YouTube announced on Wednesday that it’s giving Shorts creators access to new generative AI features, including an image-to-video AI tool and new AI effects.
The image-to-video feature lets users turn a picture from their camera roll into a six-second video. Users will see a selection of suggestions relevant to the photo they uploaded. YouTube says the feature can be used to add movement to landscape photos, animate pictures of everyday scenes, or bring group photos to life. In an example provided by YouTube, the feature turns a static image of a pedestrian signal into a short video that slowly zooms into a dancing version of the walking man symbol.
This feature works similarly to an offering already available in Gemini. It also resembles the ‘Animate’ tool in Meta’s Edits app, which uses AI to transform static images into videos.
The new tool is rolling out over the next week in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. YouTube plans to expand it to more regions later this year. Google Photos is also set to receive a similar image-to-video tool.
As for the new AI effects, creators can use them to transform doodles into artistic images and turn selfies into videos where they’re swimming underwater, twinning with someone, and more. Users can find these effects by navigating to the “Effects” icon in the Shorts camera and tapping “AI” to browse all the generative options.
YouTube notes that these features are powered by Veo 2, Google’s AI model for video generation. The platform uses SynthID watermarks and clear labels to indicate AI-generated content.
Last month at Cannes Lions 2025, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced that Google’s Veo 3 video generator, which can produce both video and audio, will be coming to Shorts later this summer. He also shared that Shorts now average more than 200 billion daily views.
YouTube also introduced AI Playground, a new hub for generative AI creation tools, inspirational examples, and pre-filled prompts. Creators can access AI Playground by tapping the create button and then the sparkle icon in the top right corner. It’s currently available in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.