Google Enters the AI Avatar Race: Veo 3.1 Powers New Avatars in Google Vids

What Changed

The December 18 update transforms how Google Vids generates AI presenters. Previously, avatars used older generation technology. Now they run on Veo 3.1, the same model powering Google Flow's creative editing tools.

The practical improvements:

Who Gets Access

This is not a consumer feature. The update targets enterprise Workspace accounts:

The Enterprise AI Avatar Landscape

Google is entering a crowded market. Synthesia and HeyGen have spent years building enterprise avatar platforms. Here is where everyone stands.

Current Market Leaders

Synthesia pioneered enterprise AI avatars. They claim 90% of Fortune 100 companies as customers, with SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and ISO 42001 compliance. Their strength is security, governance, and a mature admin console for large deployments.

HeyGen focuses on speed and flexibility. Their Avatar IV technology delivers full-body motion and emotional expressions. The unlimited generation on paid plans appeals to teams producing high volumes of content.

D-ID excels at animating still images. For quick social clips or turning photos into speaking avatars, they remain competitive.

How Google Vids Compares

Use Cases That Make Sense

Based on the capabilities and constraints, here is where Google Vids avatars fit best:

• ✓Internal training content: Upskill employees with consistent, repeatable video tutorials
• ✓Organizational announcements: Standardized messaging with a consistent presenter
• ✓Quick help documentation: Answer common questions with engaging video instead of text
• ✓Onboarding materials: Welcome new employees with personalized video content

Where to look elsewhere:

• ○Multi-language global campaigns: Synthesia or HeyGen offer more language coverage
• ○High-volume marketing content: HeyGen's unlimited generation makes more sense
• ○External customer-facing videos: Specialist platforms offer more polish

The Integration Advantage

The real value proposition is not the avatar quality alone. It is the integration.

For organizations already standardized on Google Workspace, eliminating the context switch matters. IT departments appreciate one fewer vendor to evaluate, contract, and support.

Cost Analysis

The pricing structure differs fundamentally from competitors.

Synthesia and HeyGen charge per-seat or per-minute fees on top of your existing productivity suite costs. Starter tiers run $18-30/month per user.

Google Vids is bundled into Workspace pricing. If you already pay for Business Standard or higher, the avatar features are included. No incremental cost for basic usage.

The economics favor Google for:

• Organizations already on Workspace
• Internal-use video (training, announcements)
• Moderate volume production

The economics favor specialists for:

• External marketing at scale
• Multi-language localization needs
• Advanced customization requirements

Technical Implementation

For developers and IT teams, here is what integration looks like:

Google Vids operates within the Workspace ecosystem. Content syncs to Drive. Permissions follow Workspace policies. SSO works automatically. There is no separate API to integrate, no separate user database to maintain.

// Workspace Admin SDK can manage Vids access
// Example: Check if Vids is enabled for a user
const admin = google.admin('directory_v1');
const services = await admin.users.list({
  domain: 'yourcompany.com',
  projection: 'full'
});
// Vids access follows Workspace license tier

For organizations with existing Workspace Marketplace apps or custom integrations, Vids content is accessible through the same Drive APIs you already use.

The 5x Preference Claim

Google states users prefer Vids avatars five times more often than competitors. This is a strong claim that deserves scrutiny.

What we can observe from testing:

• Lip-sync quality is genuinely improved
• Facial expressions are more natural than pre-Veo 3.1 versions
• Framing stability is better
• Generation speed is competitive

Whether this translates to 5x preference depends heavily on use case and comparison point. Against D-ID's basic tier, probably. Against Synthesia's premium avatars, less certain.

What This Means for Lengthen.ai Users

Since we use Veo 3 for generation on our platform, the Veo 3.1 improvements are relevant context. The same underlying model advances that power Google Vids avatars will likely appear in Veo 3.1 API access over time.

For enterprise AI video adoption, Google entering the avatar space signals continued mainstream acceptance. When Google bundles capabilities into Workspace, it validates the category.

Practical Recommendations

If you are evaluating AI avatars for enterprise use:

Start with Google Vids if:

• You are already on Workspace Business Standard or higher
• Use case is internal communications or training
• IT prefers fewer vendors to manage
• Budget is constrained

Evaluate Synthesia if:

• Compliance requirements are stringent (regulated industries)
• You need extensive language localization
• External customer-facing content is the priority
• Volume justifies dedicated platform investment

Consider HeyGen if:

• High-volume production is required
• Marketing and sales content is primary use
• Creative flexibility matters more than governance

What Comes Next

The avatar feature will likely expand. Expect:

• Larger avatar library (currently limited compared to specialists)
• More language support
• Longer clip duration
• Integration with Gemini for script generation
• Possible voice cloning (competitors already offer this)

Google rarely launches features and abandons them in Workspace. The Veo 3.1 foundation suggests ongoing investment.

Try It

If you have Workspace access:

1. Open Google Vids (vids.google.com)
2. Create a new video
3. Add an AI avatar block
4. Write a test script
5. Generate and compare to your current solution

The 30-day elevated limits make this a low-risk experiment. Worst case, you validate that your current tooling is better. Best case, you eliminate a vendor and simplify your stack.

The AI avatar market just got a new competitor with deep pockets and distribution advantages. Whether that translates to better outcomes for your organization depends on where you already are, not where Google wants you to go.

Sources

• Google Workspace Updates: Veo 3.1 Powered Avatars (Google)
• Google Vids Upgrade Analysis (Chrome Unboxed)
• Synthesia Enterprise Features (Synthesia)
• HeyGen Comparison (HeyGen)