OpenAI has picked Prof. Martin Vechev of Sofia University as one of a small group of leading researchers to test and improve its new watermark technology for AI-generated text, the press office of Bulgaria's Ministry of Education and Science said.
Only selected researchers can use the company's detector. It is not yet open to the public.
The method hides an invisible statistical signal in the way the model builds a text. A special detector then checks whether the signal is there. Traditional tools judge by style whether a text comes from AI. This one looks for a built-in trace of where the text came from.
The ministry's press office says the EU's rules on content transparency are starting to apply in practice, which puts technology that proves content is AI-made at the centre of the industry's attention. Under the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, existing systems have until 2 December 2026 to add machine-readable marking and detection of AI-generated content.
Vechev founded the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT) in Sofia and is its scientific director. The ministry calls him one of the world's leading scientists in computer science and AI. He is also an entrepreneur and co-founder of successful technology companies.
He graduated from the Sofia High School of Mathematics and earned his doctorate at the University of Cambridge. He is now a professor at ETH Zurich, which the ministry describes as the most renowned technology university in Europe. In 2009 he won the John Atanasoff Award for achievements in computer and information technology.
The European Research Council (ERC) named him among its grant winners in 2016. On 21 March 2022 it announced that he was among its winners again, this time as part of ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
The ERC is funding his project with €2m. In the 2022 round, 2,651 researchers took part, and fewer than 12% of applicants win individual grants. The project is about a new type of AI model that is provably reliable and safe. If it succeeds, it could allow new uses, such as self-driving cars and automatic diagnosis in medicine.
INSAIT is a special unit of Sofia University "St Kliment Ohridski". It was set up in partnership with Switzerland's ETH Zurich and EPFL. Leading scientists from US, European and Israeli universities and laboratories run and advise it.
The institute focuses on scientific achievement, world-class research, drawing in top international scientists, and training the next generation of students and technology leaders. INSAIT is the first in Eastern Europe to offer world-class working conditions, like those at leading Western universities and institutes.