Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced a new artificial intelligence model on Friday called “Movie Gen,” designed to create realistic videos and audio clips based on user prompts. Meta claims this model could rival leading media generation tools like OpenAI’s offerings and ElevenLabs.

Movie Gen’s capabilities include generating short video clips that range from animals swimming or surfing to personalized videos that feature real photos of people performing various actions, such as painting. Additionally, the AI can create synchronized background music and sound effects tailored to the visuals, offering users more control over their content. Meta highlighted that Movie Gen can also be used for editing, showcasing examples where the model inserted pom-poms into the hands of a runner in the desert and transformed a dry parking lot into a puddle-filled skateboarding scene.

The model currently supports video generation up to 16 seconds long and can produce audio lasting up to 45 seconds. Meta shared data from blind tests showing that Movie Gen competes well against products from other AI-driven startups like Runway, OpenAI, ElevenLabs, and Kling.

This announcement comes as the entertainment industry grapples with the rapid development of generative AI tools for video creation. Earlier this year, OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, demonstrated its AI model “Sora,” which generated cinematic videos from text prompts. While many filmmakers and media creators are eager to leverage these tools to speed up production, there are concerns about potential copyright violations and ethical considerations around AI-generated content.

There are also broader concerns, particularly in political arenas, about how AI-generated deepfakes could impact elections. Instances of AI-manipulated content have already been reported in countries like the U.S., Pakistan, India, and Indonesia.

Meta’s representatives indicated that they are unlikely to release Movie Gen for public use by developers, unlike their Llama series of language models. The company is assessing the risks of each AI model individually. For now, Meta plans to collaborate with the entertainment industry and content creators, with intentions to integrate Movie Gen into its own products by next year.

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