ByteDance hits play on AI video creator while Sora seems paused

TikTok videomakers may soon be adding AI-generated content to their dance routines. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has debuted a new text-to-video mobile app exclusively to the Chinese market called Jimeng AI. Though geographically limited for now, Jimeng might become a serious rival to other AI video makers, particularly OpenAI‘s Sora.

As with other AI video creation platforms, Jimeng processes text prompts and makes short videos that attempt to match the description provided by the user. In this case, that means prompts written in Chinese, which is not an option every AI video-making tool provides. Jimeng (which means ‘dream’ in Chinese) could be employed for all kinds of entertainment, marketing, education, and other purposes. Jimeng also offers an AI text-to-image generator as part of the overall package.

While the Android and iOS apps can only be downloaded in China, that’s still a huge potential customer base that ByteDance could then leverage to use its other products. There’s no direct link to TikTok, but the videos are formatted automatically in a way perfect for the social media video platform. Should you happen to be in China, you can subscribe to Jimeng and make about 168 videos or 2,050 images a month at a cost of 69 yuan ($9.65) for a monthly subscription, 79 yuan for a one-month trial, or 659 yuan a year.

Jimeng’s website highlights a broad array of both cartoony and realistic videos. The examples included notable consistency, even in the compilation of clips, as can be seen in the video below. The (Google Translate-provided) caption explains, “The Panda National Treasure Team is also participating in the Paris Olympics! The Paris Olympics is in full swing. Using AI video, China’s national treasure, the panda Huahua, is personified and portrayed as a Chinese athlete, representing Chinese Olympic athletes to bravely fight in the Paris Olympics and win the gold medal!”

Dream Global

Interest in AI video producers is quickly being matched by a bevy of options from new and existing AI developers. OpenAI drew a lot of attention when announcing Sora and has already deployed the model for commercial usage, like the recent Toys”R”Us short film. Impressive as it is, though, Sora is not yet available for public use, creating a window of opportunity for other brands, including Runway and Midjourney. Jimeng isn’t alone among China-based AI video makers either. There are several startups with a variation on the theme. Notably, Chinese digital content provider Kuaishou’s app is globally available, making its Kling AI text-to-video model much more accessible.

For ByteDance, Jimeng AI may help expand its place in consumer tech both independently and by augmenting TikTok and making it more dominant in social video services. As these technologies continue to evolve, you can expect to see them appear more often and maybe even become universal, much like how the video and photo filters once associated with Snapchat are now everywhere.

On the other hand, with ByteDance being forced to sell Tiktok or pull it from the US market (it’s currently fighting in court), the extent of Jimeng AI’s global reach may be limited.