💡 Our Technical Review in summary
Microsoft is introducing a new governance feature that allows organizations to provide transparency regarding AI-generated content. A new policy setting is being added to the Microsoft 365 Cloud Policy service that enables visual and audio watermarking for content created or modified by AI within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. This initiative is designed to help distinguish between human-generated and AI-augmented media, specifically focusing on video and audio outputs.
#### Impact
The implementation of this policy will affect your organization in the following ways:
- Administrative Control: IT Admins gain a centralized toggle via the Cloud Policy service to mandate watermarking. This policy is disabled by default.
- Video Content: If enabled, video projects generated or altered using AI tools (such as Microsoft Clipchamp) will include a visible watermark.
- Audio Content: AI-generated audio, such as audio overviews produced by Copilot from Word documents, will include an audible watermark.
- Image Exclusion: This specific administrative policy does not apply to images. Image watermarking is managed individually by users through their account privacy settings (myaccount.microsoft.com).
- User Experience: Users will see or hear these watermarks on their final exports when the policy is set to “Enabled.”
#### Action Required
To prepare for this change, IT Administrators should perform the following:
- Review Policy Requirements: Evaluate the organization’s transparency requirements and the Microsoft Enterprise AI Services Code of Conduct to determine if watermarking should be mandatory.
- Access Cloud Policy Service: Familiarize yourself with the Microsoft 365 Cloud Policy service, as this is the only location where the policy “Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is generated or altered by AI” can be configured.
- Configure Policy: If you choose to enforce watermarking, set the policy to “Enabled” before the rollout in late February 2026.
- Update Documentation: Inform your user base that AI-generated video and audio content may soon feature watermarks to ensure they are aware of the visual and audible changes to their files.
- Monitor Image Settings: Note that users will have the ability to toggle watermarks for images starting in the second half of February 2026 via their personal Privacy settings; consider providing guidance on your organization’s preference for this setting.
Microsoft Official Update
Service: N/A
Category: stayInformed
Severity: normal
[Introduction]
To help provide additional transparency about what content has been generated or altered by using AI in Microsoft 365, Microsoft is providing you with a policy setting that visually designates when content, such as video or audio content, is generated or altered by using AI. This policy setting controls your organization’s option to add a visual or audio watermark to video and audio content that your users generate or alter by using AI in Microsoft 365.
To turn on watermarks for video and audio content that your users generate or alter by using AI in Microsoft 365, you need to use the “Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is generated or altered by AI” policy. This policy is available only in Cloud Policy service for Microsoft 365.
Note: Watermarks are not turned on unless you set the policy to Enabled. Your organization is always responsible for following the Microsoft Enterprise AI Services Code of Conduct, including not generating or sharing deceptive AI content.
This change is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 547831.
[When this will happen]
General Availability (Worldwide): We anticipate that this policy will be available in Cloud Policy by the second half of February 2026.
[How this will affect your organization]
Who is affected
Users that generate or alter video and audio content by using AI in Microsoft 365
What will happen
If you set the “Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is generated or altered by AI” policy to Enabled in Cloud Policy, a visual or audio watermark is added to video and audio content that is generated or altered by using AI in Microsoft 365. Here are two examples:
- A visual watermark is added to a video generated with Clipchamp.
- An audio watermark is added to an audio overview generated by Copilot from a Word document.
Notes:
- This policy doesn’t affect images generated or altered by using AI in Microsoft 365.
- Instead, your users will be able to turn on watermarks for images by going to Settings & Privacy > Privacy at https://myaccount.microsoft.com. We anticipate this capability will be available in the second half of February 2026.
[What you need to do to prepare]
Review the information in the following article: Add watermarks to content generated or altered by using AI in Microsoft 365. If you decide to set the “Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is generated or altered by AI” policy to Enabled, inform your users that a visual or audio watermark will be added to video and audio content that they generate or alter by using AI in Microsoft 365.
