AI images misrepresented as Nepal flood devastation

Deadly floods along the Nepal-Tibet border in August 2026 killed over 1,200 people, but viral before-and-after images claiming to show the devastation are AI-generated, not authentic photographs. The images, shared widely on Facebook in multiple languages, were flagged by OpenAI's detection tool and contain invisible Google SynthID watermarks, indicating AI creation. They also do not match satellite imagery of Timure, a town hit by the floods, with houses incorrectly spread on both sides of the river and inconsistent bridge placements. The floods, triggered by a glacial collapse on August 26, destroyed over 2,500 buildings in the Trishuli Valley, with nearly 4,800 people still missing. AFP has previously fact-checked other misinformation about the disaster.