Interesting that OpenAI abandoned Sora entirely but Google are continuing to invest heavily in their own video generation.
Maybe because they see video generation as key to developing "world models"?
Maybe because they see video generation as key to developing "world models"?
And, Veo and omni simply were better than Sora
And, Youtube is huge both as a place where video contents goes and where can be trained from. Microdramas are starting to become a real category--14 Billion USD, 90% of it made with AI.
Chinese video models can be more immediately impressive, but none of them come close to beat the value of Google's Flow. Especially when you are throwing away a lot of generations as part of the creative process. Which is what you have to do to make longer content with any video model.
OpenAI needed to be able to focus. Google can walk and chew gum, and they're not going to run out of money to buy chewing gum.
Almost all concrete english-language info I can find about microdramas is astroturfed to hell by consultants and "independent" industry publications. Wikipedia's citations for 2025 revenue are 'Reel Reel' and 'Duanju News'. Neither cite their source, though they are likely just regurgitating predictions from Omdia, a media consultancy.
> Real Reel™ works with companies across entertainment, technology and the creator economy to build relevant industry conversations around mobile-first storytelling.
Duanju News is published by 'Studio Phocéen', who run their own microdrama production house.
The Omdia revenue estimates, which is where the projected $14 billion comes from, are completely unsubstantiated as far as I can tell. They even go so far as to make "according to new research" a link that when followed sends you to their generic "/advance-your-business/media-and-entertainment" sales pitch.
https://omdia.tech.informa.com/pr/2025/oct/microdramas-to-ge...
I don't have any special insights here, it all just smells a bit like McKinsey's "The metaverse will be worth $5 trillion by 2030, you better not miss out!!! Hire our 22 year old slide deck experts today"
I work in advertising and some days I spent a lot of money using these models. The amount and rapidity of prototyping using them has changed everything about advertising pre production.
Previously when making video ads you'd need to actually create the video. Actors, cameramen, editors - you name it. Now a new video ads is just a prompt away, directly inside the ad-spend web UI too no doubt.
People say Google have lost and that they're having their lunch eaten by anthropic, but I am not so sure...
Google is selling shovels, leasing mines, buy stakes in "competitors" and doing it's own exploration/mining. When you look at the full picture, it kinda doesn't even look like Gemini matters that much to them overall.
Gemma 4 I am way more impressed by than whatever the top ranking model is
That's old news. People are saying the chinese models/labs are eating anthropic lunch.
I never personally got the least bit excited about Sora or nanobanana or whatever video/audio generation thing. But I guess I'm just not their customer. I do love the read-side of it though.