Google’s latest AI model, Gemini 2.0 Flash, has made headlines for its ability to remove watermarks from images, including those from renowned stock media platforms like Getty Images. While impressive, this feature raises concerns about copyright infringement.
The model was announced on December 11, 2024, and has been available for developer testing since then. As of March 14, 2025, it remains experimental, accessible through Google’s developer-facing tools like AI Studio.
Read also: Google to replace Assistant with Gemini AI, Rolling Out to Phones, Watches, and More
Technical capabilities of Gemini 2.0 flash
Gemini 2.0 Flash is celebrated for its advanced multimodal capabilities, which allow it to generate and edit images easily. It can remove watermarks and fill in the gaps left behind, although it struggles with semi-transparent watermarks and those covering large areas of images. Users have noted that the model is exceptionally skilled at this task, making it a popular tool among those experimenting with AI image editing.
Gemini 2.0 Flash’s capabilities extend beyond image manipulation; it can generate images of celebrities and copyrighted characters without restrictions. This lack of guardrails has raised eyebrows, as other AI models, such as Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet and OpenAI’s GPT-4o, explicitly refuse to remove watermarks, citing ethical and legal concerns.
Gemini 2.0 flash’s watermark feature raises legal red flags
The ability of Gemini 2.0 Flash to remove watermarks has sparked controversy due to its potential for copyright infringement. Removing a watermark without permission is illegal under U.S. copyright law, except in rare cases.
Read also: New memory feature lets Google’s Gemini AI Chatbot recall past conversations, queries
While Google has not commented on these concerns, the model’s experimental status and lack of production use guidelines suggest that it is not intended for widespread commercial use.
Nonetheless, the ease with which Gemini 2.0 Flash can remove watermarks has already led to its widespread use among users, highlighting the need for more precise guidelines on ethical AI usage.
As noted by a media report, “Gemini 2.0 Flash will uncomplainingly create images depicting celebrities and copyrighted characters, and — as alluded to earlier — remove watermarks from existing photos”. This openness in functionality contrasts with other AI models prioritising ethical considerations, such as Anthropic’s Claude, which labels watermark removal as “unethical and potentially illegal”.