Vimeo is leveraging artificial intelligence to automate video editing, and says its new AI suite of tools enables the creation of “a fully produced video in minutes by generating scripts from text prompts, recording videos in one take, and editing content as easily as a Word doc,” the company claims. Features include recording using a built-in screen teleprompter and the ability to quickly delete unwanted filler words (“ums” and “uhs”) and long pauses. The video hosting and sharing platform is rolling out the AI tools in July as part of the $20 per month standard subscription. Continue reading Vimeo Says Its AI Makes Video as Easy to Edit as Word Docs

Elon Musk and new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino shared a platform vision heavy on creator-commerce partnerships as well as video, which has grown vertical engagement to “more than 10 percent” of user time on the social service. The duo said on a video call with investors last week that the company is pursuing collaborations with entertainment figures, politicians, media publishers and payment services, and that Twitter is securing “money transmitter licenses” in each of the 50 U.S. states as part of Musk’s vision to turn the service into a super app. Continue reading Twitter’s New Business Plan Marks Shift to Video, Commerce

Twitter is being sued for more than $250 million in damages by a coalition of music publishers alleging copyright violations. More than a dozen plaintiffs — including Universal Music, EMI, Kobalt and Sony — are captioned on the complaint, which was coordinated by the National Music Publishers’ Association and filed last week in federal court in Tennessee listing Elon Musk’s X Corp. and Twitter as defendants. The complaint claims songwriters are owed compensation for music-backed videos posted to the platform. The litigation is the latest financial woe for Twitter, which Musk purchased for $44 billion last year. Continue reading Music Publishers Take On Twitter for Copyright Infringements

Vizio has added a new discovery feature, Content Connections as part of its WatchFree+ service and smart TV interface. NBCUniversal’s Peacock has climbed aboard as the platform’s first Content Connections partner. With Content Connections, users can move seamlessly from Vizio’s FAST environment, WatchFree+, to services available through paid subscription. The Peacock Preview channel will let consumers with Vizio smart TVs have free access for a three-week period to select episodes from more than 16 Peacock series. Content Connections will serve viewers with “intuitive messages” directing them to participating platforms’ streaming apps. Continue reading Peacock Signs Up for Vizio’s WatchFree+ Discovery Feature

Epic Games is releasing MetaHuman Animator, which lets developers create nuanced facial animation by capturing an actor’s performance using an iPhone or stereo head-mounted camera system and a PC. The system eliminates the need for manual touch-ups, according to Epic, capturing “every subtle expression, look, and emotion” and replicating it onto a digital character for a faster performance capture workflow that allows more creative control. The new feature set uses a 4D solver to combine video and depth data with a MetaHuman representation of the performer. The animation is produced locally using GPU hardware, providing final results in “minutes.” Continue reading New Tool from Epic Simplifies High-Fidelity Facial Animation

Meta Platforms continues to make progress on a mission to develop artificial intelligence that can teach itself to learn how the world works. Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun has taken a special interest in developing the new model, called Image Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture, or I-JEPA, which learns by building an internal representation of the outside world and analyzing image abstracts instead of comparing pixels. The approach allows AI techto learn more like humans do, with their ability to figure out complex tasks and adapt to new situations. Continue reading Meta Develops Computer Vision AI That Learns Like Humans

A bill passed by the Louisiana State Legislature that bans minors from creating social media accounts without parental consent is the latest in a string of legal measures that take aim at the online world to combat a perceived mental health crisis among America’s youth. Utah also recently passed a law requiring consent of a parent or guardian when anyone under 18 wants to create a social account. And California now mandates some sites default to the highest privacy for minor accounts. The Louisiana legislation stands out as extremely restrictive, encompassing multiplayer games and video-sharing apps. Continue reading Louisiana Approves Parental Consent Bill for Online Accounts

Google-backed AI startup Runway has released Gen-2, an early entry among commercially available text-to-video models. Previously waitlisted in limited release, the commercial availability is impactful, since text-to-video is predicted as the next big bump in artificial intelligence, following the explosion of AI use generating text and images. While Runway’s solution may not be ready to serve as a professional video tool, this is the next step in development of tech expected to impact media and entertainment. Filmmaker Joe Russo recently predicted that within the next two years, AI may have the ability to create feature films. Continue reading Runway Makes Next Advance in Consumer Text-to-Video AI

