TikTok puts its video AI inside Adobe Express and WPP

TikTok wants to turn your static product photos into ads without touching a video editor.

On Monday, to kick off the Cannes Lions festival, TikTok introduced new generative AI tools under its Symphony creative suite. Instead of keeping the tools locked inside its own app, TikTok is plugging them directly into Adobe Express and ad giant WPP’s operating system, WPP Open.

From mood boards to five-second clips

The update focuses on automating basic video production for marketers.

Its new image-to-video feature turns static product shots, inspiration mood boards, or brand graphics into five-second branded video clips. Marketers can also tap text-to-video generation by typing short text prompts to create automated video assets on the fly.

Both features will live natively on TikTok while integrating straight into the third-party creative platforms agencies already use.

Why it matters

For small brands and creators, this lowers the bar to test video advertising. If you only have product photos, you can spin up five-second clips in minutes without hiring an editing crew or learning complex software.

TikTok is also playing smart distribution here. By embedding Symphony tools directly into Adobe Express and WPP Open, it moves upstream into the creative workflow, ensuring ads are formatted for TikTok long before media budgets get allocated.

We think the five-second constraint is clever—it fits the exact attention span of feed scrollers. The risk, however, is clear: automated video generation could flood feeds with repetitive, template-looking creative, making it harder for brands to actually stand out.