🔗 Share this article Unmasking Venezuelan Victory Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro. Computer-created pictures purporting to show Venezuela's president detained after his apprehension by the US have amassed tens of millions of impressions online. How Fake Pictures of Maduro Emerged Within Hours Initial inauthentic AI image seemingly displaying him led off a aircraft surfaced within hours. The picture was absent from any authoritative US channels; it was instead published on the platform X by an account purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”. Our analysis used an AI-watermark detector, determining the image was created or altered with AI tools. Additional AI-generated pictures were disseminated in the ensuing period, appearing to show more angles of the leader under guard. Noticeable identifying marks on these pictures indicate they came from an Instagram profile named ultravfx. SynthID indicates all of these pictures were also generated or edited Google AI. Real Photo Posted but Fabrications Persisted Donald Trump released the first real photo of Maduro handcuffed aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. Yet following the authentic image was made public, synthetic images continued to spread but were altered to include the grey athletic wear worn by Maduro. Reverse image searches show the new fake images were initially shared on TikTok by a graphic design profile. Similarly, analysis found these further images were produced with Google AI. Important Facts: Deepfakes circulated quickly following the announcement of the president's apprehension. The initial fabricated image appeared on the same day on platform X. Detection software like AI-watermark detectors helped to confirm the images as synthetic. Fake images persisted to circulate and be updated despite the release of authentic photographs. The origin of several fabricated images was linked to social media accounts focused on graphic design.