Google Vids now makes AI videos starring you

Google is pushing Google Vids beyond its original role as an AI-assisted workplace tool. The company said Thursday that the video creation app is getting two major additions: personal avatars and support for Gemini Omni.

The new avatar feature lets users build a digital version of themselves that looks and sounds like them using just a selfie and a voice recording. With Gemini Omni built into Google Vids, users can then generate custom videos from a typed prompt, along with any reference photos they upload.

Google says the combined tools can produce personalized AI videos without needing a camera. Users can also make post-production changes such as:

• swapping in a different background
• adjusting lighting
• applying other editing effects

Omni also adds more granular editing, allowing users to move through changes step by step instead of discarding an entire project and starting over.

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That marks a notable shift for Google Vids, which had been positioned mainly as a workplace communications tool. Now, as part of Google Workspace, it is being framed more broadly as a full video creation product, including for business use cases such as onboarding videos. Google argues that personal avatars can make that material feel more conversational and engaging.

The feature enters a market that already includes tools such as HeyGen and Synthesia, but Google’s entry could intensify competition.

For disclosure, AI-generated videos made this way will include an invisible SynthID watermark to indicate they were generated by AI and do not depict real life. Google also says personal avatars will be linked to a user’s Google account and available only in certain regions to people 18 or older.

A Google spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.