English

Robust Text Watermarking for Large Language Models via Dual Semantic Embeddings

Computation and Language 2026-07-01 v1 Cryptography and Security

Abstract

This work presents Dual-Embedding Watermarking (DEW), a semantic watermarking scheme for large language models (LLMs) that leverages contextual and token-level embeddings to enhance robustness against paraphrasing and translation. DEW utilizes a signal-processing methodology, applying algebraic vector-space operations to \mbox{token and context embeddings to derive a watermark signal that degrades gracefully under semantic shifts. The method obfuscates the watermark by projecting embedding vectors through pseudo-random matrices seeded with a secret key. Relevant distributions derived from the underlying algebra are evaluated and employed for statistical testing and benchmarking of DEW. Experimental results across multiple LLMs indicate that DEW improves post-paraphrase detection while maintaining competitive text quality, and remains detectable after translation, even when prior semantic watermarks degrade significantly. These findings position DEW as a practical and robust solution for safeguarding LLM-generated text and addressing critical issues in responsible AI deployment.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2606.31602,
  title  = {Robust Text Watermarking for Large Language Models via Dual Semantic Embeddings},
  author = {Jonas Schäfer and Cezary Pilaszewicz and Gerhard Wunder},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2606.31602},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Preprint. 22 pages, 9 tables, 1 figure