Meta testing new auto-generated video ads as part of AI push
Meta Platforms Inc, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is pushing deeper into AI-generated advertisements in a bid to make it cheaper and simpler for marketers to craft their messages.
On June 17, Meta announced an updated image-to-video ad tool, which lets marketers use artificial intelligence to turn product pictures into multi-scene video ads. Advertisers can upload as many as 20 images to create the videos, which come complete with music and overlaid text.
Chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg has made artificial intelligence a top priority this year as the company competes with rivals OpenAI, Google and Microsoft Corp to develop leading AI models and consumer features. That includes a US$14.3bil investment in Scale AI this month, as well as Zuckerberg's efforts to personally recruit a new "superintelligence' AI team.
Meta has made AI a key focus of its advertising business, which accounts for roughly 98% of annual revenue. Most of Meta's advertisers are small businesses, and the cheaper it is for them to produce marketing material, the more money they have to spend promoting those messages on Facebook or Instagram.
Generative AI is becoming a larger part of that business. Meta also lets advertisers use text prompts to create ad images, and announced in October that marketers could turn images into AI-generated GIFs for ads. The company is also building a text-to-video tool for general consumers, called Movie Gen, that it debuted for the first time last fall.
The new ad features were announced in conjunction with the Cannes Lions advertising festival, which is happening this week in the south of France. TikTok also introduced new AI-powered tools for advertisers this week, including video generation for ads. – Bloomberg
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