Meta Platforms has unveiled Movie Gen, a new family of AI models that generates video and audio content. Coming to Instagram next year, Movie Gen also allows a high degree of editing and effects customization using text prompts. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated its abilities last week in an example shared on his Instagram account, where he sends a leg press machine at the gym through transformations as a steam punk machine and one made of molten gold. The models have been trained on a combination of licensed and publicly available datasets. Continue reading Meta’s Movie Gen Model is a Powerful Content Creation Tool

Beginning October 15, YouTube Shorts will extend its maximum length to 3 minutes. The move competitively positions the Google unit against TikTok, which allows for videos of up to 10 minutes when recording, or an hour when uploading. Regular YouTube accommodates videos of up to 12 hours for verified accounts and 15 minutes for unverified accounts, whether live or uploaded. But in terms of marketing focus, the current attention is on short-form video. YouTube is also updating the Shorts player, adding templates, and introducing a Shorts trends page for mobile. Continue reading YouTube Updates Shorts Player, Extends Length to 3 Minutes

Snap Inc. is leveraging its relationship with Google Cloud to use Gemini for powering generative AI experiences within Snapchat’s My AI chatbot. The multimodal capabilities of Gemini on Vertex AI will greatly increase the My AI chatbot’s ability to understand and operate across different types of information such as text, audio, image, video and code. Snapchatters can use My AI to take advantage of Google Lens-like features, including asking the chatbot “to translate a photo of a street sign while traveling abroad, or take a video of different snack offerings to ask which one is the healthiest option.” Continue reading Snapchat: My AI Goes Multimodal with Google Cloud, Gemini

Google has updated its AI assistant, NotebookLM, allowing the AI note-taking and research tool to find summaries of audio files and YouTube videos. First released at the Google I/O developer conference in 2023, NotebookLM even creates sharable AI-generated audio discussions and podcasts. It allows users to upload file formats including PDFs, Google Docs, Google Slides and websites. The items, including text, can be stored in shareable “notebooks,” organizing material in a central location, and users can ask Google’s Gemini AI questions about the notebook material. Initially embraced by students and educators, it has become equally popular among business users. Continue reading Google Unveils New Updates to Its AI-Powered NotebookLM

Alibaba Cloud last week globally released more than 100 new open-source variants of its large language foundation model, Qwen 2.5, to the global open-source community. The company has also revamped its proprietary offering as a full-stack AI-computing infrastructure across cloud products, networking and data center architecture, all aimed at supporting the growing demands of AI computing. Alibaba Cloud’s significant contribution was revealed at the Apsara Conference, the annual flagship event held by the cloud division of China’s e-retail giant, often referred to as the Chinese Amazon. Continue reading Alibaba Cloud Ups Its AI Game with 100 Open-Source Models

GoPro has announced two new cameras, the $399 Hero13 Black with swappable lenses, and its smallest 4K camera ever, the $199 Hero. The high-end Hero13 Black boasts better battery performance and four interchangeable Hero Black-series lens modules with automatic adjustments for settings. A 13x Burst Slo-Mo feature captures up to 400 frames per second at 720p, with options for 5.3K at 120 frames per second or 900p at 360 fps. Improved Wi-Fi 6 uploads at up to 40 percent faster transfer speeds and enhanced audio and voice settings are among the upgrades. Continue reading GoPro’s Hero13 Black Earns Adds New Lens Mount and HLG HDR

Blackmagic Design is releasing its Blackmagic Camera for Android 1.3 update, which adds support for recording timecode and adds anamorphic lens de-squeeze functionality and lens correction settings as well as support for off-speed and time lapse recording. Available at Google Play free of charge, it supports Google’s latest OS, Android 14, which means it should offer some interesting creative possibilities with Gemini, the new Pixel 9 series’ native AI. Some features are backward compatible. Customers with Pixel 6, 7, 8 and 9 phones can record at frames rates of 120fps and 240fps at 720p, and 120fps at 1080p. Continue reading Blackmagic Camera for Android Adds Array of New Features

Amazon is aiming to speed up production of its Audible audiobooks by inviting a small group of narrators to clone their voices using generative artificial intelligence. The U.S. beta test will roll out later this year according to Amazon, which announced the move on Audible’s creator marketplace. “There is a vast catalog of books that does not yet exist in audio and as we explore ways to bring more books to life on Audible, we’re committed to thoughtfully balancing the interests of authors, narrators, publishers, and listeners,” Amazon explains. Continue reading Amazon Is Inviting Audible Narrators to Create AI Voice Clones

