Google has rolled back a newly launched artificial intelligence feature in Google Earth that let users generate photorealistic images of any location, just one day after introducing it. The tool was pulled after people shared screenshots of generated imagery that appeared to violate Google’s policies, according to an official statement by the tech giant.
“We know that people uniquely trust Google Earth for a reliable view of the world,” Bryan Horowitz, Product Manager of Google Earth, stated in an update on the official announcement. “We’ve seen geospatial professionals using this feature for a range of useful purposes; however, we’ve also seen people sharing screenshots of generated imagery that appear to violate our policies. So we’re rolling back this feature in Google Earth while we work on implementing stronger guardrails.”
The feature, powered by Google’s Nano Banana 2 AI model, allowed users to type a text prompt and produce realistic images grounded in satellite, aerial, and 3D imagery already available in Google Earth. Google noted that the generated images were watermarked as AI-produced and “didn’t appear in the main Google Earth experience for others to see.”
The company did not specify what types of images triggered the policy violations. The move is the latest example of a major tech firm racing to integrate AI tools only to scale them back after misuse. Meta earlier this month discontinued its Muse Image feature, which had let users create images using public Instagram accounts, following backlash over privacy concerns.