Google targets filmmakers with Veo, its new AI generative video model

It’s been three months since OpenAI demonstrated its captivating text-to-video AI, Sora, and now Google is trying to steal some of that spotlight. Announced during its I/O developer conference on Tuesday, says Google Veo – its latest AI generative video model – can generate “high quality” 1080p resolution videos over a minute long in a wide variety of visual and cinematic styles.

Veo has “an advanced understanding of natural language,” according to Google’s press release, allowing the model to understand cinematic terms like “timelapse” or “aerial photos of a landscape.” Users can direct the desired output using text, image, or video-based instructions, and Google claims that the resulting videos are “more consistent and coherent,” depicting more realistic movements of people, animals, and objects throughout the photos.

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said in a press preview on Monday that video results can be refined using additional prompts and that Google is exploring additional features to allow Veo to produce storyboards and longer scenes.

As is the case with many of these AI model previews, most people who want to try Veo will probably have to wait a while. Google says it is inviting select filmmakers and creators to try out the model to determine how it can better support creatives, and will leverage these collaborations to ensure “creators have a voice” in how Google’s AI technologies are developed.

Some Veo features will also be made available to “select creators in the coming weeks” in a private preview within VideoFX – you can sign up for the waiting list here for an early chance to try it out. Otherwise, Google also plans to add some of its features to YouTube Shorts “in the future.”

This is one of several video generation models that Google has produced in recent years, from Phenaki and Imagen Video – which produced crude, often distorted video clips – to the Lumiere model it introduced in January this year. The latter was one of the most impressive models we saw before Sora was announced in February, with Google saying Veo is even more capable of understanding what’s in a video, simulating real-world physics, rendering high-definition results. and much more.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is already pitching Sora to Hollywood and planning to release it to the public later this year, having previously announced in March that it could be ready in “a few months.” The company is also already looking to incorporate audio into Sora and can make the model available directly in video editing applications such as Adobe’s Premiere Pro. Given that Veo is also being touted as a tool for filmmakers, OpenAI’s head start could make it harder for Google’s project to compete.