Google upgrades Veo 3.1 with Ingredients and 4K upscaling

Google has announced a major update to Veo 3.1 Ingredients to Video, introducing new features designed for both casual creators and professionals. The update allows users to generate videos based on reference images, with improvements that boost expressiveness and creativity, even with minimal prompts. The tool now supports native vertical outputs tailored for mobile devices, making it ideal for platforms like YouTube Shorts. High-resolution upscaling to 1080p and 4K is also available, catering to users who need sharper visuals for professional-grade production.

We’re updating Veo 3.1 Ingredients to Video to help create more expressive and dynamic clips, produce better visual consistency and more. 📽️

Here’s what’s new 🧵 pic.twitter.com/kkA12EAd9I
— Google DeepMind (@GoogleDeepMind) January 13, 2026

This release is available immediately across multiple Google services and platforms, including the Gemini app, YouTube (notably Shorts and the YouTube Create app), Flow, Google Vids, the Gemini API, and Vertex AI. Both consumers and enterprise users are targeted, with professional workflows able to leverage higher resolutions and vertical format support.

Updates to Veo 3.1 📹 in the Gemini API and AI Studio:

- We now support upsampling to 1080p and 4K
- Improved ingredients (image reference) to video consistency
- Vertical video support for ingredients to video

So much Veo progress in the last few months, lots to build : )
— Logan Kilpatrick (@OfficialLoganK) January 13, 2026

The tool features improved identity consistency, making it easier for characters and objects to remain visually coherent across scenes, and provides granular control over backgrounds and textures.

And we're rolling: New Veo 3.1 upgrades are rolling out in the Gemini App.

• Vertical videos are here
• Get better outputs with less prompting

Here’s the story on our latest improvements ↓
— Google Gemini (@GeminiApp) January 13, 2026

Google is embedding SynthID digital watermarks in AI-generated videos, supporting transparency and content verification. This update positions Veo 3.1 as a direct competitor to other AI video generators by offering higher resolution options, mobile-first outputs, and built-in verification tools, features that go beyond what many earlier versions or other companies currently provide. Early user feedback highlights the increased narrative control and quality, while industry experts are watching closely as Google expands its AI content ecosystem.

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