Google Vids now lets you star in your own AI videos

Kling AI raises two billion dollars as Kuaishou spins off its video AI unit

Kling AI, the video generation unit of Chinese tech company Kuaishou, has raised $2 billion in venture capital as Kuaishou spins it off ahead of a planned 2027 IPO. The round could grow to $3 billion, valuing Kling at roughly $18 billion post-money. Tencent is among the investors. Kling's ARR hit ~$500M in March, up from $300M in January, driven by its third-generation model. The spinoff positions Kling to fill the gap left by OpenAI's Sora shutdown, competing with ByteDance's Seedance and Shengshu in the professional video generation market.

AI video startup Higgsfield eyes a $5bn valuation

Higgsfield AI, founded in March 2025, is in talks to raise $300M–$500M at a $5bn valuation — four times its January 2025 valuation of $1.3bn. The company has hit a $500M annualized revenue run rate, up from $200M at end of 2025, with roughly 70% coming from enterprise customers. DST Global is among potential investors. Higgsfield's tools generate ~4.5 million video clips daily and power marketing agents for hundreds of Fortune 500 brands on Nvidia hardware. A notable milestone: a 15-person team used Higgsfield to produce a 95-minute feature film in 14 days for under $500K. The company competes with Kling, Runway, Google's Veo, and OpenAI's Sora. Risks include the round not yet closing, potential revenue volatility, and a crowded market where cheaper rivals could erode its position.

I tried Gemini Omni and Google Opal, and they're proof that Google nailed the tech but fumbled the pitch

Google's Gemini Omni and Google Opal are highlighted as technically impressive consumer AI tools that suffer from poor marketing and positioning. Gemini Omni is described as the most capable free AI video generation platform available, democratizing a category previously locked behind paywalls. Google Opal, from the same Google Labs team behind NotebookLM, enables non-coders to build automated workflows and apps using plain natural language — with near-zero barrier to entry. Despite their genuine utility, both products remain largely undiscovered due to Google's failure to communicate who these tools are for and why they matter.

Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite

Google has released Nano Banana 2 Lite, a faster and cheaper AI image generator that produces images in four seconds at $0.034 per 1,000 images. It is optimized for high-volume workflows and replaces the original Nano Banana as the legacy model. Google also announced a wider release of Gemini Omni Flash at $0.10 per second of video output, along with a new demo app called Omni Product Studio for turning static images into cinematic e-commerce videos. Both models are available via Google AI Studio and the Gemini API. The announcements come amid ongoing controversy over AI-generated content and Google's $75 million partnership with indie studio A24.

What is the Best AI Video Model in 2026?

Năm 2026, bốn mô hình AI sinh video hàng đầu gồm Seedance 2.0, Sora 2, Kling 3.0 và Veo 3.1 được đánh giá qua sáu kịch bản sản xuất thực tế dựa trên khả năng tham chiếu, hỗ trợ âm thanh/khớp môi và tính liên tục đa cảnh. Seedance 2.0 dẫn đầu nhờ khả năng xếp chồng 9 ảnh tham chiếu và lip-sync sẵn có, Sora 2 vượt trội về vật lý chân thực, Veo 3.1 chiếm ưu thế trong quay phim cinematic đơn cảnh cao cấp, còn Kling 3.0 tiết kiệm chi phí nhưng yếu về liên tục sản xuất. Lời khuyên chính là lựa chọn mô hình phù hợp với nhu cầu thay vì chỉ dựa vào điểm benchmark.

Lập trình viên nên đọc bài này để hiểu cách chọn và tối ưu hóa các mô hình AI video phù hợp với dự án cụ thể, thay vì chỉ quan tâm đến xếp hạng công nghệ cao nhất.