Veo 3 gives a snap shot of AI-driven future

Seen those viral clips about TV news anchors claiming the White House updated the thesaurus or fired ambassadors? If you haven't, do yourself a favour and watch them here and here before reading on.

These aren’t isolated experiments, but previews of what is just waiting for us. Last week at Google’s annual I/O developers’ conference in California, the tech giant unleashed among several things, Veo 3, an AI video generator that’s already flooding the internet with content so realistic it’s making people do double-takes.

Let’s be honest. These AI updates have been pouring down like Kerala monsoon for months now and frankly, it was getting tiresome. Geeks yelling about something “new” every day? Yawn.

But Veo 3 actually delivered something different. This time, AI-generated videos came with sound, background ambience, characters talking, and even animal noises that felt oddly real. The quality wasn't just an upgrade from Veo 2 – it looked like a full leap into the future.

Disruption Ahead

Right now, Veo 3 is limited to US users who pay 249.99US dollars per month for Ultra subscription, plus members of Google enterprises. But even with this restricted release, ultra-realistic videos are already pouring in. As James Pero of Gizmodo wrote, “the explosion of Veo 3-enabled content” is just around the corner.

Why this could be a game-changer? You can create these slick videos with speaking characters and background ambience by just typing a few lines.

“The technological advance made by Google is mind-boggling,” says Jikku Jose, CEO of Trivandrum-based StoryBrain. “With Veo 3, a person can create a video of people talking, laughing or running through the slopes of the Swiss Alps – all without getting off the chair.”

For content creators, the AI threat is no longer looming, it’s knocking on the door. Writers, ad makers, and storytellers across different formats now have to contend with anyone who can type and knows their way around an AI prompt.

In India, where cost often trumps quality, this shift could be a game-changer. Creating decent video used to mean expensive cameras, crews, locations, gear. Now, just a few lines of text could do the trick.

Opportunity or Crisis?

India’s massive film industry is staring at both an opportunity and a crisis. On one hand, indie filmmakers with tight budgets might finally get to produce eye-catching stories without breaking the bank. On the other, traditional gatekeepers of film production could lose their edge.

Gokul S Pillai, founder of Cochin-based Writers’ Union (the team behind that viral Dinomukku video), sees these tools as a creative extension. But he is cautious. “Every time a tool is released, there is a lot of buzz. It was the same with Sora, Kling and Gemini. We have to wait till we test it to see its capability.”

His team already uses several AI tools and has created AI-generated commercials and shows for TV channels.

Still, Veo 3 could really shake up the industry pecking order. Big production houses – backed by money, gear, and contacts – might find their advantage melting away. Solo creators with a laptop and Veo 3 could soon match them in visual quality, completely rewriting what audiences expect and how the market works.

The crew behind the scenes faces the biggest threat. Cinematographers, sound engineers, location managers and other technicians could become dispensable as AI gets better and cheaper. Demand for such workers could shrink fast, especially for those who haven't adapted to AI workflows.

Thin Margins

India’s ad industry, already running on razor-thin margins, could be hit even harder. For years, tight budgets have forced agencies to cut corners. Now, small businesses could bypass agencies entirely and prompt their way into sleek, ready-to-run videos.

A neighbourhood restaurant could whip up multiple short videos – no shoot, no actors, no post-production. Just a laptop and someone with basic AI skills.

That spells trouble for social media influencers too asmany make a living by promoting small businesses. But with tools like Veo 3, their clients could create their own videos that get social media traction.

If it looks “good enough” and costs almost nothing, what's stopping them? Veo 3 fits the Indian consumer’s long-time mantra: lower cost, higher value.

“It will be like mass-produced furniture and handcrafted ones. There will be people who opt for the lower-end product and those who look for quality,” says Pradeep Suthan of Calculsz, a Trivandrum-based marketing communications firm. He believes enterprises that base ideas on real market research will always have a place.

“AI can generate a clip based on the data it has. But even with that, you repeat the same instruction and it will produce a different one. How can a client know which is best suited for his audience?” he asks.

Making Cents

Still, if history tells us anything, price usually wins. From mobile plans to fast fashion, Indian consumers have repeatedly shown they’ll accept a quality drop if the deal is sweet enough.

Jikku, who stays on top of the latest AI developments, points out that Google’s earlier version, Veo 2, cost 50 US cents per second and Veo 3 will cost 0.75 cents per second. As every attempt is limited to creation of eight second videos, users will have to use it several times to stitch together a good 15 second clip. That could burn the pockets heavily, he says.

