Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 16
Google Vids Adds 2 AI Video Tools, Expanding Beyond Workspace Presentations
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 16

Google Vids Adds 2 AI Video Tools, Expanding Beyond Workspace Presentations

3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 16

Summary

  • Google on Thursday updated Vids with custom AI avatars built from a user's selfie and voice recording, letting people create videos that look and sound like them.
  • Gemini Omni is also coming to Vids, generating videos from text prompts plus reference images and supporting step-by-step edits instead of forcing users to restart.
  • The model can swap backgrounds, fix lighting in phone-shot clips and add effects, pushing Vids from an AI-assisted presentation app toward a broader video creation platform.
  • Google said personal avatars are limited to account holders' own likenesses, tied to their Google accounts, invisibly watermarked with SynthID, and available only to users 18 or older in certain regions.
  • By embedding the features in Google Workspace, Google is targeting business uses such as training and company updates while moving closer to AI video rivals including HeyGen, Synthesia and D-ID.

Insights

With Google Vids offering free AI avatars, is the subscription model for tools like HeyGen now obsolete?
Deepfake fraud cost one firm $25 million. Can Google's invisible watermarks truly protect our new digital twins?
As we create perfect AI versions of ourselves, what happens to the value of authentic human communication?