confirms these further images were created or altered generative artificial intelligence. Important Facts: AI-generated content circulated quickly following the news of Maduro's capture. The initial fabricated picture appeared within hours on platform X. Detection software like Google’s SynthID helped to confirm the images as synthetic. Fabrications continued to circulate and evolve even after the publication of authentic photographs. The source of many fabricated images was traced to social media accounts dedicated to graphic design.