Snapchat launches AI Clips to turn photos into five-second videos through Lens Studio

Snapchat's new 'AI Clips' Lens format turns photos into five-second videos | TechCrunch

Snapchat announced on Tuesday that it's launching AI Clips in Lens Studio, its platform that lets creators design and publish AR and AI effects called Lenses. The new Clips are an AI-powered Lens format that transforms a single photo into a five-second video. Unlike open-ended text-to-video tools, AI Clips are designed as a closed-prompt experience, where Lens creators design the Lens, and users can tap it to generate a video from their own photos. For example, a Lens creator could design a Lens that allows users to generate a video of themselves walking down a red carpet using their own photo. Snapchat says both experienced and new developers can use the new Lens format to turn a single prompt into a published Lens in minutes without the need for external tools. AI Clips are available to Snapchat users who are subscribed to that platform's Lens+ offering, which costs $8.99 per month. As its name suggests, Lens+ gives users access to exclusive Lenses and AR experiences, along with the features available as part of the standard Snapchat+ subscription. "For the first time, developers can build and publish photo-to-video AI directly to Snapchat from the GenAI Suite in Lens Studio," Snapchat wrote in a press release. "There's currently nothing else on the market that combines closed-prompt AI video generation with direct photo input, real distribution, and monetization." Lens creators enrolled in Lens+ Payouts, Snapchat's monetization program that allows developers to earn money from their Lenses, can earn revenue from the AI Clips they create. Snapchat isn't the only platform focused on letting users create AI clips from their own photos, as YouTube announced last week that it was rolling out "Reimagine," a new feature that lets users transform a single frame from an existing YouTube Short into an 8-second clip using their own photo. The launch of AI Clips comes the same day that Snapchat announced that users created nearly two trillion Snaps, or 63,000 Snaps per second, in 2025.

Turn a Photo Into a 5-Second Video With Snapchat's AI Clips Feature

Alex Valdes from Bellevue, Washington has been pumping content into the Internet river for quite a while, including stints at MSNBC.com, MSN, Bing, MoneyTalksNews, Tipico and more. He admits to being somewhat fascinated by the Cambridge coffee webcam back in the Roaring '90s. It's getting increasingly easier to get out into the world without actually getting out into the world. Snapchat has launched a new feature called AI Clips, which you can use to create a 5-second AI video of yourself with only a single photo. AI Clips is a feature in Lens Studio, available to Lens Plus subscribers, which costs $9 per month. Lens Plus provides access to various AR and Lens add-ons. In Lens Studio, you can do things like give yourself an ultra-big smile, make clones of yourself or become a dancing turkey. Developers can create Lenses in Lens Studio using the GenAI Suite. The Lens could be anything -- scuba diving in the Pacific Ocean, climbing a mountain, walking around the Taj Mahal, whatever. Snapchat users then have a menu of Lenses to choose from. With snaps of themselves, they can create a 5-second AI video using those Lenses. Now, it looks like they're scuba diving, climbing a mountain or walking around the Taj Mahal. (Or whatever.) "AI Clips make AI video instant, personal and shareable," Snap, which owns Snapchat, said in a news release Tuesday. "Developers can build and publish photo-to-video AI directly to Snapchat." Snapchat said a single Lens can be created in minutes with only one prompt and is doable for "both experienced and new developers." Let's take a specific example. Say the Lens is of speeding around in a racecar. With an image, the Snapchatter can put themselves in that race car and create a 5-second AI video. AI Clips is what Snapchat calls a "closed-prompt experience and not an open-ended text-to-video experience." In other words, you're limited to the Lens that has been created. You can't instruct the AI video to, say, "show me racing in a car and then winning the checkered flag." Snapchat said AI Clips are "designed for scale, creativity and repeat engagement." Snapchat said Lens creators can monetize their creations. Through the app's Lens Plus Payouts program, creators can get "revenue-share payouts" based on the engagement they receive. If they create an AI Clips experience that really lands with a ton of folks, it could really pay off. There's potentially a very large customer base for creators -- Snapchat also said Tuesday that app users created nearly 2 trillion snaps in 2025 -- 5.5 billion per day on average. AI video generation is much more accessible since the first-ever AI video was created only seven years ago. CNET tested the main ones out there, and our top choices include Sora, Adobe Firefly, Veo 3, Runway and Midjourney. You can use text and images -- as intricate as you want -- to create AI videos, or even an AI avatar to speak for you, such as the Andy Cohen avatar that Peacock is using. YouTube also has a new feature that lets you create AI videos from a single image. Last week, the Google-owned video streaming app announced Reimagine, which allows people to "transform a single frame from an existing YouTube Short into an entirely new 8-second clip."