“Prompt adherence could be better in Veo 3 and the number of attempts could reduce. But it could still cost hundreds of dollars to create a satisfactory video,” says Jikku.

Fake on Steroids

Then there’s the troubling flip side. The media circus during recent India-Pakistan tensions saw fake clips and even video game graphics passed off as “real” footage. Imagine what bad actors could do with tools like Veo 3. The possibilities for manufactured reality just got turbo-powered.

In India’s complex media and political environment, misinformation already spreads like wildfire. Now imagine fake but highly believable videos popping up from different troll armies. Fact-checking just became ten times harder.

As Pero warns, “the ability to generate fairly convincing video isn’t one that should be taken lightly”.

Expanding Reach

Jikku believes content creation isn't the only thing getting shaken up. Coding is next. Tools already exist that can build websites and platforms with minimal human input. “Instead of a team of engineers working for weeks, even one person with knowledge of these tools can create them within hours,” he says.

And video was just one part of Google’s announcements. As Casey Newton, founder of the Platformer newsletter, wrote after the event, it’s like a preview of the future. “Gmail will soon write in your voice. Your camera will talk you through fixing your bike. NotebookLM will spin up TED Talk-style videos from your PDFs. Soon, you'll be able to prompt your way into a tutorial on anything under the sun.”

Buckle up. Google just stepped on the gas, and we’re all in for a bumpy ride.

Kerala misses the launch window again

Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (In-Space), the agency created to bring in private players in the Indian space sector, says Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will lead the drive to create manufacturing hubs catering to various aspects of the space programme. Gujarat will focus on the manufacturing of satellites and payloads, Tamil Nadu on launch vehicles, and Karnataka on overall manufacturing and assembly, reports ThePrint. In-Space chairperson Pawan Goenka says two more states will be added – and hopefully Kerala, the cradle of the Indian space industry, will find a spot in that.

Private space tech firms should also look westwards, as Saudi Arabia is planning a big push into the space business. Given the number of Keralites who have ties with the oil-rich kingdom, the state authorities should utilise these bonds to find openings for these firms. The kingdom's Communications, Space, and Technology Commission (CST) estimates Saudi space market (which includes all value-added activities and industries related to space technologies and services) reached 8.7 billion US dollars in 2024. Its space sector is expected to reach 31.6 billion US dollars by 2035, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) estimated at 12 percent, supported by investments in space sector infrastructure, according to the Gulf Business.

River Mobility cruising along

Ether and Ola may hog the limelight in the electric two-wheeler sector, but River Mobility, founded by Aravind Mani and Vipin George, continues to cruise along. Having begun sales only in October 2023, the EV maker closed the 2025 financial year with sales of 6,100 units and revenue of 104 crore rupees, says Inc42. The startup says it is focused on urban commuters and has designed its vehicles with plenty of storage space and comfortable seating. The River Indie model offer a massive 43-litre under-seat storage compartment and an additional 12 litres of storage in the form of a glovebox on the front apron, says the report. The company aims to sell 30,000 units in the coming 2026 financial year.

Singapore startup wins pink gold race

Singapore-based TurtleTree has notched a notable victory for fermentation technology proponents, having secured a “No Questions” letter from the FDA in the United States. The startup uses precision fermentation to produce lactoferrin, a protein found in cow’s milk that can now be used in food products catering to the growing number of vegan diet followers. Lactoferrin, otherwise known as “pink gold” because of its high value and iron-rich pink hue, is difficult to obtain as it takes up to 10,000 litres of milk to extract just 1 kilogram of purified lactoferrin. That makes it very pricey: 700 to 1,500 US dollars per kilogram, compared to whey, which costs approximately 1 US dollar per kilogram.

Dolphins could help us talk to aliens

If you're on the hunt for extraterrestrials, you might want to ditch the telescope and jump into the ocean. Apparently, dolphin language could offer clues to how aliens might communicate. The Coller Dolittle Challenge– yes, as in Doctor Dolittle – recently awarded its first annual 100,000 US dollars prize to a team working on cracking interspecies two-way conversation. The goal? Talk to animals… and maybe use that to phone ET. The prize, co-sponsored by Tel Aviv University, will be handed out every year until someone figures out the dolphin chit-chat, reports Space.com. This year’s winning team, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is busy eavesdropping on bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Sarasota, Florida and analysing their whistles