First came the rise of AI chatbots, then image generators blew up. Now, tech companies are rushing to release AI video generators.
During the past year, nearly every major tech company has announced some kind of AI video model they've been cooking. Each company has its own timeline, which can make it hard to keep up with who's done what. To save you from searching, I've run down every major AI video program and compiled my early insights on the testing I've done on the programs available now. They aren't all built the same, and there are noticeable difference even across one company's AI products. For example, I've seen some of my favorite image generator features pop up in the video models, while others are noticeably absent.
AI videos are a huge leap forward in a company's AI creative offerings, and they're something worth keeping an eye on as generative AI become a bigger part of the content we create and see online. This is especially true as the advancement of the tech comes at a time when the legality, ethics and other concerns continue to surround AI creative offerings.
This is everything you need to know about the major AI video generators. This list is regularly updated with the most recent info on each generator. For more, check out the best AI image generators.
What are AI video generators?
AI video generators are one of the latest ways tech companies are using generative AI. These programs use text-to-video and image-to-video technology that lets you create short video clips. You enter a short description called a prompt, or upload an image to animate, and the software creates a clip entirely made with gen AI. These AI videos tend to be between five and 10 seconds long, and only Google's Veo 3 has synchronized audio. Because this tech is new, errors -- called hallucinations -- are possible.
What AI video models I can use right now?
Some examples of AI video generators you can use now are Sora by OpenAI, Veo 3 by Google and Adobe Firefly. They are all are paid programs that produce decent results and let you customize your shot with control panels. Runway, an AI start-up that co-created the Stable Diffusion image generator, is another AI video option with freemium plans. Other AI start-ups like Luma, Pika and Ideogram are also available.
CNET, Lily Hailyeh OpenAI's Sora Sora joined the ChatGPT family at the end of 2024. It's a pretty user-friendly program, but it doesn't have the same conversational UI as Dall-E 3 -- you can't "chat" with Sora to make follow-up revisions. Instead, it's more reminiscent of traditional AI creative services. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.) In Sora, you have a panel to customize your video's dimensions, length and stylistic feel. You can enter a prompt or upload an image for Sora to animate, and you can use a few editing options to perfect your video from there. Sora videos also come automatically watermarked, designating their AI origins. Sora is only available to paying ChatGPT users. If you're a ChatGPT Plus user ($20 per month) you'll get 50 priority generation credits per month, with videos up to 5 seconds long at 720p. Upgrading to the Pro tier ($200 per month) gets higher monthly credits, including 500 videos created with priority/fast generation and unlimited videos with relaxed generation. Pro subscribers can also create higher-resolution videos at a max of 1080p, extend the duration of their videos up to 20 seconds and have the option to download videos without the watermark. OpenAI's privacy policy states that it may train on your content unless you opt out. To do that in Sora, go to Settings > General, and turn off Improve model for everyone. You can also exclude your videos from public explore feeds in settings. See at OpenAI
Midjourney Midjourney V1 Midjourney is one of the most popular AI image generators, and it just released its first AI video model called V1. You can use Midjourney to create video clips between 5-and-21 seconds long in 720p resolution. You can use Midjourney through Discord or its website. Right now, video generation is paywalled for users, but it's one of the cheaper options at $10 per month. Midjourney's privacy policy says it can use personal information and information included in your prompts to improve its service. If you create in Stealth mode, then your AI images will be private; otherwise they will be shared in a public gallery. See at Midjourney
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