Google Gemini Unlocks AI Crochet Art and Animated Videos
Google is expanding the creative toolkit of its Gemini AI, introducing a charming new feature that generates crochet-style art from text and a powerful tool that turns your photos into animated videos.
Gemini's New Crochet-Style Image Generation
Following viral AI art trends, Google Gemini now allows users to create unique, colorful visuals with a distinct crochet-like texture. By simply providing a text prompt, you can reimagine anything from entire cityscapes to classic movie posters in this woven artistic style. The platform has already showcased examples of Indian cities and Bollywood posters transformed into intricate crochet designs.
To ensure responsible use and prevent the creation of deepfakes, Gemini has a built-in safeguard that does not permit users to upload and recreate personal images in the crochet format.
Animate Your Memories: Photo-to-Video on YouTube Shorts
In a parallel update, Google is rolling out a new photo-to-video generation tool for YouTube Shorts and Google Photos. As announced by CEO Sundar Pichai, this feature is powered by Veo 2, Google's advanced video generation model. It enables users to creatively remix their static photos into dynamic videos, sketches, comics, and even 3D animations.
This exciting new tool is currently available for free to users in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with plans for a broader global rollout later this year.
Gemini's Explosive User Growth
The launch of these new features comes as Gemini's user base continues to surge. The AI application has now crossed 450 million monthly active users, with daily usage jumping by over 50% quarter-over-quarter.
This impressive growth is partly fueled by strategic initiatives, such as Google's decision to offer its premium Google AI Pro plan for free to college students in India. This move has successfully onboarded a large, tech-savvy user base, accelerating the platform's adoption and momentum.