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Google SynthID embeds an imperceptible, machine-detectable signal in content made or edited by supported Google AI systems. A SynthID check can provide evidence that such a signal is present, but it cannot identify every AI-generated file or prove that content without a detected watermark was made by a person.

What Google SynthID does

SynthID is Google DeepMind’s provenance system: it adds a signal when supported AI systems generate content, so compatible tools can look for that signal later. The watermark is designed to be imperceptible to people. It is not a visible badge or a universal test for whether something was made with AI.

Google documents SynthID for text, images, audio and video. Which content can be checked depends on the supported Google model and the verification tool; coverage should not be assumed to extend to every Google product or every file format.

How SynthID adds a watermark

Text

For text, SynthID Text works during generation rather than adding a label afterward. Google’s developer description says it processes token-selection scores in the generation pipeline after top-k and top-p sampling. A pseudorandom function guides subtle changes to which tokens are selected, creating a statistical signal that a detector can later assess while aiming to preserve the text’s meaning and quality.

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Detection is more useful on longer, varied writing—such as an essay, script or several email variations—than on a short, formulaic phrase. The signal is not a separate string of characters that a reader can spot or remove.

Images and video

For generated images and video, SynthID embeds the watermark in the visual signal itself. Google says it is intended to remain detectable after common changes such as cropping, filters, frame-rate changes and lossy compression. That design goal does not guarantee detection after every edit or in every file.

Audio

Audio watermarking is designed to be inaudible while remaining detectable by compatible software. As with visual content, whether a check is possible depends on the audio and the supported verification route.

How to check a file with SynthID

Google has described consumer checks in Gemini and a SynthID Detector portal. Gemini’s documented checks cover supported images, video and audio; Google has also described a Google Cloud AI Content Detection API direction. Access, eligible formats, quotas, file-size limits, regional availability and account requirements can change, so check the current Google product documentation for the route available to you.

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  1. Choose a supported route. Use Gemini for a supported consumer check, or the SynthID Detector portal if it is available to you. Developer and enterprise use may follow separate tooling and access requirements.
  2. Submit the original file when possible. Avoid re-exporting or editing it first; extra transformations can make a signal harder to detect.
  3. Read the result narrowly. A detected watermark indicates the relevant SynthID signal was found. It does not establish that every part of a composite file came from Google AI.

For video, Google says Gemini examines both audio and visual tracks and can identify segments containing Google-AI-generated elements. Segment-level findings matter: a clip may mix generated material with footage, narration or edits from other sources.

What a positive or negative result means

If SynthID is detected

A positive result is evidence of a supported Google SynthID signal in the content or the identified segment. It supports a provenance claim within that scope; by itself, it does not prove who created the file, when it was made, whether it was edited afterward, or that all of its contents were generated by AI.

If SynthID is not detected

A missing signal is inconclusive. The content may have come from a system SynthID does not cover, the relevant watermark may be absent or unsupported, or edits may have weakened it. A negative result is not proof of human authorship.

Google describes text detection as robust to cropping, small word edits and mild paraphrasing, but also documents limits. Short outputs, translation, heavier rewriting and other transformations can reduce detectability. No universal accuracy percentage is established here, so a detector result should not be treated as a definitive authorship verdict.

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Can SynthID detect ChatGPT or other AI tools?

Not as a general-purpose AI detector. SynthID is designed to recognize supported Google or participating-provider signals, not to determine whether any arbitrary text, image, audio clip or video came from an AI system. OpenAI’s provenance documentation also states that SynthID is not designed to detect content generated by other AI services.

That distinction matters when checking a file: a detector that reports no Google watermark has answered a narrower question than “Was this made with AI?” It has not ruled out other generators, an unsupported Google workflow or a signal that is no longer detectable.

How to assess SynthID for a real use case

For an organization evaluating provenance checks, the useful questions are about scope and workflow, not simply whether a detector returns a result:

  • Coverage: Which modalities, formats and Google products are supported for the specific check?
  • Durability: Which transformations has Google described as compatible, and what kinds of edits might degrade detection?
  • Attribution: Does the tool report a Google signal, a participating provider’s signal, or something broader?
  • Access: Is the check available through Gemini, a detector portal, developer tooling or an enterprise API?
  • Interpretation: Does it return a simple detection result, confidence information or segment-level findings?
  • Operations: What file limits, quotas, regional rollout and account requirements apply?

These details determine whether a check fits a consumer verification task, a content-review process or a technical integration. Availability and commercial terms can vary, so confirm them with the current product documentation rather than assuming one access path or policy applies everywhere.

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