Google Gemini Adds AI Avatar Video Feature for
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- Google Gemini launched the Avatars feature, powered by its Omni video model, letting subscribers create AI videos with a photorealistic digital clone of themselves.
- Google Gemini limits Avatars usage to AI Pro plan members ($20/month) with a five‑hour reset cycle, causing the author to hit the cap after two 10‑second clips.
- Google Gemini requires a five‑minute facial scan—well‑lit phone camera, reading two‑digit numbers, head turns—to generate a personal avatar, which the author used to produce a birthday‑song‑to‑a‑dinosaur clip at Dolores Park.
- OpenAI previously offered Sora, a similar avatar video tool, but the product was discontinued and only allowed others to generate videos using a user’s likeness with permission.
- Dolores Park in San Francisco was recreated in the AI‑generated video, showing palm trees and the Salesforce tower, highlighting Google’s mapping expertise.
Why it matters: Subscribers gain a fast way to produce personalized AI videos, but the $20 monthly fee and strict usage caps limit broader adoption, while OpenAI’s loss of Sora leaves a gap that Google now fills.
