Google's Veo 3 videos have propagated across the Internet since the model's debut in May, blurring the line between truth and fiction. Now, it's getting even easier to create these AI videos. The Gemini app is gaining photo-to-video generation, allowing you to upload a photo and turn it into a video. You don't have to pay anything extra for these Veo 3 videos, but the feature is only available to subscribers of Google's Pro and Ultra AI plans.
When Veo 3 launched, it could conjure up a video based only on your description, complete with speech, music, and background audio. This has made Google's new AI videos staggeringly realistic—it's actually getting hard to identify AI videos at a glance. Using a reference photo makes it easier to get the look you want without tediously describing every aspect. This was an option in Google's Flow AI tool for filmmakers, but now it's in the Gemini app and web interface.
To create a video from a photo, you have to select "Video" from the Gemini toolbar. Once this feature is available, you can then add your image and prompt, including audio and dialogue. Generating the video takes several minutes—this process takes a lot of computation, which is why video output is still quite limited.
AMC Networks' "Better Call Saul." The company recently did a deal with Runway to use its AI for marketing.
Greg Lewis/Sony Pictures Television
Hollywood companies continue to integrate AI, even as they challenge its applications in court.
AI startups like Toonstar and Chronicle Studios are innovating in animation.
Studios are using the tech to promote content discovery and reduce production costs.
Hollywood giants are pushing back on AI's encroachment. Disney and Universal recently sued Midjourney, accusing it of using tech to rip off their famous characters.
But inside entertainment companies, it's a whole different story. The biggest studios and filmmakers are using AI technology in various ways — and people in Hollywood are taking note. The AI on the Lot conference in May has doubled its attendance to 1,200 over three years, while AI editing company Runway attracted some 1,000 people to its third film festival.
The tantalizing promise of AI is that it could solve big problems in the entertainment business, like content discovery and high production costs.
"No matter how you feel about AI tools in the media and entertainment business, they're here to stay," said Peter Csathy, who advises media companies.
Investors are climbing on board companies like Ecco, an AI startup that helps people find titles across multiple streamers using queries like "find me all the shows about F1." It has raised $7 million from Ben Silverman, Shaquille O'Neal, and others.
One such investor is Ishan Sinha, a consumer partner at Point72 Ventures. He said the hype around AI-generated video hasn't translated into consumer interest. He sees the most potential in companies that use AI to promote distribution through personalization, translation, and IP ownership.
"We believe the winning consumer businesses aggregate eyeballs — they have some type of a hook, whether it's content aggregation, playlists, proprietary IP, etc., that acquires and retains users," he said.
Point72 Ventures' investments include GlobalComix, which uses AI to bring recommendations and language translation to comic book and manga readers that they couldn't otherwise find, and Cheehoo, which is working with studios to simplify animation.
The firm also invested in Chronicle Studios, which aims to help animators grow their audiences and monetize their projects beyond YouTube.
Here are some AI companies transforming different areas of Hollywood, and the pitch decks some of them used to raise funding.
Faster, cheaper animation
AI may still be a long way from making full-length movies, but it's quickly making inroads in animation. Toonstar, a startup behind "StEvEn & Parker," uses AI for tasks ranging from developing storylines to creating images and says it can make episodes at a fraction of the cost of conventional methods.
Chronicle Studios is a startup cofounded by Chris deFaria, a former animation president at Warner Bros. and Comcast's DreamWorks, that's using AI to help creators level up, with a focus on animators. Others chasing the animation or independent creator opportunity are Further Adventures, a new studio that's investing in digital creators and independent filmmakers; Invisible Universe, an animation studio backed by Seven Seven Six; and Promise, an AI studio backed by Peter Chernin's North Road, Andreessen Horowitz, and Google.
"AI can't really make stories that are enduring," deFaria told BI. "The biggest pain point is getting an audience."
Other companies, such as Runway, which has raised $545 million from General Atlantic and others, and Connect Ventures-backed Deep Voodoo, are using AI to provide tools for de-aging and other special effects work.
Some have entered the rollup stage. Metaphysic, which was known for de-aging Tom Hanks and Robin Wright for the Robert Zemeckis film "Here," was acquired in February by DNEG Group's AI company Brahma. Papercup's voice-cloning IP was acquired in June by RWS, a content solutions company, while its team was acquired by Scale AI.
