TikTok Debuts AI Alive to Animate Photos into Short Videos

TikTok has unveiled a new generative AI feature that allows users to convert static images into dynamic video content directly within the platform. Announced on Tuesday, the tool – dubbed “TikTok AI Alive” – is accessible through the app’s Story Camera and enables short-form animations complete with sound and visual effects.

Unlike previous features such as TikTok’s in-app text-to-image generator, AI Alive focuses on image-to-video transformation. By analyzing the elements of a photo, the tool animates the scene using motion and audio. For instance, a beach image could be reimagined with moving clouds, shifting skies, and ambient wave sounds. Similarly, a selfie can be turned into a short clip that emphasizes facial expressions and gestures.

The feature aligns TikTok with a broader industry trend toward more immersive AI-generated content. While both Instagram and Snapchat already offer text-to-image tools, TikTok becomes one of the first major platforms to roll out image-to-video generation at scale. Snapchat has indicated it plans to introduce a similar feature soon.

AI-generated videos produced with TikTok AI Alive will be clearly marked. Each clip will include an “AI-generated” label and C2PA metadata, ensuring transparency even when content is shared outside the app.

TikTok emphasizes that safety remains a core priority. “As this technology enables new forms of creative expression, it undergoes multiple trust and safety checks to protect our community,” the company stated. Uploaded images, prompts, and the resulting videos are reviewed by moderation technology before creators can view or post them. Additional reviews occur before public sharing, and users can report content they believe violates platform rules.

The AI Alive feature is available now through the Story Camera interface, where users can select a photo from their Story Album and initiate animation using the dedicated toolbar.