Google Removes Visible Watermarks from AI-Generated Content

In response to user feedback, Google has introduced a new feature that allows users to remove visible watermarks from images, videos, and music created with its AI tools. The update affects content generated using the Gemini platform and Flow, an AI video generator.

While this change may make it more challenging for users to identify whether an image or video is AI-generated at first glance, Google’s SynthID and C2PA watermarks will still be embedded in the background of these files. These invisible markers can be verified by asking Gemini or Search if a piece of content has been generated using AI.

The visible watermark that was previously applied to content created with the Nano Banana and Omni models is now optional, but users should note that this setting won’t affect the presence of SynthID and C2PA watermarks. According to Josh Woodward, vice president of Google Labs, Gemini, and AI Studio, these invisible markers will remain in place.

This move aligns with other major players in the field, such as OpenAI and Meta’s image generators, which also don’t apply visible watermarks. Instead, they rely on SynthID and C2PA to signal whether content is AI-generated. Anthropic has recently announced that it will be applying invisible watermarks to both text and images generated using its tools.

Google plans to roll out this new watermark setting to Search as well, but the feature won’t be available in countries where visible watermarks are required by law.