Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook's parent company, has unveiled a new AI tool called Movie Gen that can generate or edit videos from simple text prompts. The tool, still in its early stages, allows users to create videos up to 16 seconds long or edit existing ones based on text, audio, or even a photo. Currently, Movie Gen is only available to select employees and partners, including some filmmakers, but Meta plans to integrate it into its apps like Instagram and WhatsApp next year.

The goal of Movie Gen is to encourage more video creation and editing within Meta’s platforms, driving engagement and creativity. While there are still discussions about how best to implement the tool, Meta's move into AI-powered video generation puts it in competition with other tech giants like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s DeepMind. However, efficiency and safety are key concerns, as the current tech takes several minutes to generate videos and comes with potential misuse risks, such as creating deepfakes.