Snap brings generative AI video to creators

While most social platforms are still busy adding AI sticker generators, Snap just jumped straight into AI video creation.

At its annual Snap Partner Summit on Tuesday, Snap unveiled a new AI video-generation tool built specifically for creators. The feature rolled out in beta on the web starting the same day, but only for a small group of select creators.

Here is how it works: creators can type in text prompts to generate AI video clips, and Snap says image-to-video prompts are coming soon.

In-house tech with zero public demos

Interestingly, Snap did not show off any actual video outputs during its keynote presentation. That means nobody outside the company really knows what the generated footage looks like yet.

However, a Snap spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that the tool runs on Snap’s own foundational video models, rather than relying on third-party systems.

Snap is also keeping a tight leash on access. The company explicitly stated that it currently has no plans to make the tool available to regular users outside of its creator network.

Safety and provenance are front and center. Snap vice president of product Ceci Mourkogiannis said during the event that the platform will use icons and context cards so users clearly know when a Snap was made with AI.

Every piece of content generated with the tool will carry a persistent watermark that stays visible even if the clip is downloaded and reposted elsewhere. Snap added that safety mitigations are active across training, prompt submission, and final video output.

Why it matters

For eligible creators, having a native text-to-video tool inside their workflow could save hours of jumping between external generators and Snapchat. The catch is that only a handful of creators have access right now, and everyday users are entirely shut out for the foreseeable future.

For the social media race, Snap just put itself ahead of TikTok and Instagram, neither of which has launched a public text-to-video tool. Meta showed off Make-A-Video way back in 2022, but never released it to the public.

That said, Snap is stepping into a brutal battlefield. It is not just racing social apps; it is going head-to-head with Runway, as well as OpenAI and Adobe, both of which plan to ship public video generation tools later this year. We think building proprietary foundational models is a bold move, but launching without showing a single frame of sample footage suggests Snap might not be ready for a side-by-side quality showdown just yet.