YouTube Shorts, already drawing over 200 billion views per day, is about to get a major AI upgrade. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced at Cannes Lions 2025 that Google latest video AI Veo 3 will be integrated into Shorts “later this summer”.
Veo 3, a state-of-the-art generative video model from Google DeepMind, was unveiled at Google I/O 2025 with the ability to create high-definition clips with native audio.
In practice, this means Shorts creators will soon be able to type a prompt or use an image to generate entire video scenes complete with realistic sound directly within the Shorts editor.
What is Veo 3?
Veo is Google family of AI video generators. According to Google Cloud, Veo “generates high-quality, high-definition videos based on text or image prompts in a wide range of cinematic and visual styles”.
The original Veo (and its predecessor Imagen Video) could produce short clips from simple prompts, and Google’s early demos showed surprisingly coherent motion and physics.
Veo 2 was introduced to the public with YouTube “Dream Screen” feature earlier in 2025. Veo 3 is the newest version. At Google I/O 2025, Sundar Pichai highlighted Veo 3 power: it now includes native audio generation, meaning it can insert ambient sounds, background noise, and even dialogue into its AI-created videos.
Google says Veo 3 also “vastly improves video quality” and handles realistic physics and lip-sync much better than before.
Veo 3 Arrives on Shorts
According to Mohan, bringing Veo 3 to Shorts will “open new creative lanes” for creators. Today, Shorts already offers AI features: for example, Dream Screen lets users generate custom animated backgrounds (using Veo 2) by typing a text prompt.
With Veo 3 integration, that capability will be taken to the next level. The result will be that creators can generate standalone video clips and backgrounds on the fly. Google Cloud product team confirms that Veo 3 can turn existing images into short video clips or create entirely new clips from text, producing content that’s “consistent and coherent” and looks professionally filmed.
Gadgets360 reports that Mohan said Veo 3 arrival will enable “AI-generated backgrounds and video clips” with “improved video quality” on Shorts. Google emphasizes that this upgrade will include audio support a first for Shorts so clips can have environmental sound or voice
Shorts massive scale helps explain Google urgency. In the same keynote, Mohan noted that Shorts averages over 200 billion daily views more than YouTube regular video feed and said AI tools like Auto Dubbing have already helped creators translate 20 million videos for international audiences.
Adding Veo 3 to the mix fits Google push to put generative AI in every creative hands. Other platforms and tools are racing ahead too: for example, design app Canva just launched a “Create a Video Clip” feature powered by Veo 3, promising “cinematic-quality” AI clips with sound.
YouTube move ensures Shorts won’t be left behind as users experiment with AI filters and editors on TikTok and Instagram.
How It Will Work for Creators
In practical terms, Shorts users will likely see new options in the Shorts camera or editor. Today, to use Dream Screen, creators select the green screen filter and enter text to generate an AI background. With Veo 3, they may be able to say “Create a video clip” of a scene or character and have the model do it instantly.
Veo 3 handles human figures and physics very well, so users could animate people or objects moving naturally. Mohan blog also hints that creators will continue to see clear labels on AI content YouTube already watermarks AI-generated images and backgrounds with its SynthID system, and similar labels will likely apply to Veo 3 videos too.
One insider concern is that Veo 3 videos, while impressive, can still look bizarre or surreal some early testers call it a “slop monger’s dream” due to odd artifacts in motion.
That means creators will need some skill in prompt design. Nevertheless, access to Veo 3 means shortcuts: a travel vlogger could instantly conjure a flying rocketship background, or an educator could generate a quick animated demo. YouTube job will be to make these tools easy to use and safe. (Earlier Cloud AI releases noted built-in safeguards like watermarking and content filters.)
Still, details remain to be seen. Google says Veo 3 on Shorts is “coming later this summer”, but rollout order and cost are unclear. Creators will watch closely: will access be free, or limited to subscribers? Will videos made with AI be monetizable?
Those answers will shape adoption. For now, the big takeaways are clear: YouTube is expanding its video AI arsenal, and Shorts already a powerhouse with 200B daily views is set to become even more dynamic. As Mohan put it, the move is about unlocking “new creative lanes” for everyone
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