Snapchat announced on Tuesday the launch of AI Clips in Lens Studio. Lens Studio is the platform that allows creators to design and publish AR and AI effects, known as Lenses. This new format uses artificial intelligence to transform a single photograph into a five-second video.
Unlike open-ended text-to-video tools, AI Clips function as a closed-prompt experience. A Lens creator designs the specific Lens, and then users can simply tap it to generate a video from their own personal photos. For instance, a creator could design a Lens that lets users create a video of themselves walking down a red carpet using just a single picture.
According to Snapchat, both experienced and new developers can use this format to turn a single prompt into a published Lens in just minutes, without requiring any external tools. Access to AI Clips is available to Snapchat users who subscribe to the platform’s Lens+ offering, which costs $8.99 per month. Lens+ provides access to exclusive Lenses and AR experiences, in addition to the features of a standard Snapchat+ subscription.
Snapchat stated that this marks the first time developers can build and publish photo-to-video AI directly to Snapchat from the GenAI Suite in Lens Studio. The company claims there is currently nothing else on the market that combines closed-prompt AI video generation with direct photo input, real distribution, and monetization.
Creators who are enrolled in Lens+ Payouts, Snapchat’s monetization program for developers, can earn revenue from the AI Clips they create.
Snapchat is not alone in this space. YouTube announced last week it was rolling out a new feature called “Reimagine.” This tool lets users transform a single frame from an existing YouTube Short into an eight-second clip using their own photo.
The launch of AI Clips coincides with Snapchat’s announcement that users created nearly two trillion Snaps in 2025, which averages to about 63,000 Snaps per second.