Flow Becomes Google's All-in-One AI Creative Studio
Google just made its biggest move yet to consolidate AI creative tools. Flow — which launched as a video generation platform — is absorbing both Whisk (image remixing) and ImageFX (text-to-image) into a single unified workspace.
The result: one platform where you can generate images, edit them with precision tools, animate them into video, and manage everything in a single library. Google is clearly done with the scattered "Labs experiments" approach and is building a proper creative suite.
The updates are live now at flow.google.
What's New
Image Generation Comes to Flow (For Free)
Nano Banana — Google's latest image generation model (part of the Gemini family) — is now fully integrated into Flow's core experience. You can generate high-fidelity images and immediately use them as ingredients for Veo video generations without leaving the app.
The key detail: image generation in Flow is free. That's a significant move given that competitors like Midjourney and DALL-E charge for image generation.
Whisk + ImageFX Migration
Starting in March, users can opt in to transfer all their Whisk and ImageFX projects and assets directly into their Flow library. Google is clearly sunsetting these as standalone experiments and folding everything into Flow.
This means:
- Whisk's multi-image remixing and style transfer → now native in Flow
- ImageFX's text-to-image generation → replaced by Nano Banana in Flow
- All your existing projects carry over
Precision Editing Tools
Flow is moving beyond "generate and hope" with new editing capabilities:
- Lasso tool — Select a precise area of an image, then use natural language to edit it ("remove the man," "add koi fish in the water")
- Draw-to-edit — Draw directly on images to tell Flow exactly what to change
- Clip extension — Generate what happens next in a video clip
- Object add/remove in video — Add new elements or remove unwanted subjects from video scenes
- Camera motion controls — Direct pans, zooms, and camera movements in generated video
Asset Management Overhaul
The new interface includes:
- Asset grid with search, filter, and sort across all images and videos
- Collections to group related assets
- "@" symbol referencing to quickly find and use specific assets
- Drag-and-drop organization within the interface
- Toggle view modes to scan your library or focus on details
The Numbers
Flow users have created over 1.5 billion images and videos since launch. That's a staggering adoption number that explains why Google is doubling down on Flow as the consolidated creative platform rather than maintaining separate experiments.
Why This Matters
Google has been running AI creative tools as scattered experiments — ImageFX here, Whisk there, Flow over there, MusicFX somewhere else. This consolidation signals a shift from "let's see what sticks" to "we're building a product."
The competitive landscape is getting crowded:
- Runway has Gen-4 with multi-shot video generation
- Adobe just announced AI Quick Cut for video editing
- Midjourney dominates image generation
- Kling and Hailuo are pushing video generation from the Chinese side
Google's advantage is the image-to-video pipeline — generate an image with Nano Banana, refine it with precision tools, then animate it with Veo, all in one workspace. No one else has that full vertical stack with free image generation at the entry point.
The free tier for image generation is a strategic play. Get creators hooked on the image pipeline, then upsell them on video generation credits. It's the same playbook that made Google Photos dominant — give away the commodity (images), charge for the premium (video).
How to Try It
Flow is available now at flow.google. Image generation is free. Whisk and ImageFX project migration begins in March.
If you've been using Whisk or ImageFX, your work isn't going anywhere — but the standalone experiments are clearly on their way out.