Google now lets users toggle off visible watermarks from AI-generated content

Google just made a subtle but meaningful concession to the millions of people using its AI tools to generate images, videos, and music. Users can now toggle off the visible “sparkle” watermark that appears in the bottom-right corner of content created with Gemini and Flow, Google’s AI video generator. The catch: invisible watermarks aren’t going anywhere. Every piece of AI-generated content will still carry SynthID invisible watermarks and C2PA metadata embedded in the background, whether you want them there or not. What’s actually changing The new setting lives in the Gemini app under Settings > Media Watermark. The toggle also works in Flow, Google’s dedicated AI video tool. Josh Woodward, VP of Google Labs, Gemini, and AI Studio, framed the update as a balance between user preferences and content integrity. The visible branding is now optional. The invisible verification layer is not. That invisible layer does real work. SynthID embeds imperceptible signals into generated media that survive screenshots, crops, and format conversions. C2PA Content Credentials, meanwhile, attach metadata about how and when the content was created. Together, they let anyone with the right tools,...