Google drops free 1080p AI video generator as OpenAI's Sora 2 officially DIES 💀

Google opened free 1080p AI video generation to anyone with a Google account on September 23, lifting the paywall on its browser-based Google Vids editor powered by the Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash model. The tool converts text prompts, photos, audio, or existing clips into new video footage, and users can sign in at vids.new to begin generating without a subscription. Testers reported the platform produced 720p output in both horizontal and vertical formats, while Google also rolled out previously paid features: scene extension that maintains lighting and character consistency across extended clips, precise scene-duration controls for syncing with scripts or voiceovers, and upscaling of older AI clips to 1080p without regeneration. Every output carries Google's DeepMind-developed SynthID watermark, which remains invisible to viewers but can be detected through the separate SynthID Detector tool designed to flag AI-generated content passed off as real footage. Generation speed was clocked at under 30 seconds per short clip, faster than typical render times on Google Flow.

Access tiers vary by account type, with personal Google accounts receiving a standard generation allowance, Google's paid AI plans unlocking higher volumes, and Workspace Business and Enterprise subscribers receiving larger pools plus administrative controls for team-wide management. Gemini Omni first launched in May 2026 as a paid feature for Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers, with free usage previously limited to YouTube Shorts and YouTube Create. The Vids rollout marks the broadest consumer release of the technology to date, arriving on the same day OpenAI's Sora 2 developer API went permanently offline following the April 2026 shutdown of the consumer Sora 2 app and website. Google has continued pressuring competitors on price, recently cutting the API rate for its Veo 3.1 Lite model to $0.05 per second, positioning the offering against Chinese platforms including Kling and Hunyuan Video in the increasingly crowded generative video market.