Adobe Boosts AI Capabilities with Rephrase.ai Acquisition

Adobe Systems, a prominent multinational provider of digital media solutions, is reportedly acquiring Rephrase.ai, a startup based in Bengaluru, to augment its generative AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities.

Rephrase.ai, which IIT Bombay and IIT Roorkee established with alums Nisheeth Lahoti, Ashray Manhotra, and Shivam Mangla, streamlines the video production process by converting text into videos that have a professional appearance.

The company has gained significant traction in the swiftly expanding field of text-to-video AI generation.

The acquisition, which Mangla declared but which Adobe has not yet officially affirmed, would be consistent with the company’s continuous dedication to generative artificial intelligence (AI), as demonstrated by the recent introduction of Adobe Firefly and improved AI functionalities in Photoshop.

On social media, Mangla, the chief executive officer of Rephrase.ai, conveyed his elation by showcasing the progress and accomplishments of his team.

Mangla wrote, “The acquisition of Rephrase.ai by a pioneering creative tech company will usher in the new era of generative AI.”

He elaborated on how the Techstars incubator program, key partnerships, celebrity collaborations, and a successful expansion into the U.S. market fueled the startup’s journey.

“We thank the more than 50,000 users who have trusted Rephrase products. We will always recall the love and trust you showed us during our collaboration,” he continued. “As this new chapter commences within a larger organization, the potentialities are boundless.

The text-to-video AI generation industry has expanded significantly, with companies like Meta introducing Emu Video and RunwayML establishing itself as the market leader with its coherence capabilities.

Furthermore, renowned video generation models have been developed by Pika Labs and Stability AI. Stability AI, in particular, has recently unveiled Stable Video Diffusion, an open-source substitute that can produce videos of superior quality and resolution.

Stable Video Diffusion provides two models, SVD and SVD-XT, capable of generating videos at frame rates between three and thirty frames per second.

This earlier-reported development contributes to the ever-changing landscape of AI-powered video generation.

As reported, Adobe’s acquisition of Rephrase.ai represents an additional advancement in its business model.

The multimedia software behemoth had previously released a tool that employs artificial intelligence to “inpaint” and format videos.

Nevertheless, generating videos from the ground up presents a more significant challenge due to the AI model’s lack of a reference point (pixel space) and the algorithmic nature of the process (latent space).

This acquisition bolsters the momentum of India’s generative AI startup ecosystem. Since 2019, Indian startups operating in the generative AI startup landscape have amassed a total funding of more than $440 million, according to Inc42’s 2023 report on the subject.

The success of Rephrase.ai, which has secured a substantial funding round led by Red Ventures and a total of $13.9 million, effectively positions Adobe in this rapidly expanding market.

Integrating Rephrase.ai’s technology into Adobe’s Creative Cloud, which comprises Premier Pro and After Effects, raises the possibility of developing revolutionary video content tools powered by artificial intelligence.