State of AI Video Generation 2026

AI video generation is a small but fast-growing market led by Google's Veo, with marketer adoption maturing after an initial spike.

The global AI video generator market sits near $0.79 billion entering 2026 and is forecast to keep growing through the early 2030s. Behind the hype, adoption among marketers has cooled into more deliberate, ROI-focused use, and Google's Veo has emerged as the most-used model among both individuals and organizations.

$946.4M

Forecast AI video generator market size in 2026

Grand View Research

51%

Marketers who used AI for video in 2025 (down from 75% in 2024)

Wyzowl

69%

Adoption of Google Veo, the most-used AI video model

Artificial Analysis

65%

Organizations reporting ROI from generative media within 12 months

Artificial Analysis

A small market scaling quickly

Compared with mature software categories, dedicated AI video generation remains modest in absolute revenue. Grand View Research pegs the segment at roughly $788.5 million in 2025, rising to about $946.4 million in 2026. That implies steady double-digit annual growth rather than the explosive expansion sometimes implied by headlines. The gap between estimates across research firms reflects differing definitions of what counts as a 'video generator' versus broader editing software.

Adoption matured, not exploded

Wyzowl's 2025 survey found that 51% of marketers had used AI tools for video creation or editing, down sharply from the 75% reported the prior year. We read this less as abandonment and more as a correction after early experimentation. Teams that kept AI video in their workflow are using it more selectively, where it demonstrably saves time or money. The result is a smaller but stickier base of practitioners.

Google's Veo leads the model race

Artificial Analysis's Q3 2025 generative media survey found Google Veo to be the most popular video model overall at 69% adoption, ahead of Kling, Hailuo, Runway and Alibaba. Notably, organizational adoption of Veo (72%) edged out personal use (67%), suggesting enterprise buyers gravitated to it quickly. Cost was the single biggest factor cited in choosing a video generation API, which favors models with predictable, lower per-clip pricing.

From production to ROI

The same survey found 39% of organizations had video generation running in production, trailing image generation at 44%. Where organizations adopted generative media broadly, 65% reported a return on investment within twelve months. That payback signal matters more than raw market size for buyers deciding whether to commit budget. Expect the production share for video to converge toward image generation as quality and controllability improve.