Google Gemini now allows users to remove visible watermarks from images, videos, and music created with its AI tools. A new “Media watermark” setting can be toggled off within Gemini and Google’s AI video generator, Flow.
When the setting is switched off, Google removes the “sparkle” watermark that appears in the bottom-right corner of content generated with the company’s Nano Banana and Omni models. Although the visible marker is now optional, AI-generated content still carries protections in the background.
Invisible markers remain in place
According to Josh Woodward, vice president of Google Labs, Gemini, and AI Studio, AI-generated content will continue to include invisible SynthID watermarks and C2PA metadata embedded behind the scenes. As a result, users can still verify whether a piece of content carries one of these markers by asking Gemini or Search whether it was AI-generated.
The change may make it harder to quickly identify whether an image or video was produced by AI, though many users have already been editing out visible watermarks. The “Media watermark” option can be found within Gemini’s settings menu.
How rivals handle AI labelling
Other AI image generators, including those from OpenAI and Meta, also do not apply visible watermarks. OpenAI relies on SynthID and C2PA to signal whether something is AI-generated, while Meta introduced its own Content Seal standard. Anthropic also announced this week that it is applying invisible watermarks to both AI-generated text and images.
Google plans to roll out the new watermark setting to Search as well. However, the toggle will not launch in countries that require visible watermarks.
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Image: theverge.com
