Google's Veo 2 AI text-to-video generator is now available – how to try it

Google’s Imagen 3 is a powerful AI text-to-image generator that earned ZDNET’s pick as the best image generator — even against competitors like Midjourney and OpenAI. As a result, the release of its Veo 2 text-to-video image generator has been highly anticipated. Well, it’s finally here, and it comes with a surprise.

Also: The top 20 AI tools of 2025 – and the #1 thing to remember when you use them

How to try Veo 2 in Gemini

On Tuesday, Google announced via a blog post that its state-of-the-art Veo 2 video generator is now available in Gemini. This feature allows users to create eight-second video clips at 720p resolution in a 16:9 landscape format using a simple text prompt.

According to Google, Veo 2 was designed to produce high-quality videos that better understand real-world physics and human motion to create videos that have “lifelike scenes” and “fluid character movement.” To create these videos, users can be as detailed as they like, giving them as much control as they want.

Also: 5 easy Gemini settings tweaks to protect your privacy from AI

The caveat? The experience is only rolling out to Gemini Advanced users worldwide on the web and mobile, part of the Google One AI Premium plan, which costs $20 per month.

Even with the subscription, there is a monthly limit to the number of videos users can create. Google doesn’t specify the limit, but it says it will notify users when they are getting close. However, if $20 per month seems expensive, it’s the same cost required for OpenAI’s Sora access via ChatGPT Plus.

Also: Gemini Pro 2.5 is a stunningly capable coding assistant – and a big threat to ChatGPT

The Google One AI Premium plan also comes with other perks, such as 2TB of storage, NotebookLM Plus with five-times higher usage limits and premium features, Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and more, and another feature unveiled today, Whisk Animate.

Whisk Animate

Whisk Animate is a new Google generative AI experiment powered by Veo 2. It builds on Whisk’s previous capabilities, which let users create new images from text and image prompts, and now lets them animate the images into eight-second videos. As mentioned above, this feature is also limited to Gemini Advanced users and can be accessed via Google Labs.

How does Veo 2 compare to Sora?

Both are quite similar in terms of what OpenAI and Google’s text-to-video generators can do. 

With ChatGPT Plus, Sora can create videos up to 720p resolution and 10 seconds in duration, while with Gemini Advanced, Veo 2 can create eight-second video clips at 720p resolution.

Also: 3 lucrative side hustles you can start right now with OpenAI’s Sora video generator

Ultimately, the quality of the videos generated will be the determining factor in which is better, and as soon as I get my hands on both, I’ll do a comprehensive analysis. 

Until then, figuring out which plan to choose will likely come down to which AI chatbot you use more. If you are a ChatGPT power user, ChatGPT Plus offers many other perks, such as unlimited access to GPT-4o image generation, making it a better alternative.

However, if you use Google’s suite of productivity apps such as Gmail, Slides, Meet, or Sheets, the Gemini integration into those apps might make the Google One AI Premium plan a better fit.

Get the morning’s top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter.