Character.AI, a platform offering AI chatbots for socializing and role play, has released a video generation model called AvatarFX in closed beta. Promising the ability to make photorealistic images “come to life — speak, sing and emote — all with the click of a button,” the technology combines audio and video to create a variety of visual style and voice, from realistic 3D — including “non-human faces (like a favorite pet)” — to 2D animations, according to the company. AvatarFX also has the ability “to maintain strong temporal consistency with face, hand and body movement” and can “power videos with multiple speakers.” Continue reading Character.AI Introduces New Video Generator in Closed Beta

Google is giving Gemini Advanced, Enterprise and Business subscribers the ability to create personalized AI assistants, which the company calls “Gems.” “Create your own personal AI experts on any topic you want,” the Alphabet company says. The search giant is also reintroducing Gemini’s image generation capabilities with its latest Imagen 3 model, which will be available to everyone. Gemini, which is Google’s ChatGPT competitor, will again have the ability to generate images of people, something Google disabled in February after controversy over some of the images. The company announced it has implemented new guardrails. Continue reading Gemini Gets Custom Gems AI Assistants and Adds Imagen 3

Adobe, OpenAI and Microsoft are among the major firms backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content with watermarks embedded in the metadata. Such data is easily accessible via browser for material circulated on the Internet, and the initiative would likely involve a campaign to educate the general public on how to find it. The proposed law encompasses video and audio as well as images. The three companies currently supporting the bill initially opposed it, using terms like “unworkable” and “overly burdensome.” Continue reading Bill Mandating GenAI Watermarks Gains Support in California