Meta Platforms, Inc. (META.O) announced on Friday the launch of its new artificial intelligence model, Movie Gen, which can generate realistic video and audio clips based on user prompts. This development positions Meta as a competitor to leading media generation startups like OpenAI and ElevenLabs.
Movie Gen showcases its capabilities through a range of sample videos, including scenes of animals swimming and surfing, as well as innovative creations using real photos of individuals engaged in activities such as painting. The model also generates background music and sound effects that sync with the video content, enhancing the overall viewing experience.
In a demonstration of Movie Gen’s editing features, the tool was used to modify existing footage. For instance, it creatively inserted pom-poms into the hands of a man running in the desert, and transformed a dry parking lot into a splashing puddle for a skateboarding scene. Meta stated that videos produced by Movie Gen can be as long as 16 seconds, while audio clips can extend up to 45 seconds.
Meta shared data indicating that blind tests suggest Movie Gen performs favorably against offerings from other startups, including Runway and OpenAI. The announcement comes amid ongoing discussions in Hollywood about the potential of generative AI video technology, particularly following Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s February reveal of Sora, a tool capable of generating feature film-like videos from text prompts.
While technologists in the entertainment sector are keen to leverage such tools to enhance and expedite filmmaking processes, there are significant concerns regarding copyright infringement. Critics worry that generative AI systems may have been trained on copyrighted works without proper authorization. Additionally, lawmakers are increasingly alarmed about the misuse of AI-generated content, such as deepfakes, particularly in the context of elections across various countries, including the U.S., Pakistan, India, and Indonesia.
Despite the excitement surrounding Movie Gen, Meta representatives indicated that the company is unlikely to make the model available for open use by developers, as it has with its Llama series of large-language models. Instead, Meta plans to collaborate directly with the entertainment industry and other content creators to explore the applications of Movie Gen, with plans to integrate it into Meta’s own products sometime next year.
Meta’s development of Movie Gen involved a combination of licensed and publicly available datasets, as outlined in a recent blog post and accompanying research paper. This careful approach aims to balance innovation with ethical considerations in AI development.
As the conversation around AI in entertainment continues, major players like OpenAI are engaging with Hollywood executives to explore potential partnerships. However, no formal agreements have yet emerged. The scrutiny surrounding AI technologies heightened earlier this year when actress Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of imitating her voice without consent in its chatbot.
In a notable move, Lions Gate Entertainment (LGFa.N), known for franchises like “The Hunger Games” and “Twilight,” recently granted AI startup Runway access to its film and television library to train an AI model, signaling a willingness to explore AI’s role in enhancing creative processes.
As Meta and other tech giants forge ahead with AI advancements, the industry remains at a crossroads, navigating the complexities of innovation while addressing ethical and legal concerns.(Source-Reuters)
