Google Vids now lets you tag your videos with AI

OpenAI Sora maybe It’s closedbut Google seems to think there’s still interest in a tool that lets you tag your videos with artificial intelligence. On Thursday, the tech giant Announce An update to Google Vids will allow you to create a personalized digital avatar that looks and sounds like you based on a selfie and audio recording you upload.

In addition, Google said it will introduce a multimedia AI model Gemini Omni to Vids, allowing you to create videos using a combination of written prompts and reference images that you upload. Omni then blends those inputs together to create the AI ​​video you want. It can also be used to do things like change the background, fix the lighting in a video recorded on your phone, or add effects.

Additionally, Omni now supports step-by-step edits, meaning you can make changes to your video as you go instead of starting from scratch.

The updates push Google Vids beyond its original role as an AI-powered workplace presentation tool to become more of an all-in-one video creation platform. By making Vids part of Google Workspace, the company is telegraphing its use as a business tool for things like company updates or training videos, but custom avatars and conversational edits could put it in closer competition with other video startups and tools like AI. HeyGen, Synthesis, Captions, an actet al.

Google notes that the new AI avatars will be linked to the account holder’s likeness, linked to their Google account, and invisibly watermarked with SynthID. (I assume this means that no one will use the tool to create weird AI-powered videos for Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the way OpenAI CEO Sam Altman let users do with Sora when it was available!)

The company also says that access to personal avatars is limited to users in certain regions who are 18 or older.