Anthropic says it will watermark text generated by its AI models

TechCrunch AI News

Summary

Anthropic announced it will watermark text generated by its AI models, including Claude, to comply with the EU AI Act's transparency obligations. The watermark is applied at the model level, persists through copy-paste, and uses C2PA for files.

Anthropic will extend support for watermarking AI generations for older models as well.
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Cached at: 08/12/26, 08:18 AM

# Anthropic says it will watermark text generated by its AI models | TechCrunch Source: [https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/11/anthropic-says-it-will-watermark-text-generated-by-its-ai-models/](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/11/anthropic-says-it-will-watermark-text-generated-by-its-ai-models/) Anthropic will watermark text generated by its models, including Claude, to comply with European regulations, the company now says\. The AI model maker confirmed the watermarking in[an updated support page](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/16266773-how-claude-marks-ai-generated-content)\. [EU AI Act’s Transparency Code](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/guidelines-ai-transparency-obligations), which took effect on August 2, requires AI companies to mark AI\-generated or edited content in a way other systems can identify them\. Anthropic said that all models released after August 2 will automatically have tech to watermark both computer\-generated text and files\. For files, the company is using the C2PA open standard\. The company said it will extend support for older models as well, adding that the watermark will travel when users copy and paste the text\. “Because the watermark is part of the text, it will travel with the text when it’s copied and pasted elsewhere, and may persist through some editing\. Watermarking will be applied at the model level, which means it will be present no matter which Claude product or surface the text comes from,” the support page reads\. It’s not clear how much editing users need to do to remove the watermark\. We have asked Anthropic to clarify and will update the story if we hear back\. The company noted that watermarking will apply to different products like Claude platform API, Claude, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and Claude Tag\. Platforms are now rushing to watermark AI\-generated content after backlash from users and to avoid regulatory scrutiny\. Last week, AI music platform[Suno said it will mark tracks created on its platform](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/06/amid-legal-battles-suno-says-it-will-start-watermarking-songs/)after a spate of legal challenges\. Last month, newsletter service[Substack teamed up with Pangram](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/substacks-new-tool-tells-you-whos-been-writing-their-newsletters-with-ai/)to flag AI\-generated content\. The company’s CEO, Chris Best, called out[Claudefishing](https://post.substack.com/p/against-claudefishing), a term used for people using AI to generate content\. Apart from Anthropic, other companies like Black Forest Labs, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Synthesia have committed to[adhering to the EU’s code\.](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/strong-backing-code-practice-transparency-ai-generated-content) *When you purchase through links in our articles,[we may earn a small commission](https://techcrunch.com/techcrunch-affiliate-monetization-standards/)\. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence\.* Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch\. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web\. You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing[im@ivanmehta\.com](mailto:[email protected])or via encrypted message at ivan\.42 on Signal\. [View Bio](https://techcrunch.com/author/ivan-mehta/)

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