Key Points
- Google opens Project Genie to the public via the AI Ultra plan ($250/month).
- Eligibility requires U.S. residency and users must be at least 18 years old.
- Three interaction modes are offered: World Sketching, Exploration, and Remixing.
- Nano Banana Pro creates initial sketches that users can adjust before world generation.
- Generated worlds simulate physical interactions but lack traditional game mechanics.
- Each AI‑generated scene is limited to 60 seconds, 24 fps, and 720p resolution.
Google Expands Access to Project Genie
Google has made its Project Genie platform available to a broader audience beyond internal teams. The rollout targets users who subscribe to the company’s AI Ultra plan, which costs $250 per month. Eligibility requirements include residency in the United States and a minimum age of 18 years.
How Project Genie Works
Project Genie provides three distinct modes of interaction: World Sketching, Exploration, and Remixing. In the World Sketching phase, Google’s Nano Banana Pro model generates a source image that serves as the foundation for the immersive world the user will later explore. Users can describe a character, choose a camera perspective—such as first‑person, third‑person, or isometric—and set parameters for the environment. The Nano Banana Pro model produces a preliminary sketch that can be tweaked before the final world is generated.
During Exploration, users navigate the AI‑generated environment, which reacts to their movements. Remixing allows users to modify or build upon worlds created by themselves or others, using custom prompts to guide the AI.
Technical Limits and Capabilities
Although Genie’s outputs resemble game‑like visuals and can simulate physical interactions, the platform does not function as a traditional game engine and lacks conventional game mechanics. Each generation is capped at 60 seconds, and the presentation is limited to 24 frames per second at a resolution of 720p.
Access and Subscription Details
To try Project Genie, users must be on the AI Ultra plan, meet the residency and age criteria, and accept the subscription cost of $250 per month. The platform is positioned as a way for the public to experience the cutting‑edge work of Google DeepMind’s AI research, which originally introduced Genie as a tool for training AI agents.
Source: engadget.com