Amazon opens the floodgates for AI-generated video ads with enhanced video generator

Amazon has officially launched its updated AI-powered Video Generator tool across the United States, bringing generative video advertising capabilities to the broader base of Amazon sellers. Following a nine-month beta period, the new iteration marks a significant expansion in functionality—offering higher-motion, multi-scene, photorealistic video ads that can be created within minutes and at no cost to users.

The Video Generator tool allows sellers to turn static product images into short, animated ads. Key features include realistic simulations of product usage—for example, showing a watch on a wrist in motion rather than displayed flat—and the ability to build brief, 8 to 21-second clips that resemble traditional commercial spots. Advertisers are now provided with six different video versions per product to choose from, enhancing creative variety and customization.

The tool’s enhancements also include video summarization capabilities that can extract and condense key moments from existing videos—such as tutorials or social content—into ads formatted for Amazon’s platform. A one-click image-to-video function transforms still images into dynamic, GIF-style scenes that demonstrate the product in use. Sellers can overlay branding, tweak headlines, insert logos, and arrange video segments using a simplified editing interface.

This rollout comes at a time when generative AI is rapidly reshaping the advertising landscape. While earlier iterations of the tool were limited to basic, low-motion clips, Amazon’s advancements now enable more immersive and visually rich content—still generated quickly and without professional video production resources. The result is a suite of ads that closely resemble professionally produced spots, yet are designed for ease-of-use by sellers with little to no marketing experience.

Amazon says the tool is particularly beneficial for small to medium-sized businesses, many of which previously lacked the budget or technical know-how to create video ads. According to internal data, half of the products promoted using AI-generated videos were never advertised with video assets before, indicating the tool’s potential to open new promotional avenues for under-resourced sellers.

Despite the convenience, concerns remain around potential misuse. Amazon claims that its AI-generated ads are subjected to the same content moderation protocols as all other platform advertising, although past investigations have highlighted ongoing challenges in detecting counterfeit and restricted items through automated systems.

Amazon executives emphasize the practical nature of the tool’s release. “This is a real, scalable product—not a futuristic prototype,” said Jay Richman, VP of Product and Technology at Amazon Ads. He acknowledged the limitations of the current system, particularly its lack of support for longer-form storytelling or nuanced character-based videos, but stressed that the tool is designed to help non-experts produce effective, on-brand content without needing extensive creative teams.

The broader implication is clear: Amazon is positioning generative AI not just as a novelty, but as an operational part of its advertising infrastructure. This launch is expected to significantly increase the volume of AI-generated video content on Amazon’s platform, blending human and machine-made creativity in a way that is becoming increasingly seamless to shoppers.