Video Generation

Today's Stories

1. 1

   Level-5 draws steady TGS 2026 crowd despite AI backlash

   Level-5, whose AI-generated video on September 10 sparked online backlash, drew a Tokyo Game Show 2026 crowd comparable to Sega and Bandai Namco, with waits of about an hour for Professor Layton and the New World of Steam. The company's booth traffic appears largely unaffected by the controversy, suggesting the backlash has not translated into an immediate drop in visitor interest.

   President Akihiro Hino said the booth images used AI but the actual displays were human-designed and handcrafted; the test is whether that explanation holds as general-public days begin.

2. 2

   Tilly Norwood, Particle6's AI actress, faces CNN, NBC, CBS press

   Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated "actress" from studio Particle6, held interactive press sessions with CNN, NBC and CBS this week. A CBS journalist said it worked out her age and roughly where in the US she was from within about a minute, and an NBC reporter said it felt like talking to a chatbot. The reporter's discomfort was not about quality — nobody said it looked bad — but about being talked to by something presenting itself as a person who doesn't exist, which is the line being drawn rather than whether AI video is good or bad.

   SAG-AFTRA had already put out a statement saying it isn't an actor but a character trained on real performers, so the test is whether the studio's claim that around 40 more are coming turns that position into a real dispute.

3. 3

   Level-5 chief Akihiro Hino apologizes for AI video

   At Level-5's announcement event, an AI-generated video drew controversy, and president Akihiro Hino apologized and said no crude AI output data will be included in released games. The apology suggests the company is trying to reassure players that its shipping titles will not rely on the kind of AI-generated footage that upset them.

   The test is whether Level-5's future releases live up to that pledge, since the statement covers released games and leaves the use of AI elsewhere undecided.

4. 4

   Pika, valued at $470 million, launches faster AI video tool

   Pika, valued at $470 million, launched a program that automates which AI model creates each video element and turns basic inputs into an editable, shot-by-shot list. It also released apps for relighting and swapping characters or outfits. The product cuts the effort of writing detailed paragraph prompts from scratch, which could make AI video creation faster and easier. It may help the company stand out against larger rivals in the AI content creation space.

   Pika says some features will cost half the price of competitors', like Seedance, a text-to-video model available across other AI video platforms. The test is whether that pricing draws creators away from rival platforms that already have integrated tools.

5. 5

   Avail launches creatorAPI for AI ad variants

   Tech-media startup Avail launched creatorAPI, a tool letting brands make dozens of AI-edited variants of video ads filmed by human influencers, with all variants authorized by the creator. It appears to be a response to fully synthetic influencers, keeping real creators like Emily Higgins in the loop while multiplying their ad output across geographies and audiences.

   The tool relies on a mix of third-party AI models, and its ads use "dark posting," so they spread into feeds without appearing on the creator's profile.

6. 6

   NBC News airs Chloe Melas interview with AI actress Tilly Norwood

   NBC News aired an interview Monday on 3rd Hour of Today in which correspondent Chloe Melas spoke by video call with Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated actress who debuted in September 2025. Melas said the avatar felt glitchy, forgot prior calls, and repeated herself, concluding she was not speaking to a human and that Norwood is not coming for jobs quite yet.

   Norwood framed herself as a creative tool rather than a threat, so the test is whether such avatars improve enough to be trusted on air. Norwood's debut was September 2025.