Google opens SynthID Detector to everyone worldwide, English only for now

01 What happened

Google is opening SynthID Detector to all users. An earlier version was limited to media professionals. From October 7, 2026, the tool is available globally in English. The announcement does not state a price.

02 Key details

• From October 7, 2026, SynthID Detector is available globally in English. An earlier version was limited to media professionals. The announcement does not state pricing.
• The tool checks whether an image, video or audio file was made with AI from Google or partners including OpenAI, NVIDIA and Kakao. Apple is named as a future partner and is not yet connected.
• Google says it has watermarked over 180 billion images and videos and 240,000 years of audio since launching SynthID in 2023. This cumulative company claim is not independently verified.
• Google says its AI-content verification in Search, the Gemini app and Chrome regularly handles over 1 million requests daily. No measurement period is stated.

03 Why it matters

For newsrooms, researchers and everyday users, checking whether media came from AI becomes easier. The detector, however, covers only content marked by participating generators, so a missing watermark does not prove a file was made by a human.

04 Who it matters to

Journalists, editors, researchers and general users.