A potentially controversial application of Google’s new Gemini 2.0 Flash AI model has emerged: users are leveraging it to remove watermarks from images, including those from stock photo sites such as Getty Images.

The recently expanded image generation feature of Gemini 2.0 Flash allows for native image generation and editing, a powerful tool that seemingly lacks robust usage restrictions. Social media users have highlighted how the AI can not only remove watermarks but also intelligently fill in the resulting gaps, often with impressive accuracy, and it’s currently free within Google’s AI Studio developer tools.

While labeled “experimental” and “not for production use,” Gemini 2.0 Flash’s ability to bypass watermarks stands in contrast to models like Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet and OpenAI’s GPT-4o, which explicitly prohibit such actions, citing ethical and legal concerns.

It’s important to note that Gemini 2.0 Flash isn’t foolproof; it can struggle with semi-transparent or heavily overlaid watermarks. Nevertheless, the ease with which it can remove watermarks raises potential copyright issues, as removing a watermark without the copyright holder’s permission is generally illegal in many countries. This situation underscores the ongoing challenges of balancing powerful AI capabilities with copyright protection.

Huawei concluded its successful participation at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2025, where the company unveiled groundbreaking solutions aimed at accelerating the transition toward an intelligent world. Throughout the event, Huawei emphasized how the convergence of 5G-Advanced and AI technologies creates unprecedented opportunities for carriers to transform into technology companies (techcos) and continuously create new value.

5G-Advanced and AI: Powering the Mobile AI Era
At the Mobile AI Network Summit on the sidelines of MWC, Huawei Chief Strategic Architect Dang Wenshuan highlighted how 5G-Advanced is essential for unlocking new business value in the mobile AI era. Networks are rapidly evolving to support 10 times faster uplink speeds and 10 dB better coverage with 10 times higher spectral efficiency, establishing a robust foundation for universal AI accessibility. Meanwhile, AI is revolutionizing networks by increasing operations and maintenance (O&M) efficiency by 30%, reducing energy consumption by 20%, and enabling service assurance rates exceeding 90%.

Industry experts from Ookla, Omdia, ABI, Zhipu AI, and SHARGE confirmed that the rapid advancement of large language models drives the mobile AI boom. The increasing adoption of AI phones, smart glasses, and other intelligent devices enhances multimodal interaction capabilities, underscoring the importance of reliable real-time mobile connections and setting the stage for significant increases in network data traffic.

Dang Wenshuan, Huawei’s Chief Strategy Architect, speaking at the summit

Transforming Carriers into Techcos with the “Five Ones” Model
James Chen, President of Huawei Carrier Business, introduced the “Five Ones” capability model designed to facilitate carriers’ transformation into techcos. This comprehensive approach helps reshape business models, O&M practices, and infrastructure to enable carriers to seize transformation opportunities and continuously create value.

The Five Ones model includes a differentiated experience monetization model, a home AI service entry supporting multimodal interaction, a one-stop cloud platform for B2B services, a telecom foundation model introducing general AI agents and digital twins, and a synergetic architecture enabling all-element collaboration across networking, storage, cloud, and computing resources.

More than 35 carriers worldwide have already adopted experience monetization models, while carriers in China and South Korea have launched AI-powered home hubs that seamlessly connect to various smart home devices through multimodal interaction.

Innovative ICT Services & Software Solutions
Bruce Xun, President of Huawei Global Technical Service, unveiled five innovative ICT Services and Software solutions designed to accelerate digital intelligence. These solutions address critical industry challenges, from equipment center office modernization to intelligent operations for mobile broadband cross-domain service continuity. By integrating AI Copilot, AI Agent, and Digital Twin Network (DTN) capabilities into operational processes, Huawei enables efficient human-machine collaboration that creates tangible business value for carriers.

At Huawei’s Digital Economy Development Forum, David Wang, Director of the Board and Chairman of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board, outlined five ways ICT infrastructure can drive digital economy development. Wang emphasized that a thriving digital economy requires solid digital infrastructure, accelerated digital transformation across industries, future-oriented industry policies, extensive digital talent development, and open, collaborative ecosystems. The forum brought together policymakers, industry association leaders, and experts to discuss strategies for high-quality development of the global digital economy.

He Bo, President of Huawei Data Center Facility & Critical Power Product Line, introduced the “Single SitePower” architecture and the RASTM guideline for AI data center construction. These innovations help operators thrive as energy prosumers and build better ICT facilities in the AI era. The Single SitePower architecture implements bidirectional interaction of power and information flows, while the RASTM guideline addresses the reliability, agility, and sustainability challenges AI data centers face.

As commercial 5G-Advanced deployment accelerates in 2025, Huawei continues to work actively with carriers and partners worldwide to reshape business, infrastructure, and O&M, paving the way toward an intelligent world.

HONOR today announced the HONOR ALPHA PLAN, a new corporate strategy to transform HONOR from a smartphone maker to a global leading AI device ecosystem company. The visionary three-step plan details the bold steps HONOR will take to usher in the new intelligent world, and calls on the industry to co-create an open, value-sharing ecosystem that maximizes human potential, ultimately benefiting all mankind.

