# Google opens SynthID to detect AI content, but the tool has limitations

- Published: 2026-10-09T16:30:27.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-11T22:05:12.088Z
- Section: AI in practice
- Topics: Creation
- Page: https://aidailyjournal.com/en/n/2026/10/09/google-opens-synthid-to-detect-ai-content-but-the-tool-has-limitations/
- Sources: [Xataka](https://xataka.com/servicios/google-abre-synthid-para-comprobar-imagen-video-audio-ia-no-problema-que-placebo)

## Summary

Google has made SynthID available to the public for checking images, videos and audio for an invisible watermark added at generation time. Google says the system has already marked more than 180 billion images and videos and more than 240,000 years of audio. The service can be accessed on its official website or through Gemini, but limits videos to under 90 seconds and offers about 20 queries per day.

Xataka highlights that SynthID is not a universal standard: it cannot read markers from incompatible tools and therefore cannot determine whether content was created with them. The technology is designed to withstand cropping, compression, noise and speed changes, but markers can be removed or degraded. OpenAI, which uses a tool based on Google’s technology, also acknowledges that metadata and watermarks may be manipulated or absent from older models. Adobe, Meta and the C2PA initiative offer similar alternatives.

## Why it matters (editorial interpretation)

Public access may help verify content marked by SynthID, but the coverage emphasizes that its result is not universal proof of origin: incompatible tools and missing, degraded or manipulated markers remain outside the system’s reach. In practice, verification requires accounting for these limits and alternatives such as C2PA.

_Summary written by AI Daily Journal in its own words, based on the sources above. For details, read the original articles._