Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
Google has expanded access to its SynthID Detector, allowing people worldwide to check images, videos and audio files for signs of artificial intelligence-generated content, as concerns grow over how to identify AI-created media online. The tool is now available globally in English, enabling users to check whether media was generated using AI tools from Google and its partners, including OpenAI, NVIDIA and Kakao, with Apple expected to join soon. Pushmeet Kohli, Vice-President of Science and Strategic Initiatives at Google DeepMind, disclosed the expansion in a statement published on the company’s blog on October 7, 2026.
“As AI tools become better and easier to use, having clear context about the content you encounter online helps you make informed decisions about what to trust,” Kohli said. Google introduced SynthID in 2023 to help identify AI-generated media through imperceptible watermarks embedded in images, videos and audio. According to Kohli, the technology has so far been used to watermark more than 180 billion images and videos, as well as 240,000 years of audio content. “To date, we’ve watermarked over 180 billion images and videos, along with 240,000 years of audio content,” he said. The expansion follows Google’s introduction of an early version of the SynthID Detector last year, which was designed to help media professionals verify AI-generated content. “Last year, we introduced an early version of the SynthID Detector to help media professionals verify AI-generated content. Now, we’re expanding access to everyone – with the tool available globally in English starting today,” Kohli said.
The detector allows users to submit images, videos or audio files to check for indications that they were created using supported AI systems. “With the new SynthID Detector, anyone can easily check if an image, video, or audio file was made with AI from Google or our partners, including OpenAI, NVIDIA, Kakao, and soon, Apple,” Kohli said. The tool is available through SynthID Detector and complements existing verification features available in Google’s Search service, Gemini application and Chrome browser. According to Kohli, those features now handle more than one million requests daily. “This tool joins our built-in verification features in Search, the Gemini app, and Chrome, which now regularly handle over 1 million requests daily,” he said. He added that the initiative was intended to provide users with more information about the media they encounter online. “It’s all part of our ongoing work to give you more context about the media you see online, so you can navigate the web with confidence,” Kohli said.
The expansion comes as AI-generated images, videos and audio become increasingly common across digital platforms, making it more important for users to establish the origins of media they encounter. Concerns have grown over the use of synthetic media to impersonate individuals, spread misleading information and facilitate online fraud. In Nigeria, fabricated videos of public figures, including Arise News anchors, have featured in financial scams, highlighting the risks posed by manipulated digital content. Regulators and technology companies are exploring ways to identify such material and protect individuals from its misuse. Google’s decision to open the detector to the public is part of a broader industry effort to provide tools that help users navigate an increasingly complex information environment.
The tool is not without limitations. The public detector requires authentication and limits users to approximately 10 media checks daily, a restriction Google says helps prevent the development of watermark-removal tools. A negative result does not establish that media is authentic, as providers may use other watermarking technologies or none at all, and locally operated open-weight models can generate unlabeled content. Security teams and researchers have cautioned that SynthID should be treated as one verification signal rather than a universal AI-content detector, with cryptographic provenance technologies such as C2PA offering a complementary approach to authenticating media at creation.
The expansion has been welcomed by media professionals and researchers who have long sought accessible tools to verify digital content. The early version of the SynthID Detector, launched for journalists and media professionals, was praised for providing a reliable method of checking whether images and videos carried Google’s watermark. The public rollout extends that capability to anyone with a Google, Apple or ChatGPT account, enabling broader participation in the fight against misinformation. Apple’s forthcoming support is particularly significant, as the company announced at its fall event that it would integrate SynthID into its AI content, and testing has already shown that the detector can identify SynthID tags in images edited with Apple’s tools.
For Nigerians, the expansion of the SynthID Detector offers a practical resource in a media environment where AI-generated content is increasingly used to deceive. The country has seen a rise in AI-generated political content, including manipulated videos and images circulating on social media ahead of the 2027 general elections. The Independent National Electoral Commission has warned that the misuse of AI to create and spread manipulated content is no longer a distant risk, and the National Peace Committee has recorded election-related incidents involving misinformation. Access to a free, globally available tool that can help citizens verify the authenticity of images and videos is a modest but meaningful addition to the arsenal against disinformation.
Google has said it will continue to work with partners to expand detection coverage and improve the tool’s accuracy. The company’s spokesperson emphasised that working with other companies is crucial when it comes to identifying AI-generated content because no single company can solve the problem alone. As AI tools become more accessible and sophisticated, the ability to distinguish between authentic and synthetic media will become an increasingly important skill for citizens, journalists and policymakers alike. Google’s decision to open its detector to the world is a recognition that the challenge cannot be met by experts alone and that the public must be equipped with the tools to make informed decisions about what they see online.
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