Google Opens SynthID Detector Website to All Users Worldwide

Google introduced SynthID in 2023 as an invisible watermark embedded in AI-generated media. The company's Nano Banana, Veo and Lyria models, as well as tools with generation capabilities including Gemini, Flow, ProducerAI and Vids, use SynthID to mark content they produce, according to TechCrunch. The detector supports image formats including JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP, WEBP, AVIF, HEIC, HEIF, TIFF, TIF and GIF; video formats MP4, MOV and WEBM; and audio formats WAV, MP3, OGG, FLAC, AAC and M4A.

The portal can detect SynthID watermarks created by Google, OpenAI, NVIDIA and Kakao, Android Authority reported. Apple support is coming soon, according to Google, and the site will be among the first AI detection tools able to identify images created with Apple's AI features such as Image Playground. OpenAI also maintains its own verification site, while Microsoft and Meta have separate watermarking and verification standards.

Engadget reported that SynthID Detector is free to use but requires users to log in with a Google, OpenAI or Apple account. Google has also built SynthID verification into the Gemini app and Google Chrome, and TechCrunch reported that people make 1 million requests to verify content every day. Ars Technica reported that Gemini alone has integrated SynthID with more than 180 billion images and videos, plus 240,000 years of audio. Until now, people outside Google's trusted tester program could check for SynthID mainly by asking Gemini.

There are limits. Google's detector cannot identify all AI-generated content because companies use different watermarking standards, and watermarks can be stripped in some situations, Engadget reported. The website also does not distinguish between content that was entirely AI-created and content that was merely edited with AI, so it does not explain how a file was made or which parts are synthetic. Detection tools are not infallible and often fail to identify content created by their makers' models, TechCrunch reported. Meta has experimented with its own web tool that can identify images from its latest Muse Image models but not from other companies or its own earlier models, Engadget reported.

Google has said ElevenLabs committed to adding support for SynthID, and the company says on its website that it is continuously working to extend partnerships so more generated media can be detected. Android Authority noted that the presence of SynthID watermarks almost guarantees that a media file was generated by AI, but the patchwork of standards means no universal checker exists.