How generative AI ruined the most hyped product launch of 2026

Global hype moments don’t happen in the world of watches all that often, but whether you know it or not, we’re in the midst of one right now.

Except unfortunately, AI almost ruined the much-anticipated Swatch X Audemars Piguet collaboration for everyone before it had even been fully revealed.

How? The liberal use of AI’s image-generation tools to create fake, but plausible images of the possible final product made all of Swatch’s attempts to build anticipation by not showing the watch a complete waste of time.

Worse, now that we’ve actually seen the watch, it feels a bit disappointing. The parallels to the world of leaked smartphones are obvious, and AI’s impact will have lasting consequences.

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Posts By  Chandra Steele

Swatch’s latest hype collab

On-wrist Royalty

It’s best to set the scene before we go deeper. Even if you’re not that interested in watches, there’s a good chance you’ve seen or heard about the Swatch X Omega Moonswatch, which caused chaos when it was released in 2022.

People queued for days to get one, scalpers charged 10 times the retail price for one, and it went on to see huge success and eventually spawn many different models.

Swatch now has another collaboration ready for release, which it hopes will repeat the Moonswatch’s success.

This time, Swatch is partnering with luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet, best known for the Royal Oak. With models starting at around $15,000, it’s a highly desirable watch that’s out of reach for most.

That’s where Swatch comes in. It made it possible to own an officially licensed version of the Omega Moonwatch, which costs around $8,000, for $285, and it’s doing something similar with its Audemars Piguet collaboration.

It’s safe to say anyone with a vague interest in watches, hyped-up fashion products, or who is keen to be in at the start of another Moonswatch-like gold rush, is very excited about Swatch’s Royal Pop watch.

We’re used to leaked images

But not of this quantity or quality

Swatch started teasing the Royal Pop on May 6, but only with vague hints, and it did not show the actual watch.

However, that didn’t stop people from producing AI images of what they thought the watch might look like.

Those of us who’ve been around phones for a while will be fully aware of renders, mock-ups, and other unofficial, essentially fan-made images related to an unreleased product. It has happened for years, and people have made a living off it.

We see these images in news stories, and provided it’s a reputable publication, the fact that the image is not official is made very clear.

What’s more, because most people looking at them will be aware of how these things work, we know they may not represent the final product.

AI fakes dominated social media

Altering public perception

The AI-generated images of what the Swatch and Audemars Piguet watch may look like are, as you’d expect, beautiful, polished, and absolutely plausible. The images look like they’re straight out of a catalog.

Watch industry publications and many commentators know the game, just like tech fans know the game with phone leaks.

No one at that level has been fooled by these images. The problem is on social media and for the casual watch fan.

My Instagram Reels page was dominated by AI-generated images of the Royal Pop, and the vast majority looked absolutely real.

Each is subtly different, whether it’s the color or the placement of the brand names, but each shares iconic Royal Oak traits, such as the octagonal case, Tapisserie dial, and integrated bracelet.

Looking at these images, it would be easy to assume that Swatch had either fully revealed the watch or that it had been released, due to some of the AI-generated images even showing the watch on someone’s wrist.

Unfortunately, Swatch had done no such thing.

No one was prepared for the amount of fakes

Or that the final design wouldn’t be the same

On May 12, Swatch published the first official look at the Royal Pop watch, and, well, it doesn’t look anything like the AI-generated mock-ups.

This isn’t much of a surprise, but sadly, I think a lot of people are going to wish it looked more like the AI one, and due to the believability of the AI images, expect they may be the real thing, and the actual watch is a fake.

This is where the massive influx of AI-generated images and Swatch’s tried-and-tested, but a little outdated, teaser marketing campaign has worked against everyone.

Swatch will have been aware of the hype its teasers would generate, but was it prepared for how much AI would play a part? I don’t think so.

AI has moved so fast that it’s an entirely different world from when Swatch released the Moonswatch. Not only do I not think Swatch was fully prepared, I don’t think the general public was either.

Here lies the problem. When AI-generated fake images look so convincing and desirable, where does it leave the final product?

It becomes something of a disappointment. Not just because everyone had “seen” it already, but because real life rarely lives up to fantasy.

The future of phone leaks

The old days are gone

The watch industry is the prime proving ground for the use of AI to create fake images of a forthcoming product. Social media is full of watch content, and it gets plenty of attention.

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The Royal Pop is the ideal candidate for clever fakery because it’s based on an existing watch and is coming from a brand known for making watches made of plastic. Sorry, bioceramic.

Everything aligned for people to use the latest and incredibly capable AI image generation tools to create fake Swatch Royal Pop images.

What’s interesting is that the mobile leak landscape has been changing, and this may be the shape of things to come for tech fans, too.

Take the recent retirement announcement by well-known device leaker Evan Blass, AKA @evleaks.

While he states health and financial reasons for his departure, it’s hard not to imagine his trademark leaked images may not hold the same appeal today, as they did when he started more than a decade ago.

What we’re seeing with the Royal Pop may be what we’ll see more of for the Google Pixel 11, Samsung Galaxy S27, and the folding iPhone.

Artist’s (and I use the word loosely) impressions, which leave nothing to the imagination, and may end up being better looking than the real thing.

I’ll miss the good old days when all the hints about a product came from a render created from a case manufacturer’s specs, a phone left in a bar, or an early prototype sold on eBay.

The Swatch and Audemars Piguet Royal Pop watch will be released on May 16, and the queues outside stores have already started, meaning Swatch executives won’t be all that worried about generative AI at the moment.

We, as consumers and tech fans, should be a little more conscious of it.