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Last winter, Demi Guo and her Stanford Ph.D. classmates attempted to create a movie using generative AI for Runway’s “AI Film Festival,” but were unsuccessful. Motivated by this challenge, Guo and Chenlin Meng dropped out of Stanford to start Pika, aiming to simplify AI video generation. Pika quickly gained traction, with 500,000 users creating millions of videos weekly. This led to rapid investment, including a $35 million Series A round, valuing Pika at $200–300 million.
Initially focused on anime, Pika expanded to realistic videos and launched a web app, integrating unique features like embedding text into videos. Pika, primarily using GPUs, including some from investor Nat Friedman’s Andromeda cluster, is enhancing its AI model and plans to expand its team. While currently free, Pika may introduce a tiered subscription model, targeting everyday consumers rather than professional filmmakers.
With the advent of advanced tools like Pika, social media engagement is poised to rise significantly. As users gain the ability to create highly engaging videos easily, the content landscape shifts towards “by us, for us” media. This trend could potentially divert attention from traditional big-screen productions, favoring personalized, user-generated content that resonates more with everyday viewers.
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