Google has added new AI features to Google Photos and YouTube Shorts. Having previously introduced generative backgrounds, YouTube Shorts now has a photo-to-video feature, as well as a variety of menu-driven effects accessible via the Shorts camera that aim to advance social media or arts project creativity — things like turning line drawings into watercolors, putting a selfie “underwater” or adding a digital twin. And Google Photos, available on just about every Android phone, now also has the ability to turn stills to video. For now, both rely on the Veo 2 video model rather than Veo 3, launched in May.

YouTube Shorts has added an “AI Playground” as its new creative hub. There, “you’ll find our latest gen AI creation tools, a gallery of inspirational examples, and pre-filled prompts to help you instantly generate videos, images, music, and more,” according to a YouTube blog post.

“Find AI Playground by tapping the create button and then the sparkle icon in the top right corner,” YouTube advises, noting the feature is “available now for everyone in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to start.”

“The photo-to-video AI generation in Google Photos is restricted to making six-second clips, while the YouTube Shorts version allows users to select what clip length to generate,” The Verge reports, noting those who use Gemini or Veo 2 itself can enter their own prompts rather than relying on the predefined options.

“Where YouTube Shorts is getting the AI Playground, Photos is getting the Create tab,” Ars Technica explains. This is where Photos users can see a list of all the app’s generative AI tools. “It’s going to make them harder to ignore, as it will get a prominent place in the bottom navigation bar,” Ars says. The Create tab starts rolling out in August for U.S. users only.

For now, there are two new photo-to-video options in Google Photos: “Subtle movements” or “I’m feeling lucky.” Android and iOS users can select a picture from their photo gallery and choose from one of those two prompts to animate stills that are ready to share, Google explains in a Keyword blog post (advising that “usage limits may apply”).

In the coming weeks, “Photos will also get ‘Remix,’ a collection of styles that can be quickly chosen and applied to one of your images,” Ars informs.

Google says the generative video in YouTube Shorts will upgrade to Veo 3 “later this summer.”

Related:
Google Photos Can Now Animate Your Photos into Short Videos, TechRadar, 7/24/25
YouTube’s AI Slop Is a Win for Alphabet. But What About Us?, Bloomberg, 7/25/25