Google lets users disable visible AI watermark while keeping invisible tag

Google announced on Friday that it will let users turn off the visible watermark that is embedded by default in images, videos and songs generated by its models. The option applies to Nano Banana, Omni and Lyria, and the new setting will appear in Gemini, in the video editor Flow and later also in Search. The invisible watermark SynthID and the metadata in the C2PA standard will remain always active.

Josh Woodward, vice president for Gemini, explained in a post on X that the change is intended to balance between creative control and transparency. Visible watermarks have interfered with professional and creative work, covering part of the frame, limiting commercial use and making further editing harder. Users will now be able to disable them via Settings > Media Watermark, but the hidden identification layer will continue to let Gemini and Search recognise that the content is AI-generated.

At the same time Google is launching Credentio, an open-source library that enables developers to embed a local verification mechanism in their applications. Rather than relying solely on a central server that checks metadata, an app can verify itself whether a file carries a valid SynthID signature. This shortens response times, works offline and reduces dependence on external infrastructure, a significant advantage for tools designed to run on edge devices.

The move follows criticism of Anthropic after it added a textual watermark and files to the outputs of Claude to meet European regulatory requirements. Google is taking the opposite approach: it keeps the technical identification mandatory, but removes the visual barrier that kept professional creators away. The contrast reflects two philosophies—forced enforcement versus a transparent infrastructure that users can build upon.

For photographers, video editors and musicians the immediate implication is that AI-generated outputs can be placed into final formats without blurring or cropping a watermark. For developers, Credentio opens a path to build workflows that verify provenance without a network call for each operation. The open question is how quickly the standard will be adopted by distribution platforms and social networks; without broad adoption, the invisible identification layer remains a Google-internal tool only.