Elon Musk announces revival of Vine in artificial intelligence format, sparking discontent among users
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has announced plans to revive the popular video app, Vine. The revival, scheduled for 2025, will see Vine integrated into Musk's broader "everything app" vision for X, rather than as a standalone app.
The new Vine will leverage artificial intelligence to create or enhance short-form videos. This could potentially allow for fully AI-generated content from text prompts or user inputs, thanks to Musk's xAI project "Imagine," which creates videos from text prompts using generative models.
Musk's plans to revive Vine have sparked a mixed reaction. While some are excited about the AI-powered twist, others have expressed discontent, particularly about the AI format. One individual used the "We're gonna kill you dawg," Randy Jackson meme to express their feelings, while another shared the "Anybody tell you look like Beyonce" Vine as a critique.
Vine, which gained popularity in the mid-2010s, was discontinued in 2016 due to its inability to monetize and advertise effectively, as well as financial challenges faced by Twitter (which had acquired the app in 2012). The app was known for its six-second videos and was a springboard for content creators such as Logan Paul, Shawn Mendes, and Liza Koshy.
Musk's interest in reviving Vine was first sparked in April 2023 when he conducted a public poll on X, with nearly 69.6% of respondents voting in favour of rebooting the app. Sources reported that Musk instructed Twitter engineers to work on a Vine reboot at the time.
In October 2022, Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, which could potentially pave the way for the integration of Vine into the platform. Musk has hinted at the prospect of bringing back Vine, simply writing "Bring back Vine?" in the poll that received 2,262,946 votes.
Exact technical details and an official release date for the new Vine have not yet been provided. As the revival date approaches, more information is expected to be shared about the AI-powered platform and its potential to revolutionise short-form video creation and consumption.
The revival of Vine, led by Elon Musk, will integrate artificial intelligence to reinvent short-form entertainment, potentially creating fully AI-generated content on social media, as part of his broader vision for X. This development has sparked a mixed response, with some embracing the AI twist while others criticize it, using Vine memes to express their sentiments.
