Table of Contents
Summary
- A new policy setting allows organizations to add visual or audio watermarks to video and audio content generated or altered by AI in Microsoft 365.
- The policy is titled “Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is generated or altered by AI” and is accessible through the Cloud Policy service.
- Watermarks are not enabled by default; administrators must set the policy to Enabled for this feature to take effect.
- This change affects users who generate or alter audio and video content using AI tools within Microsoft 365.
- It does not apply to images, which will have a separate option for watermarking available in the future.
Admin Impact: Medium
User Impact: Low
Release Start: 15 Feb 2026
Release End: 28 Feb 2026
Services: M365 Copilot, M365 Copilot Chat
Category: Stay informed
Tags: New Feature, User Adoption, Admin Action
History
1/23/2026 Item Added to Message Center
Microsoft Message
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.