UAE’s Billion Followers Summit names 12 finalists for $1m AI film prize

This story is a window into how quickly generative video is being normalized in mainstream culture. A $1 million prize for AI‑generated films, backed by Google Gemini and a high‑profile influencer summit, is not a fringe experiment—it’s a signal that AI‑assisted filmmaking is going to be part of the commercial content pipeline. The competition drew thousands of entries from over 100 countries, and the shortlisted films tackle themes like “re‑shaping the future” and “the secret life of everything,” often explicitly using AI as a narrative or technical device.

For the race to AGI, these kinds of initiatives accelerate two trends. First, they rapidly increase the number of creators who are fluent in prompting, storyboarding and iterating with generative models, building a global skills base that will be ready to exploit more capable multimodal systems as they arrive. Second, they push model providers like Google to optimize for creative workflows—longer, more coherent clips, stylistic control, and tight integration with editing tools—which in turn demands better planning and world‑modeling capabilities from the underlying models.

Culturally, a prestige prize anchored in Dubai also underscores how AI is becoming part of the Gulf’s soft‑power strategy. For AGI observers, it’s a reminder that the competition is not just about research breakthroughs; it’s also about who shapes the narratives and aesthetics of an AI‑mediated media ecosystem.