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.



Second Day of Workers’ Strike at Samsung India Plant Disrupts Output 

Workers of a Samsung facility listen to a speaker during a strike to demand higher wages at its Sriperumbudur plant near the city of Chennai, India, September 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Workers of a Samsung facility listen to a speaker during a strike to demand higher wages at its Sriperumbudur plant near the city of Chennai, India, September 10, 2024. (Reuters)
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Second Day of Workers’ Strike at Samsung India Plant Disrupts Output 

Workers of a Samsung facility listen to a speaker during a strike to demand higher wages at its Sriperumbudur plant near the city of Chennai, India, September 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Workers of a Samsung facility listen to a speaker during a strike to demand higher wages at its Sriperumbudur plant near the city of Chennai, India, September 10, 2024. (Reuters)

Operations at Samsung Electronics' plant in southern India were disrupted for a second day on Tuesday by hundreds of employees striking for higher wages, in a rare episode of labor unrest for the South Korean company.

The strike at India's biggest consumer goods company comes ahead of the festive season, when sales of electronics items boom, bought by consumers as gifts or for personal use. Samsung competes with LG Electronics and domestic brands.

The plant is one of two factories in India, which Samsung counts as a key growth market. Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said it contributed 20% to 30% of the company's annual revenue of $12 billion in the South Asian nation.

Posters reading "Indefinite Strike" went up outside the factory in Sriperumbudur near the city of Chennai, where hundreds of workers in company uniforms set up tents to shade them from the heat.

"We are striking for the second day," said union leader E. Muthukumar.

About half of the factory's daily production was affected when many workers stayed away on Monday, and the protest continues to press their demand for higher wages, better working hours and company recognition for the union.

Samsung India did not respond to a request for comment. On Monday, a spokesperson said it actively engaged with workers "to address any grievances they may have and comply with all laws and regulations".

Samsung employs about 1,800 workers at the plant, which makes items such as refrigerators, washing machines and televisions, while a bigger plant in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh turns out smartphones.

In South Korea, the 36,500 members of Samsung Electronics' biggest worker union who have been demanding higher wages and benefits, held a strike for several days in July and August.

In late July, however, the company said the action did not disrupt production there.

In India, its workers are demanding equal remuneration for those with the same length of experience, according to at least half a dozen employees Reuters spoke to on condition of anonymity.

One poster outside the factory exhorted state labor officials not to support the management, advising instead: "Discuss and solve demands from the labor union with union officials."