To use their own voice and avatar, Synthesia walks them through instructions on what type of video and audio they should send in. Here’s how it works: Users can choose from a library of existing actors (who get paid per video in which they appear) or upload their own video to create an avatar. Think training videos and company- or department-wide video updates. Though Synthesia’s technology could be applied to dozens of use cases, the startup is focused initially on educational content for organizations and enterprises. The company has just announced the close of a $12.5 million Series A funding round led by FirstMark Capital, with participation from angels Christian Bach (CEO, Netlify) and Michael Buckley (VP Communications, Twilio), as well as existing investors LDV Capital, MMC Ventures, Seedcamp, Mark Cuban, Taavet Hinrikus, Martin Varsavsky and TinyVC. Synthesia, an AI video generation platform, is looking to make video content creation as simple and efficient as possible, and FirstMark is taking a bet on it making the world better, and not worse. It's plain as day to see how these types of tools could be used to mislead or do harm to large numbers of people, and it's up to the companies creating these tools to ensure they're used in an above board fashion.įor Synthesia's part, the company is pretty clear about not synthesizing anyone without explicit consent, and the tech is only accessible via an on-rails experience fully controlled by the company.Īll that said, don't be surprised to see a video from your department head or CEO, but not quite them, in the near future.As AI improves, the possibilities of what we can do with the technology grow exponentially (for better or worse). Companies looking to make video creation easier through AI and avatars must not only race to increase realism and add in a sliding scale for emotional expression, etc., but they must also ensure the safety of users and the credibility of their own platforms. In other words, the race is on, in a few ways. An Israeli company called D-ID actually demo'd their tech at Disrupt 2021, showing how they can take a still image of a person and turn it into video content. Synthesia isn't the only company doing work in its problem space. The startup takes that a step further with the ability to create videos featuring an avatar that looks and feels like a real person, either an unknown actor or the CEO of your own company. Canva also launched its own video product recently, focusing more on turning existing designs and slide decks into animated, lively videos. The $40 billion Australian startup shot up like a rocket after unlocking the ability to design - anything - for the rest of the organization outside of the design department. The "anyone can make video" concept gives me very strong Canva vibes. Synthesia’s AI video generation platform hooks $12.5 million Series A led by FirstMark The firm has 35 partners with their own avatars, creating videos for both internal comms and client communication. Riparbelli cited Ernst & Young as an example customer. Since raising a $12.5 million Series A in April, Synthesia has added features that make it even easier for users to create their own animated talkers, and the platform now has 1,000 custom avatars in use. "I think that's the key thing that is making us grow so fast from an AI perspective." "Anyone who, before Synthesia, could produce a slide deck or write a Word document can now actually create video content," said Riparbelli. Rather than seeing tons of usage from video production departments, other folks inside the organization are the power users of the tool. Interestingly, founder Victor Riparbelli said that user behavior didn't necessarily match up to his earlier expectations. These customers predominantly use the tool for training videos, it said, but also use Synthesia for monthly updates to the broader team or delivering information that would normally come via email. The startup, aware of the fact that almost any powerful tool on the internet can be used for evil, is focusing exclusively on enterprise clients, rather than allowing anyone and everyone to hop on the platform.
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