Google opens 1080p AI video creation in Vids to all account holders

Google has opened its browser-based Vids editor to anyone with a Google Account, allowing users to create AI video clips in 1080p at no cost. The expansion, announced Sept. 23, puts Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash directly into Vids and makes the tool available at vids.new on a desktop browser. Google said users can start by selecting “Create AI videos” and then direct scene length, visual style, duration and transitions. The service can create new video from text prompts, photographs, audio or existing footage, while imports from Google Drive and Google Photos can also be used in the workflow. The release adds controls intended to make generated clips easier to fit into a finished production. Users can specify a scene’s precise duration, and can extend scenes while retaining character appearance, lighting, settings and audio consistency. Vids can also upscale existing AI clips to 1080p rather than requiring them to be generated again. Creation and editing are limited to desktop environments, although finished videos can be viewed on mobile devices. A single Vids video can run for as long as 30 minutes; its AI-avatar and narration-script features currently support 24 languages. The free tier is limited. Personal accounts receive six combined AI-video or avatar generations per month, with the allowance resetting at midnight Pacific time on the first day of each month. Google AI Pro subscribers receive up to 500 seconds of video monthly, while typical Workspace Business and Enterprise plans provide 500 seconds and 25 avatar videos, with administrative controls for team use. Video generation in Google Flow and avatar generation in Vids draw on the same usage allowance. Google also said accounts with its AI Expanded Access add-on have higher Gemini Omni limits in Vids. Every clip generated by Omni 1.1 in Vids carries an imperceptible SynthID watermark embedded in its frames. SynthID, a Google DeepMind technology, is designed to identify AI-generated material, although its detection system is probabilistic and can return results of watermarked, not watermarked or uncertain. As we covered in August, Google had already said that invisible SynthID markers would remain on Gemini and Flow content even as it made visible watermarks optional. The Vids release extends that transparency approach to the newly free video-generation workflow. The opening follows Google’s earlier, more limited free releases of AI-video tools this year, including Veo 3.1 generations in April and AI avatars in June. Gemini Omni initially launched in May for Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra subscribers, with free use restricted to YouTube Shorts and YouTube Create. Google plans to add Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite text-to-speech to Vids for natural-sounding voiceovers in more than 100 languages.