Google just made AI watermarks optional, setting off a transparency war
google made ai watermarks optional in gemini, dropping visible 'sparkle' markers while keeping syntheid and c2pa metadata. this shift aligns google with openai and meta, prioritizing invisible signals over obvious indicators.
google introduced a setting to disable visible watermarks on content generated by gemini and its flow video tool, removing the 'sparkle' icon previously mandatory for ai outputs. despite this, vice president josh woodward confirmed that invisible syntheid and c2pa metadata will persist, allowing verification via google search. the update aligns google with openai and meta, which depend on invisible markers rather than visible stamps. google plans to extend this toggle to search, though it will remain disabled where laws mandate visible labeling.