Google TV’s next update adds AI generated video backgrounds

Google Photos Remix AI image editing also comes to TVs

(credit: Google)

• 📺Google TV’s next update is coming this summer

• 📼 Create animated TV backgrounds with Veo AI video generation

• 🖼️ Veo can also add motion to still photos, turning them into short namited videos

• 🍌 Nano Banana lets you change photo backgrounds, add outfits, and other AI image edition options

• 🌅 Google Photo Remix comes to TVs to apply watercolor, oil painting, and other styles to photos

• 🤳 YouTube Shorts get homepage placement on the Google TV homepage

Displaying still artwork on your TV is so 2025, Google TV’s next update rolling out this summer lets you tap into the Veo AI video generator to create animated backgrounds for your TV.

Just like using Sora, Midjourney, or any AI video generator, you simply tell Veo a brief description of what you want to create like a cat on a skateboard. Unfortunately, a cat on the skateboard is the only example we’ve seen from Google.

(credit: Google)

So far all the Veo videos we’ve seen from Google have all the hallmarks of an AI generated video like fuzzy textures and frame-by-frame distortion. Hopefully, real life results will look better while we test new Google TVs including TCL’s 2026 line of SQD-Mini LED TVs including the TCL QM8L and TCL X11L.

Original Image (left) vs Nano Banana Image (right) (credit: Google)

Alternatively, users can use Veo to add motion to their collection of still photos, turning them into short animated home videos. The new Google TV update also can transform still photos using Nano Banana to add silly outfits or change the background to outer space. You can also use Google Photos Remix to give your still images a different artistic look like watercolor or oil painting.

(credit: Google)

Google is also making finding your images from your Google Photo library easier with Gemini. You can simply ask Google AI assistant to find a septic moment like a recent vacation or birthday and Google TV will display a browsable page of results. You can also turn any Google Photos albums into a dynamic slideshow to turn your TV into giant photo frame.

(credit: Google)

Lastly, Google TV is putting YouTube Shorts on its homepage in a new “Short videos for you” row if you want ready access to social media videos on your TV.

• Up next: Amazon Ember Artline TV hands-on review: come for 2,000+ art pieces, stay for Alexa+

Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.