AI video generation went from research demo to mainstream production tool in under three years — and 2026 has already delivered the industry's biggest shakeup yet with OpenAI shutting down Sora. We compiled 30+ statistics from analyst reports, vendor surveys, and primary announcements so you can see exactly where the market stands. Every number links to its source. Feel free to cite any stat — see the "How to cite" note at the bottom.

Key Statistics at a Glance

63% of video marketers have used AI tools to help create or edit marketing videos, up from 51% a year earlier (Wyzowl, 2026)
The global AI video generation & editing software market is projected to grow from $3.67 billion in 2026 to $24.89 billion by 2036, a 21.4% CAGR (Meticulous Research)
OpenAI discontinued the Sora app and sora.com on April 26, 2026, with the Sora API sunsetting September 24, 2026 (OpenAI Help Center)
TikTok has labeled more than 1.3 billion AI-generated videos on its platform (Dynamoi)
86% of ad buyers are using or planning to use generative AI to build video ad creative (per Wyzowl's 2026 report, citing IAB data)
Funding for AI video startups hit $3.08 billion in 2025, up 94.6% from $1.58 billion in 2024 (Crunchbase News)
Runway raised a $315 million Series E at a $5.3 billion valuation in February 2026 (TechCrunch)
59% of creators use generative AI tools to streamline content creation, per Adobe's survey of 16,000+ creators (SQ Magazine)
AI video generation now costs roughly $0.04–$0.40 per second depending on the model — versus $1,000–$50,000 per minute for traditional production (FluxNote; Genra.ai)
Google has watermarked over 20 billion pieces of AI-generated content with SynthID, spanning Veo videos and AI image edits (Yahoo Tech)

Market Size & Growth

Analyst estimates for the AI video market vary depending on how broadly "AI video" is defined — pure generators versus generation-plus-editing software — but every major firm projects strong double-digit growth.

The narrower AI video generator market was estimated at $788.5 million in 2025, expected to reach $946.4 million in 2026 (Grand View Research)
Fortune Business Insights projects the AI video generator market growing from $847 million in 2026 to $3.35 billion by 2034 (18.8% CAGR)
The broader AI video generation & editing software market is projected at $3.67 billion in 2026, reaching $24.89 billion by 2036 at a 21.4% CAGR (Meticulous Research)
Text-to-video is expected to be the leading segment, contributing roughly 46% of the market in 2026, per Meticulous Research
North America held about 41% of the global AI video generator market in 2025 (Grand View Research)
The surrounding creator economy — the demand side for all this video — is projected by Goldman Sachs to nearly double to $480 billion by 2027, with the ~50 million global creators growing 10–20% annually

Note: these figures are forecasts, not guarantees — methodologies and market definitions differ between firms, which is why the 2026 estimates range from under $1 billion (generators only) to several billion (generation plus editing software).

Adoption by Creators & Marketers

91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool — back at all-time highs after a slight dip in 2025 (Wyzowl, 12th annual survey)
63% of video marketers have used AI to create or edit marketing videos, up from 51% the prior year — a 12-point jump in twelve months (Wyzowl)
82% of marketers say video marketing has given them good ROI (Wyzowl)
86% of ad buyers are using or planning to use generative AI for video ad creative (per Wyzowl)
59% of creators use generative AI tools in their content workflow, per Adobe's survey of more than 16,000 creators (SQ Magazine)
On the platform side, TikTok has labeled over 1.3 billion AI-generated videos and is testing tools that let users dial down AI content in their feeds (Dynamoi)
An analysis of nearly one million new web pages found 74.2% contained detectable AI-generated content as of April 2025 (My New IT Guys, citing Ahrefs)
The flip side of adoption: the OECD's AI Incidents Monitor recorded nearly 500 monthly media-reported AI content incidents by January 2026, up from roughly 50 in early 2020 (Statista), and human accuracy at spotting high-quality deepfake video sits at just 24.5% (SQ Magazine)

The Model Landscape in 2026

The past 18 months saw the fastest model turnover in the industry's short history — including the exit of one of its biggest names.

