Google handed users the easiest possible tool for fake satellite imagery, then pulled it after two days

Google launched a Nano Banana integration in Google Earth that could generate custom scenes from satellite imagery, then disabled it after two days.

Users quickly turned it into deceptive-looking fake satellite images, and screenshots of policy-violating examples spread online.

Google said the outputs were labeled as AI-generated and were not shared with other Earth users, but the misuse was enough to prompt a shutdown.

The feature will return only after stronger safeguards are added.

The incident highlights how AI inside trusted mapping products can make fabricated satellite imagery easier to create and more convincing, raising misinformation risks.