Elon Musk’s xAI has made Grok 4 available on its free tiers as it seeks to take advantage of initial user dissatisfaction with OpenAI’s new GPT-5. The company has positioned Grok as freewheeling and uncensored, a contrast to GPT-5, which has been criticized on Reddit and other social platforms as a “corporate beige zombie” with too many guardrails. After its February debut, Grok 3 was reined-in with checks including removal of its native image generator in March. Grok 4 was released in July with integrated image and video features as well as a “Spicy” mode for creating risqué content. Continue reading Grok 4 Offered Free in xAI Move on ChatGPT-5 Market Share

Grok Imagine is xAI’s new video and image generator, which is currently available via the X social platform, the Grok mobile app, and Grok web interface. Imagine replaces AI image generator Aurora, which was retired in May following a string of offensive posts that led to media criticism and user concerns. Despite the backlash, Elon Musk’s xAI seems determined to have Imagine push conventional limits, with a “spicy” mode that outputs imagery including adult content. Its text-to-image capabilities work with text or voice prompts, while the video tool relies on image prompts to make short clips using images from a user’s gallery or generated by Grok. Continue reading Grok Imagine from xAI Offers Video Generation, ‘Spicy’ Mode

Adobe’s Firefly Video model has introduced new updates including Generate Sound Effects, in beta, and a text-to-avatar feature that lets users turn scripts into avatar-led videos “in just a few clicks.” Firefly becomes the second video model to generate audio, joining Veo 3, although unlike Google’s AI video tool Firefly does not yet generate dialogue. What it can do is output foley-like sound and sound effects, while text-to-avatar can generate speech. As with Firefly’s generative visuals, Adobe says Generate Sound Effects is “commercially safe,” which means they are trained only on licensed or publicly available material. Continue reading Adobe Adds Generative Audio and Text-to-Avatar to Firefly AI

Stability AI has released an AI model that generates stereo audio that is quick and lightweight enough for mobile devices. Called Stable Audio Open Small, the open-source model is the result of a collaboration between the AI startup and chipmaker Arm. While there are several AI-powered apps that generate audio — Suno and Udio among them — most rely on cloud processing, thus can’t be used offline. Stability says Stable Audio Open Small is also IP safe due to being trained entirely on audio from the royalty-free libraries Free Music Archive and Freesound. Continue reading Stability AI Releases a Fast Stereo Audio-Generator for Mobile

Meta Platforms has unveiled Movie Gen, a new family of AI models that generates video and audio content. Coming to Instagram next year, Movie Gen also allows a high degree of editing and effects customization using text prompts. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated its abilities last week in an example shared on his Instagram account, where he sends a leg press machine at the gym through transformations as a steam punk machine and one made of molten gold. The models have been trained on a combination of licensed and publicly available datasets. Continue reading Meta’s Movie Gen Model is a Powerful Content Creation Tool

New York-based ElevenLabs is going global with its generative AI text-to-speech reader app, which can narrate writings in 32 languages with thousands of voices from which to choose. The audio startup promises “high quality, human-like” AI voices that are “emotionally and contextually aware,” adapting delivery of written cues “to achieve a high emotional range.” ElevenLabs has focused on “creative workflow,” with a voice isolator and audio effects generator tools. Its catalog includes the voices of celebrities Judy Garland, Laurence Olivier, James Dean and Burt Reynolds. Custom models for translation and voiceover work using contemporary actors is a future possibility. Continue reading ElevenLabs Reader App Is Available Globally in 32 Languages

New York-based speech synthesis software startup ElevenLabs has launched its latest AI development — Voice Isolator and an API to go with it. Voice Isolator is designed to extract background noise, leaving clear dialogue for film, podcast, and interview post-production. The Voice Isolator API lets developers integrate the new product into third-party applications. To use the technology, content is uploaded and processed by the Voice Isolator model, resulting in what the company claims is speech comparable in quality to that obtained in a recording studio. The app is described as “free, with some limitations.” Continue reading ElevenLabs Voice Isolator Audio Post Tool Released with API

