Meta just raised the stakes in AI advertising — again.
Its latest rollout lets marketers instantly turn product images into video ads using generative AI.
It’s fast, cheap, and aimed squarely at the small businesses fueling Facebook and Instagram’s ad machine.
The Latest Move: Meta’s AI-Powered Ad Suite Grows
Meta has launched a new image-to-video tool that uses AI to transform static product images into dynamic multi-scene video ads, complete with background music and text overlays.
The update, announced during the Cannes Lions advertising festival, allows advertisers to upload up to 20 images to generate customized video clips for campaigns across Facebook and Instagram.
This move is part of Meta’s broader push into AI-generated content for its $130 billion advertising business — which remains its core revenue engine, with roughly 98% of income tied to ads.
For small businesses, the upgrade could be a big deal. Many lack the budget or in-house talent to produce high-quality video assets. Meta’s tools lower that barrier, enabling marketers to produce creative content faster — and potentially spend more on media instead.
It’s not Meta’s first AI leap. In recent months, the company has added features allowing text prompts to generate ad visuals, launched GIF creation tools, and previewed a consumer-facing text-to-video tool called Movie Gen.
The tech behind these tools is underwritten by heavy investment. Just this month, Meta reportedly poured $14.3 billion into Scale AI to accelerate its model development efforts.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called AI his top priority for the year — even personally recruiting talent for Meta’s new “superintelligence” team.
Why This Could Reshape Digital Marketing
The promise of AI ad tools is efficiency — but the power lies in democratization. Meta’s rollout shows how generative AI is no longer a premium perk for large agencies. It’s being baked into platforms that local bakeries, Etsy sellers, and niche brands rely on daily.
Instead of spending thousands on video production, a merchant can now plug in photos and let Meta do the rest. That shifts the balance — from creative bottlenecks to algorithmic speed.
It’s also Meta’s answer to a rising threat. TikTok, Snap, and Google are all investing in AI-powered ad tools. With Cannes Lions as the backdrop, Meta is making clear it wants to stay at the top of the creative stack.
But this wave raises familiar questions: How original is AI-generated content? Will automated campaigns saturate feeds with sameness? And who owns the rights to AI-crafted visuals?
GazeOn’s Take: Where It Could Go From Here
Meta isn’t just simplifying ad creation — it’s reshaping who gets to participate. If a solo creator with product shots and a prompt can compete with an agency-backed brand, the ad economy could shift in ways we haven’t fully mapped yet.
Expect this to fuel more platform-native creativity, more AI-generated saturation — and a coming wave of guidelines on how these tools should be disclosed or constrained.
Over to You
Will AI video ads level the playing field — or flood our feeds with copy-paste marketing? What’s your read?
About Author:
Eli Grid is a technology journalist covering the intersection of artificial intelligence, policy, and innovation. With a background in computational linguistics and over a decade of experience reporting on AI research and global tech strategy, Eli is known for his investigative features and clear, data-informed analysis. His reporting bridges the gap between technical breakthroughs and their real-world implications bringing readers timely, insightful stories from the front lines of the AI revolution. Eli’s work has been featured in leading tech outlets and cited by academic and policy institutions worldwide.
