Meta has decided to take another step in its AI-generated content strategy with Vibesa platform that is evolving from an internal function into its own mobile app. The company wants to test the limits of a format in which All the videos you watch and create are produced by AI, without traditional recordings involved.
After a few months of integrated testing in AI goalThe tech giant is now testing a version standalone for iOS and AndroidThe movement seeks to offer a more focused environment, where people connect only to create, discover and share synthesized clips, in a format very similar to TikTok or Reels, but with one key difference: here everything has been processed by artificial intelligence.
What is Vibes and why does Meta separate it from Meta AI?
Vibes was born in September 2025 as a Short video feed within the Meta AI appFrom that space, users could write descriptions, upload photos or clips, and let the generative models create shareable videos. Along with the creative aspect, the feature included a Vertical wall with content from other users, very much in line with what is already seen on TikTok, Instagram Reels or Facebook Stories.
Meta claims that, since that initial launch, the use of Meta AI and Vibes has grown steadilyAlthough the company has not published specific figures, it speaks of "positive" traction and a notable increase in the creation and consumption of AI-generated videosThis behavior has been the signal to propose a separate app with its own identity.
With the new version, Vibes ceases to be a simple tab and becomes a standalone application focused exclusively on AI contentThe idea behind Meta is to reduce distractions, offer a more immersive experience, and to position Vibes as a direct competitor to other synthetic video platforms, with Sora from OpenAI In the spotlight.
In Europe and in countries like SpainVibes arrived as an integrated feature in late 2025, following an initial rollout in the United States. With the standalone app tests, Meta seeks to verify if there is product-market fit sufficient to scale this model as a global benchmark product within its ecosystem.
How AI-powered videos are created within Vibes
The goal of Vibes is to enable anyone to produce professional-looking clips. without any editing skills or filming equipmentTo achieve this, the app combines language models such as llama 4 with Meta's own video generation engines, packaged in a very simple mobile-oriented workflow.
One of the main ways it is used is direct generation from textThe user types a prompt such as “a medieval knight walking through a city with neon lights” or “an astronaut dancing the tango in a cyberpunk space station” and, in a matter of seconds, the app returns a short video with integrated image and soundNo camera, lighting, or physical recording is needed.
Another option is from existing visual resourcesYou can upload a photo or a pre-recorded clip to Convert photos to video with AI, add effects, transform the visual style or Recreate the scene in an animated, anime, or more realistic style.The idea is that the original material serves as a base upon which the AI "paints" a new result.
The feature that Meta highlights most strongly is the video remixUnlike classic duets, this feature lets you take a video from your feed—including certain content from Instagram—and ask AI to reinterpret it: changing characters, modifying the environment, adjusting the color palette, or turn a serious clip into something more humorous, maintaining the original structure.
Before publishing, Vibes offers a layer of additional editing and customizationThe user can add music (including AI-generated music), graphic overlays, filters, animations, and various visual styles. According to Meta, a significant part of the The processing is done directly on the deviceThis would help improve generation speed and user privacy compared to a purely cloud-based model.
A feed that learns from you and encourages social remixing
The heart of the Vibes experience is a custom vertical feed which feeds on each user's interactions: viewing time, likes, shares, comments and, in particular, favorite types of prompts and creative stylesThe more you use the app, the more the recommendations are adjusted and the more specific the content flow becomes.
In practice, the behavior resembles the TikTok algorithmBut with a key difference: the entire offering consists of videos generated or modified with AI. This opens up new territory where scenes impossible to film in the real world are the norm, and aesthetic combinations that border on the experimentalThis may appeal to some users and overwhelm others.
Meta emphasizes the social component of the platform. Beyond consuming content, users can remixing other people's clips, reusing scenes, changing styles, and reinterpreting viral piecesThis dynamic creates chains of versions of the same video, where each person contributes their own idea on a common basis, something the company describes as a collaborative creativity cycle.
The content isn't limited to Vibes. It's also available directly from the app. share the videos via private messagesend them to contacts or post them on other group platforms, such as Instagram and Facebookboth in Stories and Reels. Meta assures that the direct exchange of these clips via messaging It is growing, which fits with habits already established on WhatsApp or Messenger.
To deal with the risk of misinformation and deepfakesthe company has implemented invisible watermarks and “AI-generated” labels in the videos, and has explored ways to detect videos created with AI, with the aim of making it clear to any user that what they are seeing does not come from a traditional camera.
