YouTube has announced its plans to integrate Google DeepMind’s AI video generation model, Veo, into YouTube Shorts, marking a significant step in advancing AI-assisted content creation on the platform. This new feature will help creators produce high-quality backgrounds and short six-second video clips. Veo, introduced earlier this year, is a powerful video generation model that directly competes with OpenAI’s Sora. During the “Made by YouTube” event, the platform revealed that Veo’s integration would allow creators to brainstorm and generate content within YouTube Studio. Additionally, it offers the capability to create AI-generated thumbnails and assist in crafting comments, giving creators more ways to engage with their audiences.
Veo’s introduction to Shorts marks a significant improvement over YouTube’s previous AI-powered tool, Dream Screen, which launched in 2023 to generate video backgrounds for Shorts. What makes Veo stand out is its ability to edit and remix existing generated content, offering creators greater creative freedom. For the first time, creators will be able to produce six-second video clips, adding a dynamic feature to Shorts. By entering a prompt, creators can generate four custom images using Dream Screen, then select one to animate into a video. This makes it easier to fill in gaps in videos, improving their narrative flow and visual consistency. YouTube also revealed that Veo will be integrated into Dream Screen later this year, with creations marked as AI-generated using DeepMind’s SynthID watermark technology.
YouTube is also rolling out additional features to enhance the user experience. One of the highlights is the Jewels feature, which allows viewers to send digital gifts during livestreams, aiming to boost interaction between creators and their audiences. Initially available in the US, Jewels will expand over time. YouTube has also upgraded its dubbing capabilities, adding support for new languages such as French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. The platform is testing a natural speech mode, called expressive speech, which maintains the tone, pitch, and background audio of creators in dubbed content for a more authentic experience.
Moreover, YouTube is expanding its Community feature to more channels, encouraging more engagement between creators and their audiences through shared posts and real-time interactions. The Hype feature, first piloted in Brazil, Turkey, and Taiwan, is also being expanded to new markets, allowing users to show support for their favorite creators. Videos that receive the most hype points will be highlighted on a special leaderboard, giving creators an additional way to stand out and connect with their audiences.