New York, January 30: Google DeepMind has officially launched Project Genie, an experimental research prototype that allows users to generate and step into interactive, three-dimensional virtual worlds using only text or image prompts. Released on Thursday, January 29, the tool is now rolling out to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the United States. Unlike traditional video generators that produce static clips, Project Genie creates navigable environments in real time, marking a significant step toward "world models" that simulate physics and character interaction.

The platform is powered by the Genie 3 model, which Google first previewed in late 2025. By combining generative AI with real-time interactivity, Project Genie enables users to act as "directors" of their own simulations. While currently limited to 60-second sessions, the technology demonstrates a future where entire video game levels or training environments for robots could be generated on the fly. Google-Parent Alphabet Hits USD 4 Trillion Market Valuation Amid AI Breakthroughs, As Apple Deal Lifts Sentiments; Joins Elite Tech Club.

Google Project Genie Core Features: Sketch, Explore, and Remix

Project Genie is structured around three primary functions that allow for a seamless transition from a simple idea to a playable experience:

  • World Sketching: Users provide a text description or upload a photo to serve as the foundation. The system then uses Nano Banana Pro, Google’s latest image generation model, to create a "keyframe" that defines the visual style and layout of the world.

  • Real-Time Exploration: Once the world is generated, users can navigate it in either first-person or third-person perspectives. As the player moves, the Genie 3 model "hallucinates" the path ahead, maintaining environmental consistency even when the player backtracks.

  • World Remixing: The platform includes a gallery of curated environments that users can "remix" by adding new prompts, effectively building upon existing AI-generated content to create unique variations.

Technical Breakthroughs and Limitations

At its core, Project Genie is a foundation world model trained on vast amounts of video data. Unlike typical game engines that require pre-coded assets and physics rules, Genie learns the "laws" of a world, such as how a character should jump or how an object should react when pushed, unsupervised from video footage. Gmail Users Advised to Disable 2 Features Over Google Privacy Concerns; Check Details.

Despite its capabilities, Google researchers are candid about the prototype's current constraints. Users may experience:

  • Latency: There is a slight delay in character control as the AI generates frames on the fly.

  • Visual Fidelity: While the system supports 720p resolution at 24 frames per second, some environments may lack photorealism or display minor physics glitches.

  • Safety Guardrails: To avoid copyright issues, the system blocks prompts related to protected intellectual property (IP), such as Disney characters or famous landmarks.

The Path to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

For Google DeepMind, Project Genie is more than a creative tool; it is a critical research milestone. CEO Sundar Pichai noted that these "world models" are essential for developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). By teaching AI to predict the consequences of actions within a simulated world, researchers can train more capable agents for real-world applications, such as autonomous robotics and advanced spatial reasoning.

As the experiment expands to more territories, Google intends to use the data from these 60-second sessions to refine the model’s understanding of complex physical interactions and long-term memory.

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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 30, 2026 04:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).