Technology Apr 14, 2026 · 1 min read

Has Google’s AI watermarking system been reverse-engineered?

A software developer claims to have reverse-engineered Google DeepMind's SynthID system, showing how AI watermarks can be stripped from generated images or manually inserted into other works. A claim that, according to Google, isn't true. The developer, going by the username Aloshdenny, has open-sou...

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The Verge
by Jess Weatherbed
Has Google’s AI watermarking system been reverse-engineered?
A mannequin’s face covered in pixels.

A software developer claims to have reverse-engineered Google DeepMind's SynthID system, showing how AI watermarks can be stripped from generated images or manually inserted into other works. A claim that, according to Google, isn't true.

The developer, going by the username Aloshdenny, has open-sourced their work on GitHub and documented his process, claiming all it required was 200 Gemini-generated images, signal processing, and "way too much free time." A little weed also seemed to help.

"No neural networks. No proprietary access," Aloshdenny said on Medium. "Turns out if you're unemployed and average enough 'pure black' AI-generated im …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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This article was originally published by The Verge and written by Jess Weatherbed.

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