TikTok rolls out AI-powered ad features, letting marketers create video ads from text or images. Lowers production costs, aiding small businesses.
TikTok is rolling out a set of new artificial intelligence-powered advertising features, including the ability for marketers to use text or still images to create AI-generated video for the service.
Marketers can upload an image of a product they want to feature, or write a short text prompt describing the kind of video ad that they want, and TikTok’s AI tools will produce various five-second clips that can then be used in an ad, the company announced Monday.
The text- and image-to-video features are part of TikTok’s existing Symphony product, which was unveiled in 2024 to help brands create advertisements using generative AI. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd., already lets advertisers use AI-enhanced spokespeople, referred to as avatars, to help promote and sell their products on the video app.
Also Read: From Buzzword to Breakthrough: Can AI Finally Deliver True Personalization?
AI-generated ads are becoming more popular as major platforms like TikTok and Meta Platforms Inc. seek ways to lower the cost of production, which in turn may give small businesses more money to spend promoting ads. TikTok’s new tools were announced in conjunction with the Cannes Lions advertising festival, which is happening this week in the south of France. AI-generated advertisements are likely to be a major theme of the conference.
