Apple's Robot Strategy Revealed, Grok Adds Spicy GenAI Video, 3D Instagram In Meta VR

Forbes

13 hours ago

Should AI-created content be labeled in social feeds? TikTok and Reels know I'm partial to herding dogs, sports highlights, and sailing adventures. but so much of it is AI generated I find myself thinking 'this can't be real' about most everything in my feed. Labeling AI content might put some fun back in the social video feeds, which in the olden days of 2021 used to offer a nice escape.
xAI Launched AI-Video Generator Grok Imagine, now available to SuperGrok and Premium+ subscribers ($30–$35/month). Through the Grok app, users can generate six‑second video clips with synchronized audio, and animate static images into looping animations. Included is a controversial 'Spicy Mode,' which enables 'suggestive content,' though explicit nudity is officially blocked. Elon Musk pitches the tool as an 'AI Vine,' turning text prompts into short, dynamic creations.
Apple's AI turnaround plan. On Tuesday, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple is embarking on a bold revival of its AI ambitions with a slate of new hardware aimed at transforming the smart home experience. Next year, Apple plans to introduce a smart home display akin to the Google Nest Hub, supporting voice and facial recognition, smart‑home control, music playback, notes, and video calling. The bigger play, in 2027, is a tabletop robot designed as a virtual companion that moves around, follows users, and displays a highly animated and conversational version of Siri, possibly as a Memoji‑style character or animated Finder logo.
Instagram On Quest Now AI-Converts 2D Videos To 3D. Meta's Instagram app on Quest headsets now uses AI to automatically convert videos, including Reels, into immersive 3D, even if they were originally 2D, expanding upon the previously launched feature for photos. Users browsing Instagram on a Quest 3 experience content in rich 3D, reportedly with impressive visual realism akin to spatial video—though some minor artifacts can appear especially in low-resolution text. Additionally, code analysis hints Meta may enable users to convert local image files into 3D within Horizon OS.
Are New AI Features For Meta Horizon Worlds A Desperate Hail Mary? Meta Reality Lab head Andrew Bosworth said it would be a make-or-break year for Horizon Worlds. Meta has added two AI tools to Horizon Worlds: Creator Assistant, which generates interactive 3D elements and logic from prompts, and Style Reference, which creates models matching an existing world's style. These join a growing suite of AI features in Horizon's editor, making world creation faster and more accessible. Meta also improved social integration: Horizon links shared on Facebook or Instagram now open directly in the apps' built-in web version, removing the need to install the Horizon Worlds app.
Autodesk launched Flow Studio (formerly Wonder Studio) at Siggraph. The AI-powered VFX and animation platform makes professional-grade motion capture, camera tracking, and character animation tools accessible to indie filmmakers, marketers, and content creators worldwide. Flow Studio automates complex VFX tasks from simple video inputs, with assets exportable to Maya, Blender, and Unreal Engine. New pricing tiers range from Free to Enterprise, with core tools available at no cost and advanced features in paid plans. The Pro tier is now included in Autodesk's Media & Entertainment Collection at no extra charge.
Metapuppet, Emmy-winning editor and Head of Genre at AI studio Promise, describes his new short film Eve and Adam as 'a story about a brother and sister who are part human, part machine, the first of what could be the next evolution of the human species.' To evoke the feel of 80s Spielberg, he researched the gear used on films like Close Encounters and Escape to Witch Mountain, then built the short shot-by-shot in Veo3, refining each scene 'hundreds of times.' Runway Aleph fixed continuity, Lalal and Suno shaped the soundtrack, including a theme from his old band. 'I don't think of this as a finished short film,' he said, 'but as a starting point. This is exactly why this technology needs to be taught in film schools today.' For Metapuppet, AI is not a replacement for traditional cinema but 'an evolution of VFX,' giving storytellers affordable tools to bring big ideas to life.
This column has a companion, The AI/XR Podcast, hosted by its author, Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, former studio executive, and founding Red Camera executive, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week our guest is Jessica Loren, CEO of Global Objects. We can be found on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.