Musician and tech entrepreneur will.i.am is launching an interactive radio service built around conversational AI. Called RAiDiO.FYI, the service lets listeners talk to artificial intelligence serving as DJs as part of a one-on-one exchange designed as a personalized listening experience. RAiDiO.FYI’s AI DJs are trained to converse about topics ranging from music to sports, weather and breaking news. The new service is an offshoot of the performer’s FYI.AI, a platform of digital tools for artists. Users can access RAiDiO.FYI for free on the FYI app for iPhone and Android. Continue reading Will.i.am Launches AI-Powered Interactive Service RAiDiO.FYI

New York-based ElevenLabs is going global with its generative AI text-to-speech reader app, which can narrate writings in 32 languages with thousands of voices from which to choose. The audio startup promises “high quality, human-like” AI voices that are “emotionally and contextually aware,” adapting delivery of written cues “to achieve a high emotional range.” ElevenLabs has focused on “creative workflow,” with a voice isolator and audio effects generator tools. Its catalog includes the voices of celebrities Judy Garland, Laurence Olivier, James Dean and Burt Reynolds. Custom models for translation and voiceover work using contemporary actors is a future possibility. Continue reading ElevenLabs Reader App Is Available Globally in 32 Languages

Adobe, OpenAI and Microsoft are among the major firms backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content with watermarks embedded in the metadata. Such data is easily accessible via browser for material circulated on the Internet, and the initiative would likely involve a campaign to educate the general public on how to find it. The proposed law encompasses video and audio as well as images. The three companies currently supporting the bill initially opposed it, using terms like “unworkable” and “overly burdensome.” Continue reading Bill Mandating GenAI Watermarks Gains Support in California

SAG-AFTRA announced it is teaming with online talent marketplace Narrativ to provide the guild’s 160,000 members with the option of working with the New York-based AI startup to license their voice replicas for use in digital audio advertising. The deal would make it easy for voice actors to be considered for replicant work and get compensated, according to SAG-AFTRA, which emphasizes that performers will control the particulars, including whether to make their voices available, brand approval and fees. Narrativ also represents visual likenesses, but the SAG-AFTRA announcement is limited to voice work. Continue reading SAG-AFTRA Strikes a Deal with Narrativ for AI Voice Replicas

D-ID, a platform that uses AI to generate digital humans, has announced D-ID Video Translate in general availability. The tool lets businesses and content creators automatically re-voice videos in multiple languages, “cloning the speaker’s voice and adapting their lip movements from a single upload.” D-ID is making the Video Translate tool, which accommodates 30 different languages, free to D-ID subscribers for a limited time, available through the D-ID Studio or the company’s API. Languages include Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, Hindi and Ukrainian, in addition to Spanish, German, French and Italian. Users can simultaneously translate content using bulk translation. Continue reading D-ID Employs AI to Translate Videos into Multiple Languages

OpenAI has released its new Advanced Voice Mode in a limited alpha rollout for select ChatGPT Plus users. The feature, which is being implemented for the ChatGPT mobile app on Android and iOS, aims for more natural dialogue with the AI chatbot. Powered by GPT-4o, which is multimodal, Advanced Voice Mode is said to be able to sense emotional inflections, including excitement, sadness or singing. According to an OpenAI post on X, the company plans to “continue to add more people on a rolling basis” so that everyone using ChatGPT Plus will have access to the new feature in the fall. Continue reading OpenAI Brings Advanced Voice Mode Feature to ChatGPT Plus

Major League Baseball has rolled out a standalone streaming option of MLB Network for $5.99 per month without requiring a pay-TV subscription. The direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service is currently available to baseball fans in the U.S. without the need for cable, satellite or Internet TV. For die-hard fans, the MLB Network + At Bat bundle — available for $6.99 per month — also includes live game audio for all MLB teams through MLB At Bat, live Minor League Baseball games, and access to highlights and live look-ins via MLB Big Inning. Current MLB.TV subscribers can stream MLB Network for the rest of this season at no additional cost. Continue reading MLB Network Launches $5.99 Standalone Streaming Service