Google is just about to drop Veo, a video generation model that can create high-quality 1080p footage from text, image and video prompts. Announced at Google I/O, Veo outputs cinematic shots with accurate physics, realistic motion, and a surprising grasp of visual storytelling — all from a short prompt. It joins a fairly substantial list of competitors (see my lists of the top 10 global and top five Chinese text-to-video models here).
Veo supports advanced controls like masking and camera movement, and it even understands cinematic terms like "timelapse" or "aerial shot of a landscape." Google says it worked closely with artists and filmmakers to align Veo’s capabilities with creative workflows, including Oscar-winning director Donald Glover and his creative studio Gilga.
The rollout is limited for now. Veo is available to select creators through VideoFX, and Google says broader access is coming "soon." The model will also integrate with YouTube Shorts and other Google products down the line — an advantage OpenAI doesn’t have.
This isn’t a research paper or a teaser trailer — it’s a real product. I’ve had access to Veo for about a month, and I can tell you first-hand: it’s pretty spectacular. Magical, really.
Google’s ecosystem integration will make Veo even more interesting. It’s likely to have a major impact on video creation because everyone will be a description and a tap away from producing and distributing all the video they can think of.
Some people will call this new genre of vibe-video creation “AI slop.” That’s about as useless a description — and as egotistically pejorative — as saying YouTube and UGC were only good for videos of cats on skateboards. We’re on the cusp of something incredibly new and incredibly exciting.
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Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