Date	Milestone	Source
Jul 2025	Google rolls out Veo 3 to Gemini users in 159+ countries	TechCrunch
Oct 15, 2025	Google releases Veo 3.1 — up to 4K output with natively synchronized audio	Google Developers Blog
Nov 2025	Luma AI raises $900M Series C at a $4B valuation, led by HUMAIN	Mean CEO / Crunchbase data
Dec 2025	Runway launches Gen-4.5 alongside its General World Model (GWM-1)	TechCrunch
Jan 2026	Synthesia raises $200M Series E at a $4B valuation (after passing $100M ARR in April 2025)	Mean CEO / Crunchbase data
Feb 2026	Kuaishou launches Kling 3.0, generating videos up to 5 minutes long; Runway Gen-4.5 reaches API availability Feb 10	WaveSpeed, TechCrunch
Mar 24, 2026	OpenAI announces it is shutting down Sora	OpenAI
Apr 26, 2026	Sora app and sora.com discontinued	OpenAI
Sep 24, 2026	Announced sunset date for the Sora API (Sora 2 and Sora 2 Pro endpoints)	OpenAI

The Sora Shutdown — the Defining Event of 2026

OpenAI's decision to kill its consumer video product is the year's biggest story. Per OpenAI's official notice, the web and mobile apps shut down April 26, 2026, and the API — including Sora 2 and Sora 2 Pro endpoints — stops working September 24, 2026, with account data permanently deleted after the discontinuation dates. Reporting around the shutdown indicates the app had peaked at roughly one million active users before declining to fewer than 500,000, while burning an estimated $1 million per day in compute (Miraflow analysis; treat cost figures as third-party estimates — OpenAI has not published official numbers). Analysts framed the lesson bluntly: building on a single model provider is a platform risk, not a strategy (Futurum Group).

Meanwhile the rest of the field kept compounding: total funding for AI video companies reached $3.08 billion in 2025, nearly double 2024's $1.58 billion (Crunchbase News), and Google reports 20+ billion pieces of AI content watermarked via SynthID (Yahoo Tech).

Cost & Accessibility Trends

Generation costs have collapsed to the point where per-second pricing is the standard unit of comparison.

Model / tier	Approx. cost per second (2026)	Source
Seedance (budget tier)	~$0.036/sec	FluxNote
Kling	~$0.07/sec	Soloa
Sora 2 (pre-sunset)	~$0.10/sec	Soloa
Veo 3.1 (full quality)	~$0.40/sec	FluxNote

Typical AI video output costs $0.50–$30 per finished minute, versus $1,000–$50,000 per minute for traditional production — savings of up to ~90%+ (Genra.ai)
The per-second price spread across mainstream tools runs roughly $0.06–$0.50/sec depending on resolution and quality tier (Soloa)
New entrants in early 2026 continued to push prices down while premium tiers push quality up (Atlas Cloud)
Detection is improving alongside generation: TikTok's auto-labeling rate for AI content rose from 18% in early 2024 to 35–45% by late 2025 (Dynamoi)

What It Means for Creators

Three practical takeaways from the data:

1. Multi-model access beats single-model loyalty. The Sora shutdown proved that even a flagship model from the world's most famous AI lab can disappear inside a year. Platforms that aggregate multiple models — Veo 3.1, Runway, Kling, Wan and others — insulate creators from any single provider's roadmap. That's the approach VdoBloom takes with its text-to-video generator, which lets you switch models per project. For a hands-on comparison of the current options, see our guide to the best AI video generators in 2026.

2. The cost math now favors experimentation. At cents per second instead of thousands per minute, creators can afford to generate, discard, and iterate. Starting from proven templates shortens that loop further, and entry-level pricing plans put professional-grade models within reach of solo creators — something the 63% of marketers already using AI video (per Wyzowl) have figured out.

3. Disclosure and authenticity are becoming table stakes. With 1.3 billion labeled AI videos on TikTok alone and platform labeling rules tightening across Meta, YouTube, and TikTok, creators who disclose AI use and focus on genuinely useful content will outlast those producing low-effort volume.

How to Cite These Statistics

You're welcome to reuse any statistic from this page in articles, presentations, newsletters, or research — no permission needed. We ask only that you attribute the original source named next to each stat and link back to this roundup as the compilation, e.g.: "via VdoBloom's AI Video Generation Statistics (2026)". If you spot a newer figure or a correction, let us know via our support page and we'll update the page.

Methodology & Sources

This roundup compiles statistics from analyst firms (Grand View Research, Fortune Business Insights, Meticulous Research, Goldman Sachs), primary vendor announcements (OpenAI, Google), funding coverage (Crunchbase News, TechCrunch), and industry surveys (Wyzowl's 12th annual video marketing survey of 266 respondents; Adobe's creator survey of 16,000+). Where sources conflicted — notably on total market size — we presented the range and named each source rather than averaging. Market forecasts are projections and subject to revision. Third-party cost estimates (e.g., Sora's compute burn) are flagged as such. VdoBloom does not publish its own usage statistics, and none of the figures above are VdoBloom data. Last updated: June 10, 2026.

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AI Video Generation Statistics (2026): Market Size, Adoption & Key Trends