C2PA Metadata: What Data Is Actually Inside Your ChatGPT Images?

We pulled the C2PA manifest out of 50 freshly generated ChatGPT images using c2patool and tallied every field. Here is what you are actually carrying around when you post an unprocessed ChatGPT image.

Fields present in every image

• claim_generator: ChatGPT / DALL-E version string
• signature_info.issuer: OpenAI's signing certificate
• created: ISO timestamp of generation
• actions[]: list of generation actions performed
• thumbnail: a low-res preview of the image, embedded inside the file
• hash: cryptographic hash of the image bytes (so any pixel edit invalidates the signature)

Why this matters

Any scanner — forensic tool, social platform, journalism workflow — that reads C2PA can identify your image as ChatGPT-generated with 100% certainty in milliseconds. That is the entire point of the standard.