The Content Authenticity Initiative 2025 Summit

Six years ago, a group of concerned publishers and a formidable creative software company, well-versed in the manipulation of digital content, joined forces to develop what may be the most important and underestimated standard of this generation. Ironically, this was before the rise of Generative AI.

Since then, three summits have brought together experts, advocates, and the simply curious from around the world, all converging for a single day around a single, urgent goal: preserving trust and accountability in digital content.

It began with photography, the most persuasive form of media in our daily decision-making and, by its very nature, the most vulnerable. Photography has always been editable; it’s in its DNA. And we wouldn’t want it any other way. Like any language, it must remain flexible to meet our communication needs. But more on that another time.

Building a cathedral

Six years on, much has happened. Most notably, the creation of the C2PA, a technical working group of volunteer members, executives, engineers, and experts,who have labored with near-monastic persistence to build the framework for media trust. Observing their work evokes the image of ancient builders: tireless, precise, and unified in purpose. The C2PA standard is not art, but like art, it is the product of a shared vision, albeit expressed in a long, complex list of parameters defining how digital trust can be built, maintained, and shared in the decades to come.

Parallel to that effort, the team at the CAI has been busy evangelizing the idea, reaching out to everyone who could and should listen about the importance of labeling digital content in a way that allows anyone to make sense of its intent. And it works. More and more participants, more and more implementation, and what used to be a hope, an idea, a project, is now a reality—implemented by giants like Google, Microsoft, or OpenAI, and seen daily by everyone on social media platforms like LinkedIn.

This summit, however, served as a critical reminder: the work is far from done. To succeed, content authenticity must escape the confines of expert circles and reach the wider public. It must be implemented by everyone involved in creating and distributing digital content—photos, videos, audio, and text alike. But before that, it needs to simplify. It must shed some of its technical quirks, streamline implementation, and make its return on investment clear and compelling.

The remains of the day

And this summit was part of this effort. The groundwork has been done, now we need to build the first, second, third floors…. With wide-ranging interventions from a variety of very talented speakers, like Hany Farid (USC Berkeley and GetReal Labs), Abhi Chaudhuri (LinkedIn), Will Kreth (HAND), Adam Buhler ( Digitas), Aundre Larrow (Buelahland), and many others of equal talent and insight (see list here: https://www.contentauthenticitysummit.com/2025), the audience got to have an encompassing perspective of the reach of this issue. Breakout sessions in the afternoon provided everyone present with the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and contribute to the project. Each session had its defined environment, and experts led each in those fields.

Whether anything concrete will emerge from this summit remains uncertain. The core of the work will continue to be done at each enterprise level, supported or not by legislation. And like a LEGO project, one brick at a time, with each piece fitting the previous ones. But what this has undeniably fostered is a stronger sense of community, meaningful personal connections, and fertile ground for further reflection among participants. The one common element that was reflected in everyone’s conversation throughout the day is the undeniable conviction that this will happen regardless of the challenges.

And that is all that we need to know.