Google Opens SynthID Detector to Everyone to Check AI-Made Media
Google has opened its SynthID Detector to everyone. The free website checks whether an image, video, or audio file carries Google’s SynthID watermark, a hidden signal its AI tools add to what they create. Available globally in English starting Wednesday, the tool flags media made with AI from Google and its partners OpenAI, Nvidia, and Kakao. Support for Apple is coming “soon,” according to Google.
From journalists to everyone
Google initially launched an early version of the detector in May 2025, for journalists, media professionals, and researchers. Since 2023, it has watermarked over 180 billion images and videos with SynthID, along with 240,000 years of audio. Its checks in Search, the Gemini app, and Chrome now handle more than one million requests a day.
Using the site requires signing in with a Google, OpenAI, or Apple account, as reported by Engadget.
What it cannot tell you
The detector only finds the SynthID watermark. Other companies use different standards, so it cannot catch all AI-generated content. Watermarks can also be stripped in some cases. A result also does not say whether a file was made entirely with AI or only edited with it. Google’s sample result states that media “was made or edited with Google AI” and warns the file may have changed since.
Meta runs its own checker for images from its Muse Image models. In July, Reuters found that Meta’s tool missed its own cropped fakes. This week, OpenAI also began watermarking ChatGPT text in the EU.