OpenAI’s Sora is gone, but Google is filling the void with its own AI-powered video-generation function called Gemini Omni.
At Google I/O, the company debuted Gemini Omni, a tool for creating AI-generated video clips from your existing photos, selfies, or videos. In a demo, Google’s AI chief Demis Hassabis showed how you can use the new AI model to drastically change your surroundings while taking a video of yourself. This might include placing yourself on Mars, in a lush forest, or adding a disco ball in the background.
(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
Omni isn’t just an AI filter, though. It actually represents a step to build a “world” model designed to accurately simulate real-world physics as part of Google’s effort to create artificial general intelligence. The same capability enables it to create realistic-looking videos across a wide variety of styles and topics. In another short demo, Hassabis showed Omni can create an educational video using claymation, breaking down scientific concepts for kids.
(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
Google plans on making the Omni Flash model available today through the Gemini App, Google Flow, and on YouTube Shorts. It arrives after OpenAI officially discontinued both the Sora app and web experience last month to use the company’s AI computing power for other projects. Sora faced plenty of controversy and legal action over the technology creating AI-generated videos featuring characters from popular franchises and dead celebrities.
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In contrast, Google is framing Omni as a tool to reimagine your own personal photos or videos by adding fictional AI elements, which might help sidestep potential legal battles. Still, we could also see the capability unleashing deepfakes that could fool the public. For now, Omni will focus on creating video outputs. But the company will eventually expand it to include image and text.
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Michael Kan
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I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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