Snapchat announced on Tuesday the launch of AI Clips in Lens Studio, its platform for creators to design and publish AR and AI effects, known as Lenses. AI Clips are an AI-powered Lens format that transforms a single photo into a five-second video.

 

Unlike open-ended text-to-video tools, AI Clips use a closed-prompt system: Lens creators design the Lens, and users simply tap it to generate a video from their own photos. For instance, a creator could build a Lens that lets users see themselves walking down a red carpet using a single photo.

 

Snapchat says both new and experienced developers can turn a single prompt into a published Lens in minutes, without needing external tools.

 

AI Clips are available to subscribers of Lens+, Snapchat’s premium offering priced at $8.99 per month. Lens+ provides access to exclusive Lenses and AR experiences, alongside the features included in the standard Snapchat+ subscription.

 

“For the first time, developers can build and publish photo-to-video AI directly to Snapchat from the GenAI Suite in Lens Studio,” Snapchat said in a blog post. “There’s currently nothing else on the market that combines closed-prompt AI video generation with direct photo input, real distribution, and monetization.”

 

Creators enrolled in Lens+ Payouts, Snapchat’s monetization program, can earn revenue from the AI Clips they produce.

 

Snapchat isn’t alone in focusing on AI-driven photo-to-video tools. Last week, YouTube unveiled Reimagine, a feature that transforms a single frame from a YouTube Short into an eight-second clip using a user’s own photo.

 

The AI Clips launch coincides with Snapchat’s announcement that users created nearly two trillion Snaps in 2025—an average of 63,000 per second.