Google: SynthID watermarking, the SynthID Detector, and C2PA in Pixel and Photos

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

Record ID

CPS-2026-0010

Kind

Platform or model provider

Jurisdiction

United States

Last verified

15 September 2026

Added

15 September 2026

• Google states that "SynthID embeds digital watermarks directly into AI-generated images, audio, text or video" and that the watermarks are imperceptible to humans.
• For images and video the watermark is "designed to stand up to modifications like cropping, adding filters, changing frame rates, or lossy compression".
• For audio, Google says the watermark is inaudible and "can't be altered by common modifications like adding noise, MP3 compression, or changing the speed of the track".
• SynthID Detector is a verification portal for images, audio, video and text made with Google AI; Google says it is working with journalists and media professionals to test it, with a waitlist.
• A user can also upload media to Gemini and ask whether it carries a SynthID watermark.
• In the C2PA conforming products list, Google LLC entries include Pixel Camera and Google Photos for Android and for iOS, all assessed against specification version 2.2 and generating image/jpeg.

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

SynthID watermarks across Google generative products, and C2PA manifests from Pixel Camera and Google Photos.SynthID, Google DeepMind, primary source, 15 September 2026.

Displays or verifiesStated

The SynthID Detector portal, and a SynthID check inside Gemini.SynthID Detector, Google, primary source, 15 September 2026.

What it requiresSilent

Nothing is required of a user or a publisher. These are product behaviours Google describes on its own pages.SynthID, Google DeepMind, primary source, 15 September 2026.

1. 47 products

   Google entries on the C2PA conforming products list

   C2PA conforming products list, primary source, as of 15 September 2026.

Treat these as two different questions. A SynthID check answers "did Google AI make this", and only for Google's own models; a C2PA check answers "what does this file's manifest declare, and who signed it". A newsroom that conflates them will over read a negative result. Note also that Pixel Camera signing is a capture claim, not an AI claim, which is exactly the distinction a reader will not make unless your interface makes it for them.

1. SynthID, Google DeepMindPrimary · 15 September 2026
2. SynthID Detector, GooglePrimary · 15 September 2026
3. C2PA conforming products listPrimary · 15 September 2026

• VerifiedPlatform or model providerCPS-2026-0009

  OpenAI: Content Credentials, SynthID and a verification tool

  United States · verified 15 September 2026

  OpenAI states it began adding Content Credentials to DALL-E 3 images in 2024 and later to ImageGen and Sora, and joined the C2PA steering committee.

• VerifiedStandardCPS-2026-0003

  The C2PA conformance programme, the trust list and the conforming products list

  Global · verified 15 September 2026

  The programme holds generator products, validator products and certification authorities to the specification, the Certificate Policy and the Security Requirements.

• Open questionOpen questionCPS-2026-0026

  Does a watermark survive re encoding?

  Global · verified 15 September 2026

  Google states that the image and video watermark is "designed to stand up to modifications like cropping, adding filters, changing frame rates, or lossy compression".

• VerifiedBinding lawCPS-2026-0024

  The COPIED Act, S. 1396 in the 119th Congress

  United States · verified 15 September 2026

  The bill's long title is "To require transparency with respect to content and content provenance information, to protect artistic content, and for other purposes".

• AbsentBinding lawCPS-2026-0023

  The TAKE IT DOWN Act requires no provenance mark

  United States · verified 15 September 2026

  The Act is Public Law 119-12, enacted 19 May 2025, from S. 146, titled the Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act.

• VerifiedBinding lawCPS-2026-0020

  The California AI Transparency Act, SB 942 as amended by AB 853

  United States · verified 15 September 2026

  SB 942 requires a covered provider to include a latent disclosure conveying the provider's name, the system name and version, the time and date of creation or alteration, and a unique identifier.