Google DeepMind has made its latest AI image generator, Imagen 3, free for use in the U.S. via the company’s ImageFX platform. Imagen 3 will be available in multiple versions, “each optimized for different types of tasks, from generating quick sketches to high-resolution images.” Google announced Imagen 3 at Google I/O in March, and in June made it available to enterprise users through Vertex. Using simplified natural language text input rather than “complex prompt engineering,” Google says Imagen 3 generates high-quality images in a range styles, from photorealistic, painterly and textured to whimsically cartoony. Continue reading Google DeepMind Releases Imagen 3 for Free to U.S. Users

ByteDance has debuted a text-to-video mobile app in its native China that is available on the company’s TikTok equivalent there, Douyin. Called Jimeng AI, there is speculation that it will be coming to North America and Europe soon via TikTok or ByteDance’s CapCut editing tool, possibly beating competing U.S. technologies like OpenAI’s Sora to market. Jimeng (translation: “dream”) uses text prompts to generate short videos. For now, its responsiveness is limited to prompts written in Chinese. In addition to entertainment, the app is described as applicable to education, marketing and other purposes. Continue reading ByteDance Intros Jimeng AI Text-to-Video Generator in China

Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini, the latest generative chatbots from Elon Musk’s xAI, create images with seemingly few guardrails. Early pictures of notable personalities such as Bill Gates, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in questionable or compromising settings may not appear photorealistic to a trained eye, but they are still described in many cases to be quite realistic. Powered by the FLUX.1 AI model from Black Forest Labs, Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini are available in beta on X social for Premium and Premium+ subscribers and will be coming to xAI’s enterprise API later this month, according to the company. Continue reading xAI’s Grok-2 Generates Realistic Images with Few Guardrails

Amazon has made the Amazon Titan Image Generator v2 model generally available to AWS customers using Amazon Bedrock. The improved v2 model allows creation using reference images (called “image conditioning”) and also allows editing capabilities, background removal, iteration and customization, with a focus on maintaining brand style and subject consistency. The new version “can intelligently detect and segment multiple foreground objects,” according to AWS cloud developer Channy Yun. “With the Titan Image Generator v2, you can generate color-conditioned images based on a color palette [and] use the image conditioning feature to shape your creations.” Continue reading Amazon Rolls Out New Upgrades to Its Titan Image Generator

A new generative AI startup called Black Forest Labs has hit the scene, debuting with a suite of text-to-image models branded FLUX.1. Based in Germany, Black Forest was founded by some of the researchers involved in developing Stable Diffusion and has raised $31 million in funding from principal investor Andreessen Horowitz and angels including CAA founder and former talent agent Michael Ovitz. The FLUX.1 suite focuses on “image detail, prompt adherence, style diversity and scene complexity,” the company says of its three initial variants: FLUX.1 [pro], FLUX.1 [dev] and FLUX.1 [schnell]. Continue reading Black Forest Labs Announces Suite of Text-to-Image Models

Graphic design company Canva announced it is acquiring fellow Australian startup Leonardo AI with plans to have Leonardo’s 120 employees, including executives, join the Canva AI team. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sydney-based Leonardo has been gaining attention for its advanced generative AI platform that helps users create images and art based on the open-source Stable Diffusion model developed by Stability AI. The Leonardo team claims its offering is different than other AI art platforms since it provides users with more control. Users can experiment with text prompts and quick sketches as Leonardo.ai creates photorealistic images in real time. Continue reading Canva Aims to Boost Its GenAI Efforts with Leonardo Purchase

Adobe is bringing more Firefly AI features to its popular Photoshop and Illustrator design platforms. The upgrade is a significant step forward for Adobe since the 2023 debut of Firefly, and sees Photoshop finally getting in-app ability to generate AI images, and also a new Generative Shape Fill that is still in beta, allowing designers to quickly add detailed vectors to shapes by entering text prompts directly in the Contextual Taskbar. Improvements to Illustrator include the Dimension Tool, Retype, Style Reference, its own Contextual Taskbar, Retype and two new beta tools, Text to Pattern and Mockup. Continue reading Adobe Adds New Firefly AI Features to Illustrator, Photoshop

