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Avid Technology, the editing software company, is the latest entertainment industry player to introduce AI into its toolbox.<\/a><\/p>\n The company behind industry-standard platforms Pro Tools and Media Composer said it is entering a multi-year partnership with Google<\/a> Cloud. <\/p>\n The goal is to implement both generative and agentic AI so that users can turn the \u201cmostly manual process into an intelligent, AI-assisted experience,\u201d Avid said in a statement Thursday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cThe primary bottleneck in Hollywood is manual labor [in editing] and managing thousands of hours of high-risk footage,\u201d Avid Chief Executive Wellford Dillard told the Times. Google\u2019s Gemini models and Vertex AI will be embedded directly into Avid\u2019s processes, offering customers a chance to accelerate their editing time. Avid\u2019s Media Composer, the editing system used on most professional film and TV productions, will now include a Gemini extension that could enhance metadata and generate B-Roll. <\/p>\n The company said that, overall, using AI on its platforms enables systems to understand the context of every file \u2014 allowing users to describe what they need based on visual movements, on-screen dialogue and emotional cues.<\/p>\n Dillard said that when someone uses Media Composer for editing, it can often be frustrating to click in and out of the application in search of the right shot buried within hours of footage. Now, he said, clients can describe the shot to AI, which could find it faster.<\/p>\n Anil Jain, global managing director at Google Cloud, said that these tools can do both simple functions like tweaking a scene\u2019s background, or achieve more complex tasks, like creating promotional material.<\/p>\n \u201cMost storytellers don\u2019t get excited about putting together a promo, but if they could leverage AI to help do it a lot faster, then it becomes more interesting, gets it done and opens up the possibility of more creative time,\u201d Jain said.<\/p>\n Avid, founded in 1987, is based in Burlington, Massachusetts and has since established itself as a pioneer in digital audio and video editing software. The company said its software was used to edit 87% of this year\u2019s Oscar-winning productions,<\/a> including the movies \u201cK-Pop Demon Hunters\u201d<\/a> and \u201cOne Battle After Another.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Avid is one of the many media companies that has recently incorporated AI into its services. In March, Netflix acquired Ben Affleck\u2019s AI filmmaking company, Interpositive.<\/a> Disney invested $1 billion<\/a> into OpenAI\u2019s now shuttered Sora platform<\/a>. Even in the music industry, the \u201cBig Three\u201d labels have inked individual deals with AI startups like Udio, Klay and Suno<\/a> \u2014 after suing a few of the same companies for copyright infringement.<\/a><\/p>\n Ramesh Srinivasan, a professor of information studies at UCLA, said these kinds of deals are the \u201cnew normal\u201d and that \u201calmost every single industry is being sort of eaten up by the Pac-Man of AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
. \u201cThis isn\u2019t us just adding a new tool. It\u2019s going from static files sitting on hard drives, to living data that understands its context.\u201d<\/p>\n