YouTube has announced a new experimental image-to-video AI tool, which it’s rolling out to help users do more creative things on its Shorts platform. The feature will be available over the next week in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This revolutionary custom built tool allows users to take any image from their mobile device camera roll and create an animated six second clip. This addition makes Shorts more attractive as a creative platform.
When using the image-to-video feature, users have two ways to go. For a more elegant metamorphosis, they can select “subtle movements.” Or, they could choose to go the “I’m feeling lucky” route and have a more randomized effect. This freedom of choice inspires innovative new uses and allows for the unique expression of each creator. They’ll be able to find even more effects by going to the “Effects” icon in the Shorts camera. Once there, they can simply tap “AI” to explore a whole suite of generative effects available.
This change is rolling out as Shorts breaks records, with more than 200 billion daily views on average. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan was eager to emphasize the enormous growth for the platform his first announcement at Cannes Lions 2025. He noted that Google’s new Veo 3 video generator can produce both video and audio. We expect this dynamic new functionality to roll out to Shorts in early summer.
That first press report was by Aisha Malik, consumer news reporter at TechCrunch. Malik holds an honours bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto. He received a master’s degree in journalism at Western University. Prior to starting at TechCrunch in 2021, she worked as a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup. There, she was able to hone her craft in technology reporting. She has contributed numerous articles on the subject to our very own Tackling Discrimination blog, which you can revisit here.
This new AI tool is a huge step forward for YouTube. It’s a great way to increase user engagement and promote creativity among its users. Platforms like YouTube allow anyone to quickly and efficiently turn images into longer videos. This new feature is designed to showcase a wider range of voices and help spark unique content creation.
