YouTube Adds New Generative AI Features to Shorts with Veo Image Animation and AI Playground

YouTube is introducing new generative AI features to its Shorts platform, including image-to-video animation and animation of drawings. The platform is also launching an "AI Playground" that will house various AI experiences for users to experiment with. The features are powered by Veo 2 and will be upgraded to Veo 3 shortly. All generative AI features will use SynthID watermarks and be clearly labelled as AI-generated.

YouTube has announced a suite of new generative AI features for its Shorts platform, aimed at enhancing content creation capabilities for creators. The new tools include an image-to-video animation feature and an AI Playground, which will centralize various AI experiences for users to explore. These features are powered by Google's Veo 2 AI model and will be upgraded to Veo 3 later this summer.

The image-to-video feature allows users to transform static images from their camera roll into dynamic six-second videos. This feature is currently rolling out in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with broader availability planned for later this year. YouTube demonstrated the feature by animating a pedestrian signal image into a dancing walk symbol.

In addition to the image-to-video feature, YouTube is introducing new AI-powered effects that can transform basic doodles into stylized images and turn selfies into videos with various themes, such as swimming underwater or twinning with a lookalike sibling. Users can find these effects by navigating to the "Effects" icon in the Shorts camera and tapping "AI" to browse all generative effects.

To centralize its creative tools, YouTube has also launched AI Playground, a new space where creators can access the latest generative AI creation tools, including AI effects, inspirational examples, and pre-filled prompts. AI Playground is currently available in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

These new features are powered by Veo 2, Google's AI model for video generation. YouTube will upgrade these tools to Veo 3 later this summer, which can generate both video and synchronized audio. All generative AI features will use SynthID watermarks and be clearly labeled as AI-generated to ensure transparency.

Google Photos is also launching its own photo-to-video feature, further expanding the company's suite of creative tools. This move aligns with YouTube's broader strategy to provide creators with a more robust set of tools to generate engaging content.

These new features are part of YouTube's ongoing effort to leverage AI to enhance its Shorts platform and provide creators with more options to experiment and innovate. As these features roll out, they will likely attract more creators to the platform, potentially driving user growth and engagement.

References:
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/23/youtube-shorts-is-adding-an-image-to-video-ai-tool-new-ai-effects/
[2] https://www.business-standard.com/technology/tech-news/youtube-shorts-gets-ai-image-to-video-tool-new-effects-check-what-s-new-125072400571_1.html
[3] https://www.storyboard18.com/digital/youtube-shorts-launches-ai-tools-to-boost-creator-content-76550.htm