🎞️ Midjourney enters AI Video Generation

Welcome, AI enthusiasts

Midjourney, the popular AI image tool, just released its first video generation model V1. It’s a major step as the company shifts from images to full multimedia creation. Let’s dive in! 

In today’s insights:

• Midjourney enters Video Generation

• Meta is throwing $100M at OpenAI researchers

• Big tech executives join the US army as Lt. Colonels

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

MIDJOURNEY
🎞️ Midjourney launches an AI video generator

Evolving AI: Midjourney just launched its first public video generator.

Key Points:

• Users can create short videos from images, with up to 21 seconds of animation.

• A new “animate” button appears after image creation or upload.

• Manual prompts and motion settings offer control, but it’s GPU-costly.

Details:

Midjourney has released the first version of its AI video model. The tool generates short clips from images made in Midjourney or uploaded by the user. After an image is created, a new “animate” button appears. It produces a default 5-second video, which can be extended up to 21 seconds. Users can tweak the animation with text prompts and adjust motion settings for camera or subject movement. The tool is available via Discord or Midjourney’s web interface and requires a paid subscription. Videos cost about 8 times more than images to generate.

Why It Matters:

Midjourney is known for its unique visual style, and now it’s bringing that to video. This sets it apart from tools like OpenAI’s Sora or Google’s Veo, which lean more toward polished, commercial output. Midjourney is still focused on creative expression. But it’s launching this tool right in the middle of a lawsuit. Disney and Universal claim the company trained on copyrighted content. So while this is a major step for creative AI, it’s also a sign that the legal battles around these tools are just getting started.

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META
💰️ Meta is offering $100M sign-on bonuses to OpenAI staff

Evolving AI: OpenAI’s Sam Altman says that Meta is making wild offers to lure top OpenAI researchers.

Key Points:

• Meta is offering up to $100M in signing bonuses to OpenAI staff.

• Mark Zuckerberg is personally calling engineers to join his AGI team.

• Despite the pressure, OpenAI’s top talent isn’t biting.

Details:

In a recent podcast, OpenAI CEO has said Meta is working hard to get top engineers from OpenAI. Not with stock or long-term comp, but with massive signing bonuses. Some offers go as high as $100 million just to say yes. And it’s not just recruiters asking. Mark Zuckerberg is personally calling people at OpenAI to pitch his AGI vision. The timing makes sense. Meta has had a rough stretch in AI, with delays around Behemoth, questions about Llama 4, and quiet exits from senior researchers like Joelle Pineau. At the same time, they’ve put $15 billion into Scale AI and brought in Alexandr Wang, which shows they are serious about building one of the best AI teams in the world.

Watch this clip to hear Sam Altman talk about it:

Why It Matters:

This moment highlights how competitive the AI space has become. Even with strong offers on the table, top talent is weighing more than just money. Culture, mission, and belief in a team’s direction are playing a bigger role than ever.

US ARMY
🪖 Big tech executives join the US army as Lt. Colonels

Evolving AI: The US Army just swore in four Big Tech executives from OpenAI, Meta, and Palantir as lieutenant colonels.

Key Points:

• The Army formed a new unit: Detachment 201, or “Executive Innovation Corps”.

• Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI leaders are now part of the military chain of command.

• The move is tied to efforts to bring tech talent into defense planning and recruitment.

Details:

On June 13, the US Army launched Detachment 201, a new unit created to bring tech executives into military leadership. It’s part of a plan to merge private-sector AI experience with military innovation. Four execs were appointed: Shyam Sankar (Palantir), Kevin Weil (OpenAI), Andrew “Boz” Bosworth (Meta), and Bob McGrew (ex-OpenAI and now Palantir). The move came just ahead of a Trump-backed military parade sponsored by Palantir. The Army says this will help with recruiting and modernizing the force.

Why It Matters:

This is the first time tech leaders have been given military rank just for their expertise. It signals how closely AI and defense are becoming intertwined and how blurred the line is getting between Silicon Valley and the battlefield. With private tech executives now holding formal military positions, there are real questions about influence, oversight, and how defense decisions get made in the age of AI.

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