Both Google Photos and YouTube Shorts are now integrating new AI video-generation tools powered by Veo 2. If you are a YouTuber or Google Photos user, here’s what this means for you.
On Google Photos, you can now transform images into videos using the Photo to Video feature. And it’s simple: select an image from your gallery, choose either the “subtle movement” or “I’m feeling lucky” prompt, and the app will do its AI magic. This feature is rolling out for Android and iOS users in the United States for now. In the next few weeks, you’ll also be able to “remix” your pictures, changing them to comic, sketch, or anime style.
And there’s bigger news for YouTube Shorts. The app is getting the Photo to Video feature and AI effects that can do things like changing your selfie into a video of you swimming underwater. While the Photo to Video tool is currently rolling out now to users in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the new AI effect is only available to a limited set of creators with a broader roll out expected in the near future.
For easy access, YouTube Shorts now has an “AI playground”, which contains all the new tools and ready-made prompts to create videos, images, and music. You’ll find it under Create > (sparkle icon in the top right corner). Google Photos will add a Create tab to the bottom navigation bar by August, where you’ll find all the available AI creation tools.
To thwart abuse, Google says that all videos and images created with these features will bear a SynthID digital watermark, an invisible tag that helps identify AI-generated content.