Adobe to Launch Generative AI Video Creation Tool Later this Year

Adobe logo is seen on smartphone in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)
Adobe logo is seen on smartphone in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)
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Adobe to Launch Generative AI Video Creation Tool Later this Year

Adobe logo is seen on smartphone in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)
Adobe logo is seen on smartphone in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)

Adobe will unveil a new generative AI-powered video creation and editing tool in a limited release later this year, the software maker said on Wednesday, as it looks to beef up its suite of applications catering to creative professionals.

Dubbed Adobe Firefly Video Model, the artificial intelligence tool will be released in beta and will join the Photoshop maker's existing line of Firefly image-generating applications that allow users to produce still images, designs and vector graphics.

The model will establish Adobe in the growing market for AI-based video generation tools, a space already targeted by OpenAI's Sora, Stability AI's Stable Video Diffusion and other AI video apps from smaller startups, Reuters reported.

The tool can generate a five-second clip for a single prompt and can interpret both text and image prompts, said Alexandru Costin, vice president of generative AI at Adobe. Users can also specify the required camera angle, panning, motion and zoom.

"We've invested in making this model reach the level of quality and prompt understanding that videographers expect. We've invested in making sure we really pay attention to the prompt ... respecting guidance from videographers much better than other (AI video) models," Costin told Reuters in an interview.

Adobe said the video model is trained on public domain or licensed content that it has permission to use, and not on any Adobe customer content.

"We only train them on the Adobe Stock database of content that contains 400 million images, illustrations, and videos that are curated to not contain intellectual property, trademarks or recognizable characters," Costin said.

Adobe is also rolling out Generative Extend, a tool that will be available in its Premiere Pro video editing software, which can extend any existing clip by two seconds by generating an appropriate insert to fill gaps in the footage.

First previewed in April, the tool has seen "a huge positive reaction from all of our customers", Costin said.



Volkswagen Workers to Go on Warning Strikes Across Germany

The Volkswagen logo is displayed on the Volkswagen power plant on the day when Volkswagen AG and the industrial union IG Metall started talks over a new labor agreement for six of its German plants, in Wolfsburg, Germany, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
The Volkswagen logo is displayed on the Volkswagen power plant on the day when Volkswagen AG and the industrial union IG Metall started talks over a new labor agreement for six of its German plants, in Wolfsburg, Germany, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
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Volkswagen Workers to Go on Warning Strikes Across Germany

The Volkswagen logo is displayed on the Volkswagen power plant on the day when Volkswagen AG and the industrial union IG Metall started talks over a new labor agreement for six of its German plants, in Wolfsburg, Germany, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
The Volkswagen logo is displayed on the Volkswagen power plant on the day when Volkswagen AG and the industrial union IG Metall started talks over a new labor agreement for six of its German plants, in Wolfsburg, Germany, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

Volkswagen workers will go on warning strikes on Monday at plants across Germany, labor union IG Metall said, marking the first large-scale walkouts at Volkswagen's domestic operations since 2018.

The start of the strikes represents a further escalation of a dispute between Europe's top carmaker and its workers over mass layoffs, pay cuts and possible plant closures - drastic measures the company says it cannot rule out in the face of Chinese competition and cooling consumer demand.

Labor representatives at VW had on Nov. 22 voted for limited strikes at German operations from early December after talks over wages and plant closures failed to achieve a breakthrough, Reuters reported.

"If necessary, this will be the toughest collective bargaining battle Volkswagen has ever seen," IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Groeger said in a statement.

The carmaker said it continues to rely on constructive dialogue to find a sustainable solution.

"Volkswagen respects the right of employees to take part in a warning strike," a spokesperson said in reply to the union's announcement, adding that the company had taken steps in advance to ensure a basic level of supplies to customers and minimise the impact of the strike.

Warning strikes in Germany usually last from a few hours.

The union had last week proposed measures it said would save 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion), including forgoing bonuses for 2025 and 2026, which Europe's top carmaker dismissed.

Volkswagen has demanded a 10% wage cut, arguing it needs to slash costs and boost profit to defend market share in the face of cheap competition from China and a drop in European car demand.

The company is threatening to close plants in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history.

"Volkswagen has set fire to our collective agreements and instead of extinguishing this fire in three collective bargaining sessions, the management board is throwing open barrels of petrol into it," Groeger said.

An agreement not to stage walkouts had ended on Saturday, IG Metall said, enabling workers to carry out warning strikes from Sunday across VW AG's German plants.

"Warning strikes will start at all plants from Monday. How long and how intensive this confrontation needs to be is Volkswagen's responsibility at the negotiating table," Groeger said.

Labor representatives and management will meet again on Dec. 9 to carry on negotiations over a new labor agreement for workers at the German business - VW AG - with unions vowing to resist any proposals that do not provide a long-term plan for every VW plant.