Meta Platforms previewed its in-development Twitter rival, called Project 92, for staff last week. Chief product officer Chris Cox demoed the decentralized app, which the company plans to launch through Instagram. Meta received feedback from creators and high-profile figures indicating they want “a sanely run” platform. Project 92 — also referred to internally as “P92” or “Barcelona” — bears similarities to Twitter but unlike that closed system will interoperate with other decentralized social apps like Mastodon and Bluesky. Although a specific timeline wasn’t shared, Cox reportedly said Meta plans to launch P92 “as soon as we can.” Continue reading Meta Unveils Its Upcoming Twitter Competitor for Employees

Amazon may be further leveraging its enviable position with Madison Avenue by launching an ad-supported Prime Video tier. The move makes sense given Amazon’s surging ad revenue from online sales. The company also owns the FAST service Freevee. Amazon’s ad savvy runs deep, and reports suggest the e-commerce giant is also in discussions with Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global to package the ad-supported versions of Max and Paramount+ under the Prime Video Channels banner. The news comes on the eve of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the global marketing elite. Continue reading Amazon Explores Launching Ad-Supported Prime Video Tier

TikTok is targeting a massive four-fold increase in global e-commerce revenue this year, aiming for $20 billion in sales. The social media platform reported gross merchandise activity of $4.4 billion last year, which reflects the total sale of goods via the TikTok Shop e-commerce solution. TikTok is banking on significant growth in markets including Indonesia, where influencers live-stream shopping pitches for everything from denim jeans to lipstick. The U.S. and Europe account for a tiny portion of the projected goal, but TikTok is hoping for modest gains in those areas as well. Continue reading TikTok Is Aiming for $20 Billion in Global E-Commerce Sales

AI startup Dumme (pronounced “dummy”) is generating prerelease fervor, with hundreds of creators signing up for a test and a waitlist topping 20,000 for the video editing platform, which automates creation of short-form videos from long-form fare. The Y Combinator-backed company has raised $3.4 million in a seed round following its 2022 launch. Dumme’s pitch is two-fold: you don’t have to be a genius to use it, and the AI-generated results will be better than what a human could achieve manually when it comes to trimming long-form YouTube content for short-form platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. Continue reading AI Startup Dumme Makes Easy Work of Editing Short Videos

Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro headset will begin shipping in early 2024, CEO Tim Cook announced Monday at WWDC, calling it a device for “spatial computing.” The company’s new visionOS operating system is described as a mashup of iOS, macOS and tvOS, designed for “an entirely new universe of apps for Vision Pro,” according to Apple. Unity was revealed as the principal development engine for Vision Pro content. The upcoming headset, powered by Apple’s high-end M2 chip, supports 4K resolution and features embedded audio pods. The company emphasized gaming and streaming services, in addition to productivity and communication. Continue reading WWDC: Apple Unveils Its ‘Vision Pro’ Mixed Reality Headset

Day one of Apple’s WWDC 2023 conference from the company’s headquarters in Cupertino was about much more than the anticipated Vision Pro mixed reality headset. The company introduced a powerhouse Mac Pro with Ultra M2, starting at $6,999, and upgraded Mac Studio desktops with M2 Max or M2 Ultra chips. The macOS Sonoma desktop operating system was among the reveals, along with the new 15-inch MacBook Air. Apple took the wraps off iOS 17 and announced that FaceTime and videoconferencing are coming to Apple TV in 4K with tvOS 17. The company’s watchOS 10 rounded out the new product and software highlights. Continue reading WWDC: Apple Surprises with Product and Software Reveals

Nvidia Research is releasing a new AI model called Neuralangelo that can turn 2D iPhone video clips into 3D structures, virtually replicating sculptures, buildings and other real world objects in great detail. Named for Michelangelo’s life-like creations from blocks of marble, Neuralangelo is able to accurately capture repetitive texture patterns, homogenous colors, and strong color variations, tasks that were problematic for earlier AI models. Neuralangelo accomplishes the feat using instant neural graphics primitives, the technology behind Nvidia Instant NeRF. Continue reading Nvidia’s Neuralangelo AI Turns 2D Video Clips into 3D Worlds