AI is also being applied to speed the dubbing process, recreate the voices of bygone actors, and restore old films and TV series. With streamers going global, there's a big demand to translate titles for new markets, and new approaches to AI promise to eliminate awkward dubbing of the past.
Runway made news this past year for deals with Lionsgate to train an AI model on its library and with AMC Networks, which will use its tools to generate promotional material for its shows.
One player, Deepdub, which uses AI to dub movies and shows, just extended its tech to real-time dubbing of live sports commentary, esports shoutcasting, and breaking news coverage.
"For the first time, broadcasters can deliver real-time, multilingual dubbing that captures not just words, but the energy, urgency, and authenticity of live content," said Ofir Krakowski, the company's CEO.
Startups are tackling different phases of production
A third area where AI startups have been active in Hollywood is in the content creation process more broadly.
This can involve everything from AI in the script reading phase to scouring video libraries to generate new ideas for titles based on what's performed well in the past.
One, Paris-based Moments Lab, recently raised a $24 million round from backers including Oxx and Orange Ventures to expand its AI tools that are used by Warner Bros. Discovery, Hearst, and others.
Moments can make clips for social media seven times faster than the conventional approach, cofounder Phil Petitpont recently told BI, citing internal research. He said media companies would be able to use AI to help make full-length documentaries based on their video libraries in several months, while predictive modeling tools that can suggest audience-boosting changes are a year away.
"We're not very far from that because audience data is very easily available on YouTube," he said.
Trump's new proposal includes tax cuts, student loan reforms, and stricter rules for Medicaid and SNAP. Here's what the four biggest changes could mean for you.
The release of Google's Veo 3 video generator in May represented a disconcerting leap in AI video quality. While many of the viral AI videos we've seen are harmless fun, the model's pixel-perfect output can also be used for nefarious purposes. On TikTok, which may or may not be banned in the coming months, users have noticed a surplus of racist AI videos, courtesy of Google's Veo 3.
According to a report from MediaMatters, numerous TikTok accounts have started posting AI-generated videos that use racist and antisemitic tropes in recent weeks. Most of the AI vitriol is aimed at Black people, depicting them as "the usual suspects" in crimes, absent parents, and monkeys with an affinity for watermelon. The content also targets immigrants and Jewish people. The videos top out at eight seconds and bear the "Veo" watermark, confirming they came from Google's leading AI model.
The compilation video below has examples pulled from TikTok since the release of Veo 3, but be warned, it contains racist and antisemitic content. Some of the videos are shocking, which is likely the point—nothing drives engagement on social media like anger and drama. MediaMatters reports that the original posts have numerous comments echoing the stereotypes used in the video.
Warren Buffett is great at identifying companies with wide competitive moats trading at compelling valuations.
This company has built a moat with its brands and barriers to entry.
And its stock trades at a valuation as low as it's ever been in the last decade.
Warren Buffett has made himself and the investors in Berkshire Hathaway(NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) very wealthy by identifying companies trading at great value relative to their long-term outlook. Often times, political and economic environments will dull the near-term outlook for a business. Those are often opportunities for Buffett, particularly if he can identify impacted businesses that exhibit wide competitive moats.
You can see that in some of Buffett's most recent purchases. For example, he has invested heavily into Constellation Brands(NYSE: STZ), which distributes some of the most popular Mexican beer brands in the U.S. Import tariffs threatened its core business, but it saw some relief as the tax on alcohol has been waived (but not the tax on the aluminum cans the drinks come in). Over the long run, however, it should be able to keep growing, making it a smart investment for those willing to buy and hold.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
But another Buffett investment looks like even better value with a decade-low earnings multiple and an even stronger business and competitive moat. Here's the Buffett stock value investors should buy now and hold forever.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
The stock to buy in the face of growing uncertainty
President Donald Trump's tariffs are a threat to any company relying on importing products into the United States. With a rise in costs for distributors or retailers, imports are set to see a rise in price to help offset those tariffs. While most of them are currently paused, the Trump tariffs are set to go into effect on July 9.
