As AI fuels widespread content reuse and deepens anxieties about digital authenticity, a new alliance aims to rebuild trust online. Adobe and LinkedIn are joining forces, betting that verifiable identity linked directly to creative work can arm creators against rampant content theft and unwelcome AI training.
Forging a trust layer: The collaboration anchors the public beta launch of the Adobe Content Authenticity app, a free tool designed to embed tamper-proof metadata known as Content Credentials into digital images. By integrating LinkedIn’s verification system, the companies seek to provide a more robust way for creators to prove authorship and control their work’s narrative as it travels online.
Content Credentials get verified: Adobe’s Content Credentials act as a secure digital label, allowing creators to attach information like their name, social media handles (including Behance, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X), and disclosures about AI usage, directly to their files. The new partnership layers LinkedIn’s existing identity, workplace, or education verification onto this system. Creators verified on LinkedIn can now display a “Verified on LinkedIn” badge within the Adobe app and embed that verified status within their Content Credentials, adding a significant layer of identity assurance.
"Using Verified on LinkedIn, users will be able to use the verifications they've completed on LinkedIn to show who they are across the different online platforms they use, boosting trust, confidence, and credibility," Oscar Rodriguez, VP of Trust at LinkedIn, said in a statement.
Arming creators: This integration directly addresses creator frustrations over stolen or misattributed work. "Creators have always deserved proper attribution," Adobe said in its announcement, acknowledging that the rise of generative AI necessitates modern solutions. The app allows creators to signal preferences about their work being used for AI model training, embedding a "don't train" request within the durable credentials – though enforcement currently relies on model providers respecting the tag.
En masse application: Based on feedback from an earlier private beta, the app now allows batch-applying credentials to up to 50 images at once, a "highly requested feature," Andy Parsons, senior director of content authenticity at Adobe, told CNET.
Broader ecosystem play: The partnership extends beyond Adobe and LinkedIn, plugging into the wider Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), an industry group developing open standards for tracing the origin of digital content. Adobe is a leader in the related Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), which LinkedIn has now joined. The move also signals LinkedIn's strategy to expand its verification system beyond its own platform, positioning "Verified on LinkedIn" as a potential cross-platform trust marker. LinkedIn is also making its verification available to enterprise platforms TrustRadius, G2, and UserTesting.