PAI, which debuted its first version in March, aims to improve creators’ control of their AI-generated video and generate more continuous projects

Utopai Studios unveiled the second version of its AI video storytelling platform PAI, less than three months after its initial version debuted.

The company introduced the generative video platform PAI in March, allowing users to tinker with videos across each step of the creative process. The goal was to produce visual stories without the need for a collection of separate AI tools, letting users generate, edit, and produce one-minute videos within PAI’s platform. It earned the support of NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and James Harden, with Anthony investing in the firm through his production company Creative 7 and joining Utopai as a strategic partner. Harden also produced an animated short using PAI in April based on his beard.

PAI is now generating $11 million in annual recurring revenue, the company said. Utopai is targeting the product at marketing agencies and creators trying to produce their own video content. The company said the new version improves PAI’s user experience through a new creative agent, voice input and new generative functions. It comes as a wave of companies have tried to capitalize on generative-AI video, including Google, Kling AI and Runway AI.

PAI 2.0 will include rapid variant generation for videos, let users generate 2×2 keyframes for each 15-second video segment and produce videos natively in cinematic 4K without limits, aiding users in the quest to generate long-form videos that flow naturally.

“With PAI 2.0, our goal is to help catalyze a ‘Claude Code moment’ for media generation,” Zijian He, Utopai’s chief scientific officer, said in a statement. “Simply generating faster, isolated clips is not enough for true filmmaking. PAI 2.0 is designed to address the foundational challenges of long-form cinematic storytelling by preserving narrative context, maintaining consistency across extended sequences, and giving creators more granular control over the creative process.”

PAI 2.0 is now split between two creation modes, Easy Mode and Pro Mode. Easy Mode lets users work through the creative process, from planning out videos through storyboarding to producing the finished product. Pro Mode users get access to the workspace platform Canvas, where they can organize their videos and edit them from one specific place. Each version offers varying levels of creative control, with Pro Mode users gaining the ability to edit hyper-specific story details and quickly regenerate their videos within the Canvas workspace.

Existing PAI users can migrate toward the new version at a reduced subscription rate before PAI 1.0 expires on July 2. The company plans to introduce monthly and annual plans for PAI 2.0, along with customized plans for businesses.

Mountain View, California-based Utopai Studios was co-founded in 2022 by CEO Cecilia Shen, who previously worked as an AI solutions engineer at X, the Moonshot Factory (formerly Google X), along with He and chief technology officer Jie Yang.