Business model: from initial free access to a possible freemium model
In this testing phase, Vibes is being offered as free application...with no entry cost to create and share videos. However, Meta has already hinted that evaluates a freemium model, in line with the premium subscriptions it is testing on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The company's idea is to maintain a Basic level of video creation accessible without payingbut reserve certain advanced features — higher resolution, longer clip times, exclusive styles or professional editing tools — for those who purchase a monthly subscription.
Behind this approach is the high computational cost of generative systemsEach video created consumes significant resources, and subscriptions are a way to monetize heavy users without excluding the general public. Meta has already confirmed to outlets like TechCrunch that testing of payment plans linked to AI features They will also be extended to Vibes when the app is more mature.
This approach fits with the current race between major technology companies to turning generative AI into a recurring line of businessOpenAI, with Sora; Google, with its creative tools; and Meta itself seeks a balance between offering powerful capabilities and sustaining the underlying infrastructure costs.
It remains to be seen how European users will react when some of Vibes' features are put behind a paywall, especially in a context where Digital subscriptions accumulate including streaming platforms, cloud storage, and professional software.
Competition with Sora and the battle for synthetic video
The move to turn Vibes into a standalone app is understood not only as a natural evolution of the product, but also as a Direct response to Sora's competition, the OpenAI application specializing in generating high-quality scenes from text instructions.
Sora managed to position itself, after its release, ahead of ChatGPT in downloads in its first few daysIt reached around 3,2 million installations in November, although its pace slowed and in January it remained at around 1,2 million, according to data cited by various media outlets. This decline opens a window of opportunity for Goal places Vibes as a solid alternative within the AI-generated video segment.
Unlike Sora's more cinematic and production-quality-oriented approach, Vibes wants to position itself as a social and everyday toolNot so much a virtual film studio, but a "social toy" that allows anyone improvise eye-catching content to share with friends, remix viral trends and maintain a constant flow of light clips.
Meta's strategy also involves integrating Vibes into its broader AI ecosystemThis includes specialized data centers, proprietary models, smart glasses, and conversational assistants. In this way, the application becomes a testing ground to observe how people use these tools in their daily lives.
For Europe and Spain, where regulations on synthetic content and data protection are stricter, the rollout of Vibes represents an interesting test: Meta will have to Balancing commercial ambition, security, and transparency to avoid friction with regulators and users concerned about the excessive “noise” generated by AI, such as cases of racist videos generated with AI.
A gamble with its ups and downs and many open questions
The rise of Vibes has also been met with criticism. Part of the creative community has labeled the predominant content on these platforms as... “AI slop”A kind of AI "mashed" filled with repetitive, visually bizarre videos devoid of human personality. It's questionable whether Meta is... prioritizing volume and usage time over artistic qualityfilling the network with synthetic clips that are increasingly difficult to distinguish from one another.
Meta, for its part, responds with numbers: media creation within its AI ecosystem would have grown up to ten times in recent monthsAccording to data the company has shared with various media outlets, Mark Zuckerberg defines these types of tools as a way to democratize visual expression, rather than as a substitute for traditional cinema or professional creation.
Another common concern is the impact of these platforms on the creative employment and online storytellingAs feeds become filled with AI-generated content, some are wondering what space will be left for human production, and whether audiences will still be able to value authorship when the line between "real" and "synthetic" is almost invisible.
Meta attempts to mitigate some of that debate with transparency measures—labels, watermarks, and explanations about the use of AI—but the discussion about the so-called “massive synthesis of the Internet” It will remain on the table, especially in markets like Europe, which are more sensitive to the effects of large platforms.
Meanwhile, the company insists that Vibes is still in the testing phase, with progressive releases, adjustments based on feedback and potential significant changes before a full global rollout. User behavior in regions like Europe and Spain will be key in deciding how much to invest in expanding the tool and what limits to place on its use.
With Vibes, Meta is risking more than just the success of a specific application: it's testing whether a feed made up solely of AI-generated videos It can single-handedly sustain an active global community. The strategy combines ease of use, integration with the Meta ecosystem, potential subscriptions, and a clear aim to compete with Sora and other similar offerings, while simultaneously sparking an uncomfortable debate about the quality, value, and real impact of this new type of digital entertainment.
