Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash AI Faces Backlash Over Watermark Removal Capabilities

The experimental AI model can remove watermarks from copyrighted images, raising legal and ethical concerns about intellectual property misuse.

Gemini 2.0 Flash, available through Google's AI Studio, can remove watermarks from images with high precision, including complex overlays.
The model is labeled as 'experimental' and accessible only to developers, but its lack of safeguards has drawn criticism.
Removing watermarks without permission violates U.S. copyright law and Google's terms of service, yet the feature remains active.
Other AI models, such as OpenAI's GPT-4o and Anthropic's Claude, explicitly refuse to perform watermark removal to prevent misuse.
Google has stated it is monitoring feedback but has not implemented additional protections to address the growing concerns.