AI avatar generator Synthesia does video footage deal with Shutterstock

A 2bn ( 1.6bn) British startup that uses artificial intelligence to generate realistic avatars has struck a licensing deal with the stock footage firm Shutterstock to help develop its technology. Synthesia will pay the US-based Shutterstock an undisclosed sum to use its library of corporate video footage to train its latest AI model. It expects that incorporating the clips into its model will produce even more realistic expressions, vocal tones and body language from the avatars. "Thanks to this partnership with Shutterstock, we hope to try out new approaches that will … increase the realism and expressiveness of our AI generated avatars, bringing them closer to human-like performances," said Synthesia. Synthesia uses human actors to generate digital avatars of people, which are then deployed by companies in corporate videos in a range of scenarios such as advising on cybersecurity, calculating water bills and how to communicate better at work.