Google has launched a new SynthID website that lets anyone verify whether a piece of media was generated using AI. The tool checks images, videos, and audio clips for AI watermarks. Until now, access was limited to select journalists, media professionals, and researchers who tested it at Google I/O last year. The SynthID website is now open to everyone.
If you have ever wondered whether a photo, video, or voice clip was made by AI, this tool gives you a direct way to check. It supports a broad range of common file formats, so you can test the media you already have on your device.
What File Types the SynthID Website Supports
Before uploading a file, it helps to know what the SynthID website can read. The tool supports the following formats:
Images:
JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP, WEBP, AVIF, HEIC, HEIF, TIFF, TIF, and GIF
Videos:
MP4, MOV, and WEBM
Audio:
WAV, MP3, OGG, FLAC, AAC, and M4A
That list covers the formats most people run into daily, from phone photos and screenshots to screen recordings and voice notes. You do not need to convert your files before checking them.
How the SynthID Website Detects AI-Generated Media
The SynthID website relies on SynthID, a watermarking technology Google introduced in 2023. Instead of guessing based on visual clues, SynthID embeds a digital watermark into content at the moment it is created. When you upload a file, the SynthID website looks for that embedded signal.
Several Google models and tools use SynthID to watermark any media they generate. These include:
Nano Banana
Veo
Lyria
Gemini
Flow
ProducerAI
Vids
Because the watermark is applied during generation, the SynthID website can detect it later during verification. This approach is more reliable than analyzing a file after the fact, since the signal travels with the content itself.
Who Else Supports SynthID
Google is not the only company backing this standard. OpenAI, Nvidia, and Kakao also support SynthID. OpenAI maintains its own site for checking content, and Apple is said to be adding support soon.
A watermarking standard becomes more useful as more companies adopt it. When multiple platforms embed and read SynthID signals, verification works across a wider range of tools and apps. That makes the SynthID website more effective for everyday users, not just researchers.
Where You Can Already Verify Content
You may not need to visit the SynthID website at all to check a file. Google has baked SynthID verification into the Gemini app and Google Chrome. That means verification is available inside tools people already use every day.
According to Google, people currently make 1 million requests to verify content every day. That number shows AI detection has moved from a niche research task to a routine step for regular users.
The Limits of AI Watermarking Tools
It is important to be clear about what these tools can and cannot do. Microsoft and Meta have their own standards for watermarking and verifying content. However, these tools are not infallible, often failing to identify content created by their makers’ models.
A result from any verification tool should be treated as one piece of evidence, not a final verdict. Watermarks can be stripped, files can be re-encoded, and detection systems can miss content they were designed to catch. The SynthID website is a strong starting point, but it is not a perfect solution.
Why a Public SynthID Website Matters
Opening the SynthID website to everyone lowers the barrier to checking whether media is authentic. Journalists, editors, researchers, and ordinary users can now run a quick verification without needing special access.
As AI-generated images, videos, and audio become more common, having a free public tool to check them is a meaningful step. It will not solve the problem of misinformation on its own, but it gives people a straightforward way to ask a basic question: was this made by AI?
The SynthID website puts AI media detection in anyone’s hands. It supports common image, video, and audio formats, draws on SynthID watermarking used across Google’s own models, and is backed by other major companies. The technology has real limits, but as a free public verification tool, the SynthID website is a useful addition to the fight against misleading AI content.