That's bad news for companies that don't have much pricing power versus comparable low-cost replacements from domestic providers. But companies with unique products, brands, or limited domestic competition will fare much better in the face of Trump's tariffs. That's why Diageo(NYSE: DEO) looks like a great opportunity for investors right now.
Diageo is the company behind brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Ketel One, Don Julio, and many other premium spirits. It's also the home of Guinness, the iconic Irish stout. Its portfolio includes over 200 brands, and its sales span 180 countries.
However, 39% of the company's sales were in North America last year. That means tariffs will take a big bite out of its business. Management estimates the 10% tariff will cost the company about $150 million per year.
As such, distributors imported additional units into the U.S. last quarter, artificially inflating its net sales growth to 5.9% year over year. Investors should expect margin deterioration this quarter, management says, but sales growth may only fall back modestly.
In other words, management is weathering the storm pretty well. The damage would be far worse if it weren't for the strength of Diageo's brands and its competitive position.
The wide moat keeping spirits up
Diageo's biggest moat comes from its brand names. While its portfolio spans all sorts of price points, it has put a significant focus more recently on acquiring and building premium brands. Not only does that give it more leeway to increase prices (since it doesn't compete on price), it also plays into the trend for drinkers focusing on higher quality spirits.
Diageo's whisky brands like Johnnie Walker and Lagavulin benefit from the limited locations for scotch production. And it's tough for new competitors to enter the market because the aging process is an important factor for spirits like scotch, especially on the high end. Johnnie Walker Blue is a blend that includes rare whiskys aged as long as 60 years.
In other words, there aren't very many replacement products for Diageo's spirits. That's further supported by management's expectations to exhibit operating leverage in 2026 and beyond, which should result in strong earnings growth.
Even with mid-single-digit revenue growth, earnings per share should grow closer to 10% when combined with its share repurchase program. Management will pay a growing dividend each year on top of that. And with shares trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of just 15.6, near a decade low, the stock looks like an absolute bargain right now.
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Last week, I attended a film festival dedicated to shorts made using generative AI. Dubbed AIFF 2025, it was an event precariously balancing between two different worlds.
The festival was hosted by Runway, a company that produces models and tools for generating images and videos. In panels and press briefings, a curated list of industry professionals made the case for Hollywood to embrace AI tools. In private meetings with industry professionals, I gained a strong sense that there is already a widening philosophical divide within the film and television business.
I also interviewed Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela about the tightrope he walks as he pitches his products to an industry that has deeply divided feelings about what role AI will have in its future.
Even in the age of TikTok, YouTube viewership continues to climb. While Google's iconic video streaming platform has traditionally pushed creators to produce longer videos that can accommodate more ads, the site's Shorts format is growing fast. That growth may explode in the coming months, as YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has announced that the Google Veo 3 AI video generator will be integrated with YouTube Shorts later this summer.
According to Mohan, YouTube Shorts has seen a rise in popularity even compared to YouTube as a whole. The streaming platform is now the most watched source of video in the world, but Shorts specifically have seen a massive 186 percent increase in viewership over the past year. Mohan says Shorts now average 200 billion daily views.
YouTube has already equipped creators with a few AI tools, including Dream Screen, which can produce AI video backgrounds with a text prompt. Veo 3 support will be a significant upgrade, though. At the Cannes festival, Mohan revealed that the streaming site will begin offering integration with Google's leading video model later this summer. "I believe these tools will open new creative lanes for everyone to explore," said Mohan.
Amazon forced all Prime Video subscribers onto a new ad-based subscription tier in January 2024 unless users paid more for their subscription type. Now, the tech giant is reportedly showing twice as many ads to subscribers as it did when it started selling ad-based streaming subscriptions.
Currently, anyone who signs up for Amazon Prime (which is $15 per month or $139 per year) gets Prime Video with ads. If they don’t want to see commercials, they have to pay an extra $3 per month. One can also subscribe to Prime Video alone for $9 per month with ads or $12 per month without ads.
When Amazon originally announced the ad tier, it said it would deliver “meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers." Based on “six ad buyers and documents” ad trade publication AdWeek reported viewing, Amazon has determined the average is four to six minutes of advertisements per hour.
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