Generative video models seem to be debuting daily. Pyramid Flow, among the latest, aims for realism, producing dynamic video sequences that have temporal consistency and rich detail while being open source and free. The model can create clips of up to 10 seconds using both text and image prompts. It offers a cinematic look, supporting 1280×768 pixel resolution clips at 24 fps. Developed by a consortium of researchers from Peking University, Beijing University and Kuaishou Technology, Pyramid Flow harnesses a new technique that starts with low-resolution video, outputting at full-res only at the end of the process. Continue reading Pyramid Flow Introduces a New Approach to Generative Video

Hailuo, the free text-to-video generator released last month by the Alibaba-backed company MiniMax, has delivered its promised image-to-video feature. Founded by AI researcher Yan Junjie, the Shanghai-based MiniMax also has backing from Tencent. The model earned high marks for what has been called “ultra realistic” video, and MiniMax says the new image-to-video feature will improve output across the board as a result of “text-and-image joint instruction following,” which means Hailuo now “seamlessly integrates both text and image command inputs, enhancing your visuals while precisely adhering to your prompts.” Continue reading MiniMax’s Hailuo AI Rolls Out New Image-to-Video Capability

AI media firm Runway has launched Gen-3 Alpha, building on the text-to-video model by using images to prompt realistic videos generated in seconds. Navigate to Runway’s web-based interface and click on “try Gen 3-Alpha” and you’ll land on a screen with an image uploader, as well as a text box for those who either prefer that approach or want to use natural language to tweak results. Runway lets users generate up to 10 seconds of contiguous video using a credit system. “Image to Video is major update that greatly improves the artistic control,” Runway said in an announcement. Continue reading Runway’s Gen-3 Alpha Creates Realistic Video from Still Image

China’s Kuaishou Technology has a video generator called Kling AI in public beta that is getting great word-of-mouth, with comments from “incredibly realistic” to “Sora killer,” a reference to OpenAI’s still in closed beta video generator. Kuaishou claims that using only text prompts, Kling can generate “AI videos that closely mimic the real world’s complex motion patterns and physical characteristics,” in sequences as long as two minutes at 30 fps and 1080p, while supporting various aspect ratios. Kuaishou is China’s second most popular short-form video app, after ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Continue reading ByteDance Rival Kuaishou Creates Kling AI Video Generator

Privately-held startup ByteDance, owner of TikTok, reported that its revenue more than doubled to $34.3 billion last year, rising 111 percent from a year ago while gross profit rose 93 percent to $19 billion. As of December 2020, ByteDance — which also runs Douyin, the domestic Chinese version of TikTok, and Jinri Toutiao, a news aggregation app — had about 1.9 billion monthly active users on all its platforms. Due to share-based compensation to workers, the company had a $2.1 billion operating loss last year. Continue reading ByteDance Revenue, Profit Leap in 2020 But No IPO in Sight

Although the Ant Group suspended its high-profile IPO last week, Kuaishou Technology, a popular short-video and streaming media platform founded in 2011, is moving ahead. According to sources, the company, whose platform competes with ByteDance’s Douyin (TikTok in China), aims to raise about $5 billion and reach a valuation of about $50 billion by filing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong as soon as January 2021. The company was founded by engineers Su Hua, formerly at Google China, and Cheng Yixiao, a Hewlett Packard veteran. Continue reading Kuaishou, Rival to ByteDance’s Douyin, Plans Hong Kong IPO