AI news · Google · provenance
Google opens its SynthID AI media detector to everyone
Anyone can now upload an image, video or audio file to check for the watermark Google, OpenAI, Nvidia and Kakao use.
Google opened SynthID Detector to everyone on Tuesday 6 October 2026, in English and worldwide, TechCrunch reports. In its announcement, Google describes the site as a check on whether an image, video or audio file carries SynthID. SynthID is the invisible watermark Google has added to AI output since 2023. Until now only selected journalists, media professionals and researchers could use it.
The detector reads marks from Google’s own models and from partners: OpenAI, Nvidia and Kakao, with Apple to follow, Google says. Google says it has marked more than 180 billion images and videos and 240,000 years of audio so far. Its checks built into Search, the Gemini app and Chrome already handle more than a million requests a day.
TechCrunch lists the formats: 11 image types including JPG, PNG, WEBP and HEIC, MP4, MOV and WEBM video, and six audio formats. It names Nano Banana, Veo and Lyria among the models that mark their output. TechCrunch also notes that Microsoft and Meta run their own watermark standards, and that those tools are not infallible.
For brands running AI-made ads, anyone can now upload a creative and see whether it carries the mark. A clean result proves little, since content from tools outside the scheme carries no SynthID at all.
Sources
- Google: Google expands SynthID Detector for AI content. Checked
- TechCrunch: Google’s new SynthID website can identify AI-generated media. Checked
Alexandre S.
Alexandre S. is a creative ad strategist and copywriter with ten years' experience in digital marketing across multiple channels.