Image: An AI-generated image showing multiple fires on and near Kharg Island, an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf that is home to a strategic oil terminal. Generated and annotated by NPR

Geoff Brumfiel of NRP reports: “A day after Google unveiled a new feature that allowed users to create AI-generated satellite images with the click of a button on its Google Earth platform, the company announced it was removing the tool.

“We’ve seen geospatial professionals using this feature for a range of useful purposes,” Google said in a statement on X. “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.”

In its initial announcement of the new feature on Thursday, the company said it was designed to work with users’ imaginations: “Just zoom in to a place in Google Earth on web (sic), tap ‘create image,’ and type whatever you want to see,” Bryan Horowitz, a product manager wrote…”

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