There is a popular photo on the Internet of the Sydney Opera House, which, in addition to the ground part, shows its underground infrastructure. We decided to check if it is true.

The architecture of the Sydney Opera House, one of the symbols of Australia, already looks very futuristic. The image shows the theater “in cross-section”: eight underground levels made of glass and concrete are reminiscent of science fiction films about the distant future. It is not surprising that social network users (Facebook*, "VKontakte", X, Instagram*, Telegram) actively share a picture of an incredible building, and such posts receive thousands of likes and reposts.

The Sydney Opera House, built in 1973 by Danish architect Jorn Utzon, is a recognized masterpiece of architecture, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a symbol of modern Australia and a destination for tourists from all over the world. The theater website describes in detail story development of the project (Utzon spent almost 20 years on it) and construction of the theater. However, no information about the eight underground floors, as well as similar drawings, photographs or that same viral image, could be found on the official portal.

Moreover, the ground part of the theater looks strange in the image being analyzed. The landscape around her in real photo and on satellite images Google Street View absolutely other: the opera is surrounded not by lawns and bushes, but by granite tiles, landscaping is limited to only a few tubs with plants. However, judging by the viral image, it seems as if there is a full-fledged park around the building. One might assume that the landscape has changed over time, but there is simply no room for such green spaces near the theater, since it is located on a cape and is surrounded on all sides by water.

Source: photo above - Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, below - Facebook Synthography Art

AFP fact checkers verifying the authenticity of the image, contacted for a comment to the press secretary of the opera and received an answer that the illustration was created by artificial intelligence (AI) and does not correspond to reality, including in the ground part of the building.

A reverse Google Images search revealed that the image was first published October 6, 2024 on Facebook Synthography Art. On the official website The creative association states that it specializes in creating images using AI. The Synthography Art account contains hundreds of photos, some of which it is obvious created neural network, others look more realistic. The post featuring the Sydney Opera House image does not indicate that it was created by AI. However, a month later, page administrators published an image of the inside of Mount Rushmore (on which the faces of four US presidents are carved) and noted that it was created by a neural network and that after the opera story they had to make such notes. However, another such picture depicting underground levels under Central Park in New York and very similar to the infected Sydney Opera House, it is not equipped with any disclaimer.

Thus, the image of the Sydney Opera House with eight underground floors that went viral on social networks was actually created using neural networks and has nothing to do with reality. It was first published on the page of artists specializing in AI, and representatives of the theater have already denied that the building has such an underground infrastructure.

*Russian authorities consider the company Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, to be an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Cover photo: Facebook Synthography Art