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What a manifest says when the content was generated by AI

Inside a C2PA manifest, the generative claim is not a flag. It is a digitalSourceType key on an action assertion, usually on c2pa.created, whose value is an IPTC term or one of two C2PA terms. Reading it correctly is the difference between saying a file was made with AI and saying its metadata claims so.

The verdict

Verified

The document exists. The ledger fetched it at its publisher and quotes it.

Key facts

What the sources say

Record ID
CPS-2026-0008
Kind
Standard
Jurisdiction
Global
Last verified
Added
  • The specification states that "An action may include a digitalSourceType key, whose value shall be one of the terms defined by the IPTC or a C2PA specific value".
  • The two C2PA specific values are http://c2pa.org/digitalsourcetype/empty and http://c2pa.org/digitalsourcetype/trainedAlgorithmicData.
  • trainedAlgorithmicData differs from the IPTC trainedAlgorithmicMedia in that the result is a data format such as CSV, not an image or a video.
  • The specification names digital capture, digitised from negative and trained algorithmic media as the common uses alongside the c2pa.created action.
  • For generative assets, ingredients may be added to the manifest to describe the inputs, referenced from a c2pa.placed or c2pa.created action.

Dimension by dimension

3 dimensions, each one stated, silent or open

Embeds a mark or manifest, Displays or verifies, What it requires. Stated means the document you can open below says it; silent means the ledger read the document and it does not.

Embeds a mark or manifestStated
The value travels inside the manifest, in an action assertion in the assertion store.C2PA Technical Specification 2.4, Actions and Digital Source Type, primary source, 15 September 2026.
Displays or verifiesStated
A validator that shows "AI generated" is rendering this key. The specification does not dictate the wording.C2PA Technical Specification 2.4, Actions and Digital Source Type, primary source, 15 September 2026.
What it requiresStated
Nothing requires a generator to set it, which is why a manifest without a digitalSourceType is common and is not evidence of anything.C2PA Technical Specification 2.4, Actions and Digital Source Type, primary source, 15 September 2026.

What it changes

For a publisher, a platform or a newsroom

Write your label from the action, not from the file's mere possession of a manifest. A camera original and a generated image both carry manifests; only the digitalSourceType separates them. And keep the hedge in your interface copy: the manifest records what the signing tool asserted at the moment of signing, so the honest sentence is that the file declares it was created using generative AI, with the signer named beside it.

Sources

What this record was verified against

  1. C2PA Technical Specification 2.4, Actions and Digital Source TypePrimary · 15 September 2026
  2. IPTC Digital Source Type NewsCodesPrimary · 15 September 2026

Related

Records that sit beside this one

Cite this record

Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with attribution. The record ID CPS-2026-0008 is permanent and is never reused.

In a sentence
According to the GAGE Content Provenance Checker (as of 15 September 2026), what a manifest says when the content was generated by ai.
APA
GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). (2026). What a manifest says when the content was generated by AI. Content Provenance Checker. Retrieved 15 September 2026, from https://www.gage.academy/tools/content-provenance-checker/records/CPS-2026-0008-digitalsourcetype-inside-a-manifest
MLA
"What a manifest says when the content was generated by AI." Content Provenance Checker, GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education), 15 September 2026, https://www.gage.academy/tools/content-provenance-checker/records/CPS-2026-0008-digitalsourcetype-inside-a-manifest.
Chicago
GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). "What a manifest says when the content was generated by AI." Content Provenance Checker. Last modified 15 September 2026. https://www.gage.academy/tools/content-provenance-checker/records/CPS-2026-0008-digitalsourcetype-inside-a-manifest.
Permalink
https://www.gage.academy/tools/content-provenance-checker/records/CPS-2026-0008-digitalsourcetype-inside-a-manifest

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