With the acquisition of Rephrase, a startup based in Bengaluru, Adobe Systems, a leading global provider of digital media solutions, is bolstering its capabilities in relational AI.
Rephrase.AI, co-founded by Shivam Mangla, Ashray Malhotra, and Nisheeth Lahoti, alumni of IIT Bombay and Roorkee, streamlines video production by converting text into refined videos. The platform has garnered attention in the rapidly expanding market for AI-driven text-to-video generation.
Although Mangla confirmed the acquisition, Adobe has not officially announced it. This strategic move aligns with Adobe’s continued investment in conceptual AI, as evidenced by recent launches such as Adobe Firefly and enhanced Plugin AI functionalities. Despite Decrypt’s request for input, Adobe remained silent.
Mangla, the leader of Rephrase.AI, shared his enthusiasm on social media, underscoring his team’s journey and accomplishments. He emphasized how their growth was propelled by the Techstars incubator program, strategic partnerships, collaborations with industry pioneers, and successful penetration of the U.S. market. Mangla declared, “Rephrase.AI is joining forces with an innovative tech firm, marking the dawn of a new era in Generative AI.”
Grateful for the support they have received, he extended his appreciation to the 50k+ individuals who have placed their trust in Rephrase.AI over the years. He expressed optimism about the myriad opportunities that lie ahead as they embark on this new phase within a larger entity.
The Rise of AI in Visual Content Creation
The domain of text-to-video AI technology has experienced substantial growth, with companies like Meta unveiling Emu Video and RunwayML leading the field with their comprehensive features. Pika Labs and Stability AI have also introduced popular video creation models. Stability AI recently introduced Stable Video Diffusion, an open-source solution capable of producing top-notch films.
Stable Video Diffusion introduces two innovative concepts, SVD and VD-XT, which enhance video generation speeds ranging from three to thirty frames per second. This advancement enriches the landscape of AI-powered video creation, as highlighted by Decrypt.
Adobe’s acquisition of Rephrase.AI marks a strategic progression in its business portfolio. As a prominent provider of multimedia applications, Adobe had previously showcased a tool leveraging AI to “inpaint” videos and modify their visual appearance. However, generating videos from scratch poses greater challenges as the process operates entirely algorithmically (in the latent space) without a reference in the pixel space.
This integration coincides with the growth of India’s conceptual AI business ecosystem. Indian startups in this sector have collectively raised over \(440 million since 2019, as per Inc42’s 2023 report on the “Generative AI Startup Landscape.” With Rephrase.AI’s accomplishments, including \)13 million in total funding and substantial support from Red Ventures, Rephrase.AI positions Adobe strongly in this evolving industry.
As Adobe integrates Rephrase.AI into its Creative Cloud suite, encompassing Premier Pro and After Effects, the potential for revolutionary AI-driven video content tools becomes increasingly apparent.
