Not to let OpenAI have all the fun with its 12 days of 'Shipmas,' Google on Monday revealed its new AI video generator, Veo 2. Early testers found it's blowing OpenAI's Sora out of the water.
OpenAI made its Sora AI video generator available for general use earlier this month, while Google's is still in early preview. Still, people are sharing comparisons of the two models running the same prompts, and so far, Veo has proved more impressive.
Why is Google's Veo 2 doing better than Sora so far? The answer may be YouTube, which Google owns and has used to train these models.
TED host and former Googler Bilawal Sidhu shared some comparisons of Google's Veo 2 and OpenAI's Sora on X.
He said he used the prompt, "Eating soup like they do in Europe, the old fashioned way," which generated a terrifying result in Sora and something more impressive in Google's Veo 2.
Veo 2 prompt: "Eating soup like they do in Europe, the old fashioned way" https://t.co/gX9gh1fFy6 pic.twitter.com/kgR7VP2URl
— Bilawal Sidhu (@bilawalsidhu) December 18, 2024
Here's another, which took a prompt that YouTube star Marques Brownlee had tried in a video reviewing Sora.
Google Veo 2 vs. OpenAI Sora
— Bilawal Sidhu (@bilawalsidhu) December 17, 2024
Tried MKBHD's prompt: "A side scrolling shot of a rhinoceros walking through a dry field of low grass plants"
Took the 1st video I got out of Veo, and it's not even close. Prompt adherence & physics modeling? Leagues apart. Sora nails the look, but… pic.twitter.com/mus9MdRsWo
This one from EasyGen founder Ruben Hassid included a prompt for someone cutting a tomato with a knife. In the video he shared, we see how Google's Veo 2 had the knife going cleanly through the tomato and avoiding fingers, while the knife in Sora's video cut through the hand.
I tested Sora vs. the new Google Veo-2.
— Ruben Hassid (@RubenHssd) December 17, 2024
I feel like comparing a bike vs. a starship: pic.twitter.com/YcHsVcUyn2
Granted, these are cherry-picked examples, but the consensus among AI enthusiasts is that Google has outperformed.
Andreessen Horowitz partner Justine Moore wrote on X that she had spent a few hours testing Veo against Sora and believed Sora's "biases towards more motion" while Veo focuses on accuracy and physics.
Sora vs. Veo 2:
— Justine Moore (@venturetwins) December 18, 2024
I spent a few hours running prompts on both models and wanted to share some comparisons ⬇️.
IMO - Sora biases towards more motion, whereas Veo focuses more on accuracy / physics. And a larger % of clips from Veo are usable.
"man jumping over hurdles" pic.twitter.com/WI9zIaJA64
Google has been open about tapping YouTube data for its AI, but it does not permit others to do the same. The New York Times previously reported that OpenAI had trained its models using some YouTube data anyway. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said OpenAI doing this would violate Google's policies.
BI previously reported that Google's DeepMind also tapped YouTube's vast trove of content to build an impressive music generator that never saw the light of day.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Are you a Google or OpenAI employee? Got more insight to share? You can reach the reporter Hugh Langley via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-628-228-1836) or email (hlangley@businessinsider.com).
