YouTube is making its latest artificial intelligence (AI) video tool, Veo 3, free for all users through YouTube Shorts. The announcement was made by YouTube CEO Neal Mohan during a speech at the Cannes Lions event in France.
“I’m excited about how AI tools can help people be more creative,” said Mohan. He confirmed that Veo 3 will be available later this summer.
Veo 3 is a powerful AI developed by Google’s DeepMind team. Unlike the earlier version, Veo 2, which only allowed adding AI-generated backgrounds and videos, Veo 3 can create complete videos with audio using just a written prompt.
This tool was first introduced in May during Google’s developer event as part of its premium Gemini Ultra package. Until now, access to Veo 3 required a paid subscription costing up to $249.99 per month. A cheaper plan, Gemini Pro, costs $19.99 monthly but offers only limited use.
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With Veo 3 becoming free on YouTube Shorts, creators will be able to generate videos with sound at no cost. This move is expected to attract more users to YouTube Shorts and may reduce the popularity of rival platforms like TikTok and its editing app CapCut.
YouTube Shorts already has more monthly users, but TikTok is still more popular among Gen Z. Experts believe this change might shift some AI video content back toward Shorts and Instagram Reels.
Mohan said he believes the new AI tools will give people more ways to express themselves creatively.
Veo 3 needs detailed input from users. To generate a high-quality video, users must provide full prompts with script, dialogue, camera angles, and scene descriptions.
However, the AI is not perfect. It currently creates short 8-second clips that sometimes show small changes between scenes, but improvements are expected in future updates. YouTube has not yet said whether there will be a daily limit on the number of videos users can make using Veo 3 in Shorts.
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