Google Photos to Use SynthID to Mark AI-Generated Images

Starting this week, Google Photos will begin using SynthID, a technology that embeds an imperceptible, digital watermark directly into AI-generated images, audio, text, or video, to mark images edited with generative AI using Reimagine in Magic Editor. You may have already seen SynthID used to watermark images created entirely by AI — like those made by Google’s text-to-image model, Imagen. This helps people identify AI-generated content quickly and easily.

How SynthID Works

In some cases, edits made using Reimagine may be too small for SynthID to label and detect — like if you change the color of a small flower in the background of an image. To learn more, you can use "About this image," which shows if a SynthID watermark is present as well as an image’s metadata.

Ongoing Efforts for Transparency

We’ll continue gathering feedback and evaluating additional solutions for our users, while finding more ways to improve transparency around AI edits in Google Photos.