© Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn
There are few brands across the world that are as protective of the exclusivity and prestige of their brand as the Olympic Games.
However, during the 2026 Winter Olympics, official social media accounts are boldly and routinely using AI images to violate the strict Olympic brand guidelines.
The use of AI began in the opening ceremony, where the hosts created a cartoon sequence with Italian “White Lotus” actress Sabrina Impacciatore skiing and skating through different host cities from the past century.
“Winter Olympics using dogs— AI slop in their opening ceremony,” one user wrote on X. “An animating job that a talented animator would’ve bitten your arm off for, you’d have been able to find someone to do it for free even.”
But it only got worse from there.
Winter Olympic Social Media Accounts Routinely Violate Guidelines With AI Slop
Saturday marked the first full day of competition at the 2026 games across a number of sports. To help keep viewers up to day, the official Olympics X account shared information about events using clearly AI-generated images.
Ai slop. The official account of The™ Olympic™ Games™ just published an image which breaks its own brand guide, using an off-brand logo – the rings aren’t overlapping at the officially correct places.
Does this mean that the IOC™ isn’t *that* fuzzy about misusing their logo?… https://t.co/qfjmUcGwFb pic.twitter.com/2XvJ261DmQ— Fredrik (@F_Edits) February 7, 2026
Now, the lazy use of AI would be bad enough on its own. But where things get particularly embarrassing is when you realize that by doing so, the Olympics completely betrayed their own branding guidelines.
You’re all talking about AI but I’m stuck on the flagrant disregard for the Olympic brand guidelines. They beveled AND recreated the rings. You can’t do any of that! https://t.co/gkV9PEIiH6 pic.twitter.com/KXwlmKGXYO
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) February 7, 2026
“The roots of our brand date back nearly 3,000 years to the ancient Olympic Games. Traditions and values developed over millennia – promoting peace, friendship and respect through sport,” the over-100-page branding manual begins.
Additionally, they make one thing extremely clear.
“The Olympic rings should never be altered in any manner, including modifying the official colours, or the order of the colours. Always use supplied artwork (never recreate the rings).”
Apparently, that is now out the window. Thousands of years of tradition (their words, not ours) are now meaningless. It will be interesting to see if the guidelines or the AI images change in the coming weeks.
But something tells us that’s unlikely.