Pika 1.5 updates with three new Halloween-themed video AI Pikaffects

Of all the AI video models out there, arguably the one to see most success among mainstream creators and viewers — those outside the pro and amateur filmmaking community — is Pika.

The Palo Alto, California-based startup co-founded by two Stanford AI PhD dropouts Demi Guo and Chenlin Meng and funded to the tune of $135 million so far, unveiled its new Pika 1.5 text-to-video and image-to-video AI generation model at the start of this month (October 2024) with a collection of six physics-defying special effects (Explode, squish, melt, crush, inflate and “cake-ify”) for its web app that users could add easily to their own photos, turning them into surreal and bizarrely captivating videos.

Following this, brands with accounts on the social networks Instagram and TikTok — especially brands in cosmetics, skincare, and wellness — began using the effects, especially the “squish,” to advertise their services.

It even sparked a whole trend of ...