Google has officially launched Veo 2, its latest AI-powered video generation tool, now available globally to subscribers of its premium Gemini Advanced plan. The release marks Google’s most significant entry yet into the competitive generative video AI space, setting Veo 2 up as a direct rival to OpenAI’s Sora platform.
The launch follows closely on the heels of Runway’s announcement of its fourth-generation video model, accompanied by a substantial $300 million investment round—signalling growing investor interest in the synthetic media sector.
How it works
From Tuesday, Gemini Advanced users can access Veo 2 through the model selection menu in Google’s Gemini apps. The tool enables users to produce eight-second video clips at 720p resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio. These clips can be downloaded in MP4 format or shared directly to social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
To help distinguish AI-generated content, each video will feature a watermark using SynthID, Google’s proprietary content tagging technology. However, Veo 2 does come with limitations—users face a monthly cap on the number of videos they can generate, and the feature is not currently available for those on Google Workspace’s business or education plans.
Integration with Whisk
As part of the rollout, Google is also integrating Veo 2 into Whisk, an experimental feature under Google Labs. Whisk allows users to generate still images using visual prompts. A new extension—Whisk Animate—enables these images to be transformed into short animated clips using the Veo 2 model.
These experimental tools are accessible via Google’s $20-per-month Google One AI Premium subscription, which offers early access to the company’s newest AI technologies.
Though Veo 2’s capabilities remain relatively basic, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, hinted at more advanced developments on the horizon. He revealed that Google plans to merge its Gemini AI with Veo to improve the model’s understanding of real-world physics and motion dynamics.
Creative sector voices concern
The rapid advancement of tools like Veo 2 has sparked concern among creative professionals. A 2024 study commissioned by the Animation Guild—a U.S. union representing animators and cartoonists—estimated that over 100,000 jobs in the American film, television, and animation industries could be affected by AI technologies by 2026.
Google’s key rival, OpenAI, launched its own video generation platform, Sora, last year. Sora can create highly realistic, 1080p video clips based on simple text prompts. Its capabilities include complex scenes with multiple characters, detailed backgrounds, dynamic movement, and even the ability to extend existing footage by “filling in” missing visual information.