ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has launched Jimeng AI in China. It’s a new generative AI app designed for creating short videos and images based on text prompts.
Jimeng AI
The Jimeng AI generative AI app was developed by Faceu Technology, a company also owned by ByteDance. You can use the app to generate short realistic video clips and images by simply inputting written prompts. The video clips are typically under five seconds long. However, at the moment you can only input Chinese text into Jimeng AI. ByteDance also says that the app “emphasizes accurate interpretation of Chinese text prompts and converting abstract concepts into visual content.”
What can you create?
ByteDance says that you can create a wide range of content, including promotional videos and artistic visuals, all tailored to your specific prompts. The company also says that the videos have smooth, natural camera movements. You can also control the camera movement and adjust the speed changes. Jimeng AI features innovative first frame and last frame image input methods. As a result, you get enhanced control of the videos generated by the app. In addition, you can combine multiple elements on the same canvas to create new images.
Subscription service
If you are based in China, you can download the Jimeng AI app for free. It’s available for both iOS and Android users. However, if you want to use the app you need to take out a paid subscription. There are also different levels of subscription which limit how much content you can create. $10 per month means you can generate over 160 videos or 2,000 images per month. Alternatively, you can take out an annual subscription for just over $90.
What we think
The sample videos from Jimeng AI look impressive, but they still have some of the artifacts that affect most AI-generated videos. By default, the app also creates videos formatted for social media. ByteDance’s future in the U.S. is still uncertain. However, it’s likely that the app will be released outside of China at some point. This could mean that Jimeng AI could become more integrated with TikTok in the future. The big question is whether users will want to pay a subscription for Jimeng AI when free alternatives exist.
Pricing and availability
At the time of writing, Jimeng AI is only available in China. You can also only input Chinese text.
