Google lets users turn off visible watermarks on AI media

In short: Google is adding a setting that lets people remove the visible watermark from media made with its AI tools.

What happened

Google said users will now be able to turn off the visible watermark on AI-generated images, videos, and songs. A visible watermark is a mark you can see on the file, like a stamped logo on a photo.

Josh Woodward, Google’s VP for Gemini, said the option will be available for outputs made with its Nano Banana, Omni, and Lyria models. The toggle will show up in the Gemini app and in Google’s video editor called Flow, with support for Google Search planned soon.

Google also said this change will not remove its invisible SynthID watermark or C2PA-related metadata. Invisible watermarking and metadata are like a hidden label attached to a file, not meant to be seen, but meant to help identify where it came from.

The feature is expected to roll out over the coming days. Once it arrives, users can go to Settings, then Media Watermark, and switch the visible mark on or off.

Google also announced it is open-sourcing a tool called Credentio to help developers add local checks in their apps to validate C2PA content credentials.

Why it matters

Visible watermarks can make AI-made content harder to use in real projects, especially for designers, video editors, and musicians who want clean final files. At the same time, many people want clear ways to spot AI-made media, so Google is leaning more on hidden labels that can still be checked later.

Source: TechCrunch AI