# Henk van Ess

Type: Person

Source: AI Intelligence Brief — https://getaibrief.com/entity/henk-van-ess
Canonical HTML page: https://getaibrief.com/entity/henk-van-ess

## Timeline

- **2026-07-31**: Google pauses the feature — After researchers expose the tool’s ability to generate unfiltered deepfakes of crises, Google removes the feature, citing policy violations and a need for guardrails.
- **2026-07-31**: Tool rolled back after less than 24 hours — Google removes the feature following public backlash and reports of policy-violating imagery, promising to implement stronger guardrails.
- **2026-07-30**: Google launches AI image generation in Google Earth — Product manager Bryan Horowitz announces a feature that lets users create satellite imagery from text prompts, with no mentioned safeguards.
- **2026-07-30**: Google launches AI image tool in Google Earth — The 'create image' feature integrates Nano Banana 2, allowing users to generate AI imagery on top of existing satellite and 3D data.

## Recent coverage (2 stories)

### Nano Banana 2: Google’s AI Image Tool in Earth Lasts 24 Hours Before Policy Pull
2026-08-01 16:36:20 · Sentiment: Bearish · Impact: 6/10 · Sources: 3

AI developers saw a stark lesson when Google’s Nano Banana 2-powered image generator in Google Earth was retracted after a single day, as users immediately created policy-violating imagery despite built-in SynthID watermarks. The rollout and swift retraction spotlight the limits of technical safeguards when deploying generative models into trusted public platforms.
Full story: https://getaibrief.com/story/google-nano-banana-2-rollback-ai-guardrails

### Google Pulls AI Satellite Image Generator After 1 Day: No Guardrails, Widespread Deepfakes
2026-07-31 19:32:36 · Sentiment: Bearish · Impact: 6/10 · Sources: 3

Google’s rapid rollback of its Earth AI feature after users immediately created deepfakes of global crises highlights the urgent need for safety-by-design in generative AI and pre-deployment audits.
Full story: https://getaibrief.com/story/google-ai-satellite-image-generator-1-day

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