---
title: "Watermarking"
description: "Embedding a signal in generated content (image, audio, video or text) that a detector can later read to identify it as AI-generated."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/watermarking
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-25
---

# Watermarking

Embedding a signal in generated content (image, audio, video or text) that a detector can later read to identify it as AI-generated. The AI Act asks providers of generative systems for machine-readable, detectable marking [1]; NIST reviews watermarking alongside provenance tracking and detection [2]. Marks can degrade under ordinary transformations, so their survival is tested.

- Developed in: [ch. 18, Transparency cases (Article 50)](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/eu-ai-act#transparency-cases-article-50)
- Chapters: [ch. 18, EU AI Act](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/eu-ai-act) · [ch. 20, Existing Law](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/existing-law)
- Contrast with: [Content provenance (C2PA)](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/content-provenance-c2pa) · [Latent disclosure](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/latent-disclosure)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-watermarking

## Sources

[1] Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), consolidated text as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI, in force 27 Jul 2026; definitions in Art. 3, incl. 3(1), 3(3) to 3(14), 3(14b), 3(20), 3(22), 3(23), 3(29) to 3(32), 3(49), 3(55) to 3(57), 3(60), 3(61), 3(63), 3(68); Arts. 4, 5, 6 (incl. 6(3) third subparagraph, profiling), 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 22 to 27 (incl. 26(11)), 40, 41, 43, 47, 48, 50, 53 (incl. 53(1)(c)), 55, 57, 60, 72, 73, 86; Annexes I, III, IV). Publications Office of the EU (EUR-Lex). 2026-07-27. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/2026-07-27/eng (verified: primary)
[2] NIST AI 100-4, Reducing Risks Posed by Synthetic Content: An Overview of Technical Approaches to Digital Content Transparency (provenance data tracking, watermarking, metadata recording and synthetic-content detection). NIST. 2024-11-20. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AI.100-4 (verified: primary)