YouTube has released an eraser tool update that makes it easy to remove copyrighted music from videos without disturbing the remaining audio, like dialogue and sound effects. The Erase Song update uses an AI algorithm to detect and remove the offending material, making it more accurate than what had previously been available, as well as easier. Creators whose material has Content ID claims can now excise the objectionable material without having to manually edit and upload a new video, thereby avoiding potential restrictions on where the video is viewable or whether it can be monetized. Continue reading YouTube AI Song Eraser Easily Removes Copyright Material

Google DeepMind has unveiled new research on AI tech it calls V2A (“video-to-audio”) that can generate soundtracks for videos. The initiative complements the wave of AI video generators from companies ranging from biggies like OpenAI and Alibaba to startups such as Luma and Runway, all of which require a separate app to add sound. V2A technology “makes synchronized audiovisual generation possible” by combining video pixels with natural language text prompts “to generate rich soundscapes for the on-screen action,” DeepMind writes, explaining that it can “create shots with a dramatic score, realistic sound effects or dialogue.” Continue reading DeepMind’s V2A Generates Music, Sound Effects, Dialogue

Stability AI has added another audio product to its lineup, releasing the open-source text-to-audio generator Stable Audio Open 1.0 for sound design. The new model can generate up to 47 seconds of samples and sound effects, including drum beats, instrument riffs, ambient sounds, foley and production elements. It also allows for adapting variations and changing the style of audio samples. Stability AI — best known for the image generator Stable Diffusion — in September released Stable Audio, a commercial product that can generate sophisticated music tracks of up to three minutes. Continue reading Stability AI Releases Free Sound FX Tool, Stable Audio Open

ElevenLabs has launched its text-to-sound generator Sound Effects for all users, available now at the company’s website. The new AI tool can create audio effects, short instrumental tracks, soundscapes and even character voices. Sound Effects “has been designed to help creators — including film and television studios, video game developers, and social media content creators — generate rich and immersive soundscapes quickly, affordably and at scale,” according to the startup, which developed the tool in partnership with Shutterstock, using its library of licensed audio tracks. Continue reading ElevenLabs Launches an AI Tool for Generating Sound Effects

ZTE has launched what it calls the world’s first AI-powered, eyewear-free 5G 3D tablet, the Nubia Pad 3D II. The 12.1-inch LCD display supports 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, the Nubia Pad 3D II is equipped with an AI eye-tracking engine that utilizes “high-speed visual sensors and eye-detection algorithms” to enhance response speed and enable accurate synchronization with the users’ eyes in real-time “for a more natural and realistic 3D display experience,” ZTE says. The device also converts 2D to 3D with Neovision 3D Anytime technology. Continue reading ZTE Unveils Glasses-Free Android Tablet, the Nubia Pad 3D II

YouTube’s Creator Music marketplace is officially rolling out to U.S. Partner Program participants starting this week. Creator Music offers a sizable song catalog whose license and use terms are clearly spelled out. Some music is offered on a revenue-sharing basis, allowing creators and rights holders to earn from the end use. In announcing the service in September, YouTube pointed out its creators identified music rights as problematic. Due to the high cost associated with pop tunes, users often opted for unknown music. Creator Music aims to make licensing more recognizable music easy and affordable. Continue reading YouTube Launches Creator Music for Its Partner Participants

More people than ever are using subtitles — often in their native language, to help follow-along with indiscernible audio, according to a study by language-teaching app Preply. Netflix released figures indicating more than 80 percent of its subscribers used subtitles (or closed captions) once a month or more. And the trend is not limited to seniors; younger viewers are about four times more likely to turn on subtitles. The prevalence of rear-facing, or downward-directed speakers in today’s ultra-thin TVs has compounded the problem, often resulting in worse audio than the old-fashioned TV sets, which had front-facing speakers. But there are other issues affecting TV audio. Continue reading Subtitles, Closed Captioning Popular Among Young Viewers

TikTok is debuting new editing tools and one of them, Photo Mode, is drawing comparisons to Meta’s popular Instagram app. “For when you’d prefer to express yourself in formats other than video, we released Photo Mode, a new carousel format available on mobile for photo content that’s ideal for sharing high quality images on TikTok,” the company writes. The launch occurs just as Instagram has begun shifting its emphasis to video, to the consternation of many users, disapproval TikTok may have noticed as it seeks to pick up market share. Continue reading TikTok’s New Toolkit Adds Photo Carousel, Allows More Text