The race to own the short-form video feed shows no sign of slowing down. Two different players: OpenAI (suddenly) and Instagram are testing new ways to keep people scrolling, each with its own twist.

According to Wired, OpenAI is preparing to launch a mobile app that looks and feels a lot like TikTok. The difference: all the content is AI-generated. Users won’t be able to upload clips from their camera roll. Instead, the app will rely on Sora 2, OpenAI’s upcoming video model, to produce ten-second or shorter clips.

There’s also a social layer. Wired reported that people could verify their identity inside the app and allow Sora 2 to use their likeness in the short videos it creates. In practice, that means feeds filled entirely with synthetic video: deepfakes, parodies, and AI-styled skits, depending on how users decide to play with it. OpenAI hasn’t confirmed when the app will go public, or if it will at all.

Meanwhile, Instagram is pushing even harder into short-form video. As part of a test in India, the company is experimenting with making Reels the default home tab. In this version of the app, users opening Instagram land directly on a vertical video feed, with Reels and DMs becoming the two main tabs. Stories and photos aren’t disappearing, but the test suggests Meta sees the TikTok-like format as central to future growth.

For creators and businesses, the trend is clear: short clips dominate attention. Whether it’s AI-generated slop feeds or platforms shifting their layouts to prioritize Reels, vertical video is where the eyeballs are.

That’s where tools like AI Video Cut come into play. Creators who don’t have a team of editors or who want to keep pace with apps that are reshaping themselves around short video can take a long recording and quickly turn it into multiple bite-sized clips ready for TikTok, Reels, Shorts, or whatever OpenAI ends up calling its experiment.

The industry may be moving toward feeds stuffed with synthetic video, but the demand for well-edited human content is just as strong. And as platforms double down on short form, the pressure to keep producing quick, scrollable clips will only increase.