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Synthetic images claiming to portray Venezuela's president detained after his capture by the American authorities have gained many millions of impressions online.

The Way AI Images of Maduro Emerged Within Hours

Initial fabricated synthetic picture seemingly displaying him taken off a aircraft emerged shortly after. The graphic was not shared any verified government accounts; rather, it was uploaded on X by an profile purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.

Verification involved the SynthID tool, which found the image was created or altered with generative AI.

Further AI-generated visuals were disseminated in the subsequent period, seemingly depicting different views of the leader under guard. Visible identifying marks on the graphics show they originated from an Instagram profile called ultravfx.

SynthID confirms all of these images were similarly created or altered generative models.

Authentic Image Released but Fabrications Persisted

The former US president shared the initial authentic image of Maduro in handcuffs aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. However, despite this real photo was made public, synthetic pictures kept circulating but were updated to include the gray sweatsuit seen on Maduro.

Digital forensics reveal these altered fabrications were initially shared on the video platform by a graphic design account. Again, analysis says the new graphics were produced with AI tools.

Important Facts:

• AI-generated content circulated quickly after the news of Maduro's capture.
• The first fake image appeared on the same day on social media.
• Detection software like AI-watermark detectors were used to identify the images as synthetic.
• Fake images continued to circulate and evolve even after the publication of authentic images.
• The origin of several fabricated images was traced to social media accounts focused on graphic design.