Google Photos gets AI upgrade: Turn old pictures into videos and anime-style art

New Delhi: Google Photos, used by over 1.5 billion people globally, is rolling out free artificial intelligence tools that turn your old memories into artistic creations. With new features like photo-to-video conversion and style remixing, users can now easily animate and stylise their pictures using cutting-edge models from Google’s AI research.

The photo-to-video feature, powered by Google’s Veo 2 model, enables users to generate six-second video clips from still photos. Options like “Subtle movements” or “I’m feeling lucky” help users choose how their photo should be animated. This feature has started rolling out to Android and iOS users in the United States.

Remix old photos into anime or 3D art

Another exciting update is the Remix feature, powered by Google’s Imagen AI model. It allows users to instantly convert any photo into different styles—such as anime, 3D, and more. The stylised images will include a SynthID watermark to confirm their AI-generated origin.

The Remix function will be introduced to US users in the coming weeks and will be accessible from a new “Create” tab in the Google Photos app. This tab will also house existing features like collages and highlight videos, with regular updates planned for more experimental tools.

User feedback will shape future tools

Google has confirmed these features are experimental and user feedback will play a key role in their evolution. Users can react with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to indicate whether they liked the AI outputs, helping Google refine these tools over time.

With these upgrades, Google Photos is not just an image backup tool anymore—it’s becoming a creative platform where anyone can bring their photo memories to life using AI.