Google announced on Wednesday that it’s adding a music-generation feature to the Gemini app. The company is using DeepMind’s Lyria 3 music-generation model to power the feature, which is still in beta.

To use the feature, you’ll describe the song you want to create, and the app will generate a track along with lyrics. For instance, you could ask Gemini to create a “comical R&B slow jam about a sock finding its match,” and the app will generate a 30-second track along with cover art made by Nano Banana.

Google said that you can even upload a photo or a video, and the AI-powered tool will create a song to match the mood of the media file.

The company said that Lyria 3 improves on the previous generation of models, creating more realistic and complex music tracks. Users can also change and control other elements like style, vocals, and tempo.

Along with rolling out Lyria 3 to the Gemini app, Google is making the model available to YouTube creators through the Dream Track feature on YouTube, a tool that helps creators make AI-generated tracks. The option was only available to YouTube creators in the U.S. until now. But with this release, Google is expanding Dream Track availability globally.

Google said that you can’t mimic an artist outright, but if you add an artist’s name to your prompt, Gemini will create a track in a similar style or a mood. (It’s not clear if generation will make it easier for others to decode the music style of a particular artist.)

“Music generation with Lyria 3 is designed for original expression, not for mimicking existing artists. If your prompt names a specific artist, Gemini will take this as broad creative inspiration and create a track that shares a similar style or mood. We also have filters in place to check outputs against existing content,” the company said in a blog post.

Google noted that all songs created with the Lyria 3 model will have a SynthID watermark to identify AI-generated content. The company said that it’s also adding capabilities to identify AI-generated music with SynthID within Gemini. Users will be able to upload tracks and ask Gemini if it is AI-generated.

Music generation is rolling out to all 18+ Gemini users across the world with support for English, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.

AI-generated music has created mixed sentiments among artists and listeners. On one hand, companies like YouTube and Spotify are adopting AI and signing contracts with music labels to monetize AI-generated music. On the other hand, AI model and tooling companies are facing lawsuits from the music industry over copyrights of the training material. Platforms like Deezer have published tools to mark AI-generated music to curb fraudulent streams of this kind of music.

X recently introduced a new immersive video player, signaling another major step in its ongoing push into video-focused experiences. 

Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, announced the update earlier this week, admitting the previous video player “badly needed a refresh.” The redesign aims to make video consumption more engaging and user-friendly, especially on mobile devices.

The update, currently rolling out to iOS, allows users to expand videos to full screen with a single tap. Once in full-screen mode, viewers can swipe up to scroll to the next video, which is reminiscent of TikTok’s popular format.

While the new player aims to enhance mobile video viewing, some users argue that the update forces all videos into a cropped, full-screen view, removing the option to view content in its original aspect ratio.

“This UI sucks so bad. Let me just watch full-scale videos,” one user said. 

When another user asked which orientation is preferred, Bier confirmed that portrait is ideal. This approach mirrors broader industry trends, with vertical videos dominating platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels. Even streaming services have adopted the format, with Disney+ being the most recent to introduce a vertical video feed. 

“Sorry, but cropping the video incentivized people to post square videos. We are a mobile company,” he said, noting that X will stop cropping vertical content moving forward. 

Bier hinted that more video-focused updates are on the horizon as X doubles down on its video ambitions.

The timing of X’s update is notable, given that last month TikTok’s U.S. operations were sold to an American investor group. X is positioning itself as a competitor, ramping up its video features to attract both viewers and creators. 

The recent introduction of the video player follows X’s launch of a dedicated vertical video feed that became available globally last year. The company is also incorporating AI-driven tools, such as Grok’s text-to-video generation feature. 

Notably, Grok’s image-generation capability recently sparked controversy, leading to its restriction to paying subscribers on X, due to the tool allowing users to create sexualized and nude images of women and children.

Only days after Spotify announced its foray into physical book sales, which included an audiobook feature that lets you sync your listening and your offline reading progress, Amazon-owned Audible has launched a feature that brings ebooks together with audiobooks.

The company announced on Wednesday an “immersion reading” feature in the Audible app, which allows readers who have both the ebook and audiobook versions of a title in their Audible and Kindle libraries to read the ebook’s text while the audio plays. The feature also lets users switch between the different formats across devices. While in the “Read & Listen” mode, the text of the book is highlighted in real-time in sync with the narration.

The Kindle app already offered a tool that would allow readers to move between the Audible version and the ebook, when both versions had been purchased. This feature is now coming to Audible’s app for the first time. Customers will need to own both versions of the book for this to work, but discounted audiobooks will be made available to customers who own the matching ebook, the company says.

At launch, hundreds of thousands of titles will be supported by the new “Read & Listen” feature, including those in English, German, Spanish, Italian, and French. Initially, the option will be offered in the U.S., with the U.K., Australia, and Germany gaining support over the next few months.

To discover eligible titles, Audible will automatically identify which Kindle ebooks have audiobook matches within its app.

Of course, many customers were already reading and listening to their books without buying two versions — by having Alexa narrate their ebooks from their Kindle library. Alexa is not a professional narrator by any means, and the AI assistant’s more monotonous delivery can lead you to zone out. By offering a way to add on the audiobook for a lower price when you’ve already bought the ebook, Amazon hopes to boost book sales across formats.

The company also claims that the combination of reading and listening can improve focus and comprehension, according to industry research and its own internal data. In addition, customers who read and listen are the most engaged, consuming nearly twice as much content per month as audiobook-only customers, Audible noted.

The feature may make sense for students and those learning a new language, as well as those who are trying to get through more books quickly. It’s also useful for those who regularly switch back and forth between reading and listening, and those who want the experience of the narration — particularly if a book is read by a favorite voice actor. Plus, some may simply appreciate having a narrator introduce all the characters by name, so they can learn the pronunciation without having to guess (a particularly thorny issue in fantasy novels!)

“Audiobooks count as reading,” said Andy Tsao, Chief Product Officer at Audible, in a statement about the launch. “But now at Audible, you can read with your eyes too. Read & Listen gives book lovers the best of both worlds. Whether you’re learning a new language, studying for school, or lost in a story’s world, you no longer have to choose one format over the other.”

Amazon notes that the new feature will not impact publishers’ royalty payments.