Meta Platforms has introduced an AI model it says can generate 3D images from text prompts in under one minute. The new model, called 3D Gen, is billed as a “state-of-the-art, fast pipeline” for turning text input into high-resolution 3D images quickly. The app also adds textures to AI output or existing images through text prompts, and “supports physically-based rendering (PBR), necessary for 3D asset relighting in real-world applications,” Meta explains, adding that in internal tests, 3D Gen outperforms industry baselines on “prompt fidelity and visual quality” and for speed. Continue reading Meta’s 3D Gen Bridges Gap from AI to Production Workflow

Meta’s popular instant messaging service WhatsApp is reportedly beta testing a feature that would allow the already integrated Meta AI chatbot to edit and reply to images. The capability was spotted in the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.14.20, with AI powered by Llama 3, the company’s newest large language model released in April. The beta version works via a camera button added to the text box for Meta AI chat in WhatsApp. When pressed, the button triggers a pop-up that indicates Meta AI can analyze and edit photos, though it’s currently unclear to what extent. Continue reading Meta AI Image Analysis and Editing Beta Tested for WhatsApp

New York-based AI startup Runway has made its latest frontier model — which creates realistic AI videos from text, image or video prompts — generally available to users willing to upgrade to a paid plan starting at $12 per month for each editor. Introduced several weeks go, Gen-3 Alpha reportedly offers significant improvements over Gen-1 and Gen-2 in areas such as speed, motion, fidelity and consistency. Runway explains it worked with a “team of research scientists, engineers and artists” to develop the upgrades but did not specify where it collected its training data. As the AI video field ramps up, current rivals include Stability AI, OpenAI, Pika and Luma Labs. Continue reading Runway Making Gen-3 Alpha AI Video Model Available to All

Created by Humans, a company that aims to make it easy for creators to be compensated when their work is used for AI model training, has emerged from stealth with $5 million in funding. Positioning itself as “the AI rights licensing platform for creators,” the company was launched by Trip Adler, formerly the CEO of document sharing service and publishing platform Scribd. Noted author Walter Isaacson is an investor and creative advisor. In streamlining the licensing process, Created by Humans hopes to spare individuals and smaller companies from the proposition of engaging in costly litigation against LLM firms. Continue reading Created by Humans: AI Rights Licensing Platform for Creators

Deepfake videos are becoming increasingly problematic, not only in spreading disinformation on social media but also in enterprise attacks. Now researchers at Drexel University College of Engineering say they have developed an advanced algorithm with a 98 percent accuracy rate in detecting deepfake videos. Called the MISLnet algorithm, for the school’s Multimedia and Information Security Lab where it was invented, the platform uses machine learning to recognize and extract the “digital fingerprints” of video generators including Stable Video Diffusion, VideoCrafter and CogVideo. Continue reading Drexel Claims Its AI Has 98 Percent Rate Detecting Deepfakes

China’s Sneaki Design has a new smartphone camera technology called SwitchLens that makes it possible to use professional-quality interchangeable lenses with existing Android and iOS phones. It does this via a phone-mounting external camera unit that has its own one-inch CMOS sensor and coupling device for lenses built to the Micro Four Thirds (M43) open standard. The pro-sized sensor captures still images as 21MP in either the RAW or JPEG formats, and 60p MOV video at up to 4K. Existing M43 compatible lenses from manufacturers including Panasonic and Olympus work with SwitchLens, according to Sneaki Design. Continue reading SwitchLens Adds 1-Inch Sensor, M43 Lenses to Smartphones

To address Gen Z’s ongoing interest in social video content, Pinterest announced it is updating its app so that users will have the ability to create video versions of the more than 10 billion curated boards on Pinterest. The videos can then be shared on popular social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Pinterest users have been using manual methods such as screenshots and green screen effects to share their boards on other apps. According to the company — which refers to this as the “mecore” trend — searches for boards labeled “mecore” jumped 255 percent since last year. The updated approach to board sharing is designed to leverage this growing trend. Continue reading Pinterest Introduces the Ability to Convert Boards into Videos

Amazon is launching Ad Relevance, a cookieless consumer tracking solution that will be available to those using Amazon DSP, a tool that lets advertisers buy Internet ad placements on and off Amazon’s website. Ad Relevance “uses the latest in AI technology to analyze billions of browsing, buying, and streaming signals in conjunction with real-time information about the content being viewed” to reveal customer shopping patterns and serve relevant ads across devices, channels, and content types without using third-party cookies. The technology accommodates Google’s long-delayed cookie deprecation, currently set for 2025. Continue reading Amazon Debuts Ad Relevance Cookieless Solution in Cannes