Meta Announces Movie Gen, an AI Video and Audio Creator

Meta has created a generative AI video tool that will allow its users to create and edit video as well as audio based on text prompts. The feature, called Movie Gen, can even create video footage from an uploaded photo of someone. 

Movie Gen won’t be available to Meta’s large number of users on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram until at least next year. Currently, it’s been tested internally and by a small number of filmmakers, the company said. Meta shared a research paper for Movie Gen in which the company says that its model will produce high-quality 1080p HD videos with different aspect ratios and synchronized audio.

The video feature is Meta’s latest announcement in the AI space. Facebook users can already generate AI stickers and the company has said it wants to roll out more AI chatbot features on platforms like Instagram. The company is even adding AI features to its Ray Ban smart glasses. But as it moves into AI-generated video, Meta will be competing with companies such as OpenAI and Google, two tech giants that have already debuted AI video models.

The company touted Movie Gen’s features with a series of videos and stills on its blog post, including Perzonalized Video, which will take a still photo of a person and create full-motion videos based on that image. It will also use text prompts to edit AI videos on the fly; in an example the company used, props such as pom-poms could be added to a video with a text request. 

In addition to its video features, Movie Gen will also be able to create sound effects and full soundtracks, Meta said.