“It is clear that the AI revolution will reshape the paradigm of the device industry – completely transforming our productivity, our society, and even our culture more than ever before,” said James Li, CEO of HONOR. “I am calling on all of us to unite together to address the challenges – as well as the many opportunities – of AI technology. I also call on the industry to be truly open so that we can fully embrace this exciting AI future. Let’s do it together.”

The designation HONOR ALPHA PLAN is chosen for its unique symbolic meaning. Alpha, as the first letter in the Greek alphabet, symbolizes HONOR’s relentless pursuit of technological excellence. Additionally, the Chinese word for humans (人) can be found where the stroke connects in the lowercase letter “α,” echoing HONOR’s commitment to human-centric innovation. The East-meets-West symbolism perfectly encapsulates HONOR’s global vision and ambition to create value for consumers worldwide.

The HONOR ALPHA PLAN comprises three steps: The first step begins with the development of an intelligent phone. HONOR will work with partners to open technology boundaries to co-create a new paradigm for AI devices in the agentic AI era. Next, HONOR will open industry boundaries and co-create a new paradigm for AI ecosystem in the physical AI era. Finally, in the AGI era, HONOR will open human potential boundaries and co-create a new paradigm for civilization.

The envisioned intelligent phone that is central to the first step will embed human-centric AI that is purpose-built to maximize human potential, including the leading AI technology HONOR showcased during the keynote address. The world’s first GUI-based personal mobile AI agent developed by HONOR redefines daily convenience with intelligent technology.

In a technology showcase in collaboration with Google Cloud and Qualcomm Technologies, HONOR demonstrated how an AI agent can help make a table reservation through a third-party service while taking into consideration appointments saved in the HONOR Calendar and traffic information. HONOR plans to bring agentic experiences to its devices in international markets in the near future.

HONOR is transforming mobile photography with AiMAGE, the new brand for HONOR’s imaging technology. AiMAGE is powered by the AI Kernel, the industry’s first solution to support device-cloud AI models. Locally, the on-device model supports a 1.3 billion parameter model to generate a 50% uplift in image clarity. The cloud counterpart benefits from a larger scale of computing resources, running a 12.4 billion parameter model to massively enhance the quality of telephoto images.

Equally important in AiMAGE is the AI ecosystem component. Through collaborating with partners, including Google Cloud, HONOR will continue improving the versatility of its imaging offerings by integrating more intuitive AI features into its smartphones. The brand-new AI Upscale feature for restoring old portraits will be rolled out gradually to the HONOR Magic7 series, powered by the Snapdrago 8 Elite Mobile Platform, starting this March

HONOR introduced the world’s first all-ecosystem file-sharing technology. With it, users can enjoy ultra-fast speeds, whether transferring files to one or many iOS and Android devices. Additionally, the brand also announced that AI Deepfake detection will soon arrive in its latest flagship bar phones and foldable phones in international markets.

“As we move into the physical AI era, we need to open our industry boundaries and co-create a new paradigm for the AI ecosystem,” Li said. To reach the second step of its strategic plan, HONOR calls on the industry to open up its AI capabilities for a wider range of devices, enabling seamless collaboration as HONOR co-creates a value-sharing ecosystem with global partners. As testament to its commitment, HONOR announced today that it will invest more than $10 billion over the next five years to fund this endeavor.

“In the end, we will open human potential boundaries, and co-create a new paradigm for civilization in the AGI era. You will witness the co-existence between carbon-based life and silicon-based intelligence. This is why all of us need to work together to maximize human potential to embrace an intelligent world,” said Li, extending an invitation for all to join HONOR to realize the third and final step of its plan.

Representatives from Google Cloud, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., CKH Group, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone joined Li on stage to officiate a tree-lighting ceremony. By illuminating a tree of light representing the AI ecosystem and AI devices, the ceremony symbolized the collaboration of industry partners to co-develop the AI device ecosystem that will serve every consumer worldwide.

“Today, HONOR has presented a bold new vision for a future where AI will underpin every facet of the device user experience. We are excited to partner with HONOR to integrate our technology and power the next generation of AI devices,” said Alex Katouzian, Group GM, Mobile, Compute, & XR, Wearables, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

“Collaboration is the fabric that weaves together the open ecosystem for AI. We’re thrilled to join hands with HONOR and other industry partners to ride this disruptive wave. We are working closely to deeply integrate Google’s Gemini AI models into HONOR solutions, and create new possibilities for users around the world that were never before possible, while protecting their data security and user privacy,” said Matt Waldbusser, Managing Director, Global Solutions and Consumer AI, Google Cloud.

To demonstrate the HONOR ALPHA PLAN’s emphasis on a consumer-centric approach, HONOR pledged to provide seven years of Android OS and security updates for its HONOR Magic series, starting in the EU market. In addition, HONOR committed to accelerating its sustainability initiatives to reach operational carbon neutrality by 2040, five years ahead of its initial goal. HONOR also announced its plan to achieve carbon neutrality across its entire supply chain and products by 2050.