Luma AI launches Ray3, a next-gen cinematic video generation model with built-in reasoning

Artificial intelligence startup Luma AI Inc. today announced the launch of Ray3, a powerful text-to-video AI model with built-in reasoning, designed for high-quality cinematic visual production for professionals.

Luma also revealed a partnership with Adobe Inc. to integrate the new model into Adobe’s AI-enabled Firefly app, the company’s all-in-one software for creative work.

“Ray3 is our first step toward building intelligence for creative work,” said Amit Jain, co-founder and chief executive of Luma AI. “Creative work is one of the most intellectually challenging things humans do, yet until now, much of the AI available to creatives has lagged far behind what’s possible in coding and analysis with language models.”

Ray3’s flagship capability is chain-of-thought reasoning, which allows it to “think” through scene descriptions and follow instructions from creative professionals. Jain said that until now, most generative video models on the market have been more like slot machines: exhibiting a lot of power but little intelligence.

With reasoning, Ray3 can evaluate its own outputs and refine results to better preserve the artistic vision of the user. It can plan out complex scenes and judge whether its output makes sense before presenting it.

The model works in a manner similar to animators and filmmakers, sketching out a storyboard before generating a final product. During this drafting process, users can collaborate with the model to provide more precise instructions, such as annotating portions of the video. The model can then follow along with complex, multi-step ideation. It also understands visual annotations, such as lines drawn on video stills during drafting, enabling it to follow user instructions more precisely.

Ray3 represents a significant upgrade over Ray2, the company’s previous-generation model, and is twice the size. It can generate true high dynamic range video using the professional ACES2065-1 EXR standard across 10-, 12- and 16-bit formats. In practical terms, this gives filmmakers and advertisers access to the same range of color exposure and lighting controls found in footage shot on high-end cameras.

The model can also take standard dynamic range videos from virtually any source and convert them into HDR, providing richer color and more flexibility in editing. For example, Ray3’s HDR transformation can brighten up an excessively dark scene without “washing out” its colors.

Users can generate video clips up to 10 seconds long from both text and images. By annotating images with text, users gain even greater control over initial outputs. Thanks to the powerful composition and visual understanding engine built into the model, stitching together multiple scenes is easier because it maintains consistency between generations better than before.

In addition to its partnership with Adobe, Luma AI said Ray3 is being adopted by Dentsu Digital Inc., one of Japan’s largest integrated digital marketing firms. As a launch partner, Dentsu intends to use Ray3 in its production pipelines to give domestic brands greater control and capability in personalization and storytelling.

Creative leaders including digital marketing firm Monks and advertising company StrawberryFrog LLC are also adopting Ray3 to scale their capabilities. In addition, Saudi Arabian AI company Humain said it plans to integrate Ray3 into its enterprise service for creative professionals.

“Ray3 isn’t just an upgrade, it’s a quantum leap,” said Steve Plimsoll, chief strategy officer of Humain. “By giving AI the power to reason across words, images, and motion, we’re not only supercharging the speed and fidelity of creative output, but we’re also weaving in smarter guardrails. That means sharper ideas delivered faster, and safer content that respects ethics, compliance, and cultural context.”

Image: Luma AI