Samsung’s new Galaxy S26 smartphones will automatically label images that are created or heavily changed with artificial intelligence. This move is part of a larger trend to make synthetic media easier to identify.
Phones will auto-tag AI-generated photos, helping users tell the difference between original images and those made with Galaxy AI tools.
At its recent Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung announced that any image made or significantly changed with Galaxy AI tools on the S26 will have a clear label in the Photos app.
This tag, which appears in a lower corner, will mark the file as “AI-generated content” so people can quickly see if an image is synthetic or edited.
Metadata to Provide Creation Details
Besides visible labels, Samsung said that AI-generated images will also have information in their metadata about how they were made. As a member of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), Samsung will embed data in Galaxy S26 AI images to show their origin.
Mashable reported that Samsung’s tagging system will add metadata to show when content has been created or significantly changed using Galaxy AI features.
Part of a Wider Industry Shift
Samsung’s approach aligns with broader industry practices aimed at improving transparency in AI-generated media. Video-generation tools such as OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo 3 already display watermarks to indicate when footage is synthetic. Because these platforms focus on video, their watermarking systems can be made more resistant to removal.
On the other hand, many developers are working on invisible digital markers for images and videos. For example, Google’s SynthID adds hidden identifiers so AI-generated media can be detected without changing how it looks.
Samsung’s Galaxy AI features use Google’s Gemini model and its own Nano Banana image-generation system. However, it is still not clear if AI photos made on Galaxy devices will also have invisible watermarks like SynthID for detection.
AI at the Center of Galaxy S26
In its official announcement, Samsung described the Galaxy S26 series as the most intuitive Galaxy AI phone yet, highlighting how artificial intelligence will support everyday tasks across the device.
Samsung also said that AI can help users by automatically finding relevant images. The device can automatically suggest photos from the Gallery when asked.
Balancing Innovation With Accountability
As generative tools become more common in consumer devices, it is more important than ever to tell real content apart from AI-made visuals.
By adding automatic labeling, Samsung is trying to balance creative freedom with responsibility by making it clear when AI has been used to create an image.
By using both visible tags and embedded metadata, the Galaxy S26 is taking a step toward making AI-generated content clearer for everyday users.
