Google Ditches Paywall on AI Video Generation Tool

Google has lifted the paywall on its AI video generation tool, making it free for anyone with a Google or Workspace account. The feature, called Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash, is now accessible at vids.new and allows users to generate full HD videos in just under 30 seconds. This move comes as OpenAI's Sora API went dark today, the same day Google cut its Veo 3.1 Lite API pricing to $0.05 per second.

The AI model turns text prompts, photos, audio, or existing clips into new video footage, and users can control scene extension, exact clip duration, and HD output. Every generated video carries an invisible SynthID watermark that can be detected by Google's SynthID Detector tool. This feature was previously only available to paid subscribers of Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra.

The free rollout has sparked concerns about the potential misuse of AI-generated content, but it also opens up opportunities for creators who may not have had access to this technology before. Google says a companion feature, Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite text-to-speech, is coming next to turn written scripts into voiceover narration in more than 100 languages.