Adobe (ADBE, Financial) has unveiled a new AI tool designed to create and edit videos, joining the race with tech giants and startups to capitalize on emerging technologies. During its annual product conference in Miami, Adobe announced that its video editing software, Premiere, now includes a feature that allows users to enhance video clips using generative artificial intelligence. Additional online tools enable video creation based on text prompts and existing images.
While companies like OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Google have demonstrated AI video generators, Adobe is the first major software company to offer this feature broadly to its customers. Some startups, like Runway AI, have already made their video generation products public. Adobe’s Chief Technology Officer for Digital Media, Ely Greenfield, highlighted that customers desire AI capabilities integrated into applications they already use, and Adobe's new video model is designed specifically for practical workflows and tool integration.
Over the past year, Adobe has focused on incorporating generative AI into its software suite for creative professionals, including its flagship products, Photoshop and Illustrator. The company has already released tools that generate images and illustrations from text, which have been used billions of times. Adobe has differentiated its models with a focus on "commercial safety," training data with caution and strict reviews. For instance, if users attempt to generate videos of certain faces, Adobe blocks these outputs. Competitors have faced criticism for using extensive internet data scraping to build AI models.
Greenfield mentioned that Adobe's video model primarily uses content from its extensive stock media library, provided to marketers and creative agencies. In some cases, public domain or licensed data is used. Adobe has also proposed acquiring videos from its network of creative professionals at a rate of about $3 per minute.
Earlier this year, OpenAI introduced its video generation model, Sora, sparking concerns among investors about Adobe's potential disruption by new technology. Despite these concerns, Adobe's stock price had dropped 17% year-to-date as of last Friday's close. Yet, it saw an early market increase of over 2% as of the latest report.
Adobe has not charged for AI features beyond standard subscription fees. Greenfield stated that each user receives a certain number of AI substitution credits, though most plans do not enforce these limits strictly. Looking ahead, Adobe executives indicated that the company might charge higher fees for AI focused on video compared to similar photo tools.
In addition to the new AI video tool, Adobe announced improvements to other software at the conference, such as simplifying 3D content viewing in Photoshop and working on AI models capable of generating 3D graphics.
