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Of all the AI video models out there, arguably the one to see most success among mainstream creators and viewers -- those outside the pro and amateur filmmaking community -- is Pika.
The Palo Alto, California-based startup co-founded by two Stanford AI PhD dropouts Demi Guo and Chenlin Meng and funded to the tune of $135 million so far, unveiled its new Pika 1.5 text-to-video and image-to-video AI generation model at the start of this month (October 2024) with a collection of six physics-defying special effects (Explode, squish, melt, crush, inflate and "cake-ify") for its web app that users could add easily to their own photos, turning them into surreal and bizarrely captivating videos.
Following this, brands with accounts on the social networks Instagram and TikTok -- especially brands in cosmetics, skincare, and wellness -- began using the effects, especially the "squish," to advertise their services.
It even sparked a whole trend of creators trying the "Squish It" effect -- or Pikaffect, as the company calls its AI presents -- on their own videos.
Pika added four more Pikaffects two weeks later. Now, the company is hoping to continue building upon its success cracking through to the mainstream by releasing three new Pikaffects in time for Halloween: levitate, eye pop, and decapitate -- all of which do what they sound like.
"We're trying to put fun at the forefront of AI -- making it accessible not just for creators, but for anyone, from kids to grandparents," said Matan Cohen-Grumi, Pika's Founding Creative Director, in a video call interview with VentureBeat earlier this week.
To use the new and prior Pikaffects, users of Pika follow the same simple steps: visit Pika.art, sign in with a Google Account, Discord Account, Facebook/Meta account or email address, and then navigate to the bottom menu bar to add a new image.
After tapping the Image button marked with a paperclip icon (highlighted above in a screenshot) the user can take a new image or add a previously uploaded one from their device or cloud photo library.
Then, tapping the Pikaffects button marked by a magic wand (encircled above in the annotated screenshot), the user can pull up all 13 preset Pikaeffects.
Finally, the user can generate a video based on the screenshot by tapping the star button (encircled above in the annotated screenshot).
"What I would suggest, is for everyone to go to our website and try it out," advocated Cohen-Grumi. "It's so, so accessible."
The creative director asserted that Pika's effects only take a few seconds to generate a new video from a still image.
However, in VentureBeat's limited tests, the site appeared overloaded with traffic and stalled for a while with some images failing to generate videos so far on the company's free tier, which offers 150 credits to the user each month -- enough for 10 videos (1 video costs 15 credits on Pika's scale). There are also Standard, Pro, and Unlimited tiers for $10, $35, and $95 per month (20% discount when paid annually) with gradually increasing numbers of credits.
Asked about the time outs we experienced, Cohen-Grumi noted that Pika's newfound success with Pikaffects had come with load bearing challenges.
"We had a lot, a lot of traffic, more than created on the launch, but everything was resolved very quickly," he told VentureBeat.
And seeking to dispel notions Pika was competing on novelty over realism, he also asserted that Pika 1.5 "can deliver extremely realistic results with natural movement."
As for what's next for Pika -- more Pikaffects for every major holiday or season of the year? -- Cohen-Grumi played coy.
"We're always working on the next thing, ensuring everything we release is fun and accessible for everyone," he said.
