January 29, 2026
Genie grants worlds, comment wars
Project Genie: Experimenting with infinite, interactive worlds
Google’s Genie lets you make your own worlds — fans see “future of film,” skeptics see glitchy one‑way avatars
TLDR: Google launched Project Genie, a web tool to build and explore interactive worlds for U.S. AI Ultra subscribers. Commenters split between “this will reinvent filmmaking and games” hype and frustration over janky physics, one-way characters, lag, and a 60‑second cap—big promise, early‑days bumps.
Google just cracked open a portal to DIY universes with Project Genie, a browser toy for building and remixing interactive worlds. Access is rolling out to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S, and the comments immediately lit up. First on the scene, meetpateltech dropped the official DeepMind page and a “go play” link to Google Labs, kicking off a tester stampede.
The loudest cheer? “This could be the future of film,” raved nickandbro, picturing directors steering camera moves live, then “checkpointing” a scene by screenshot to redo shots. Dreamers like 0xcb0 called it living in the future, already planning VR sailing sessions on an old Oculus and whispering about the end of big game studios if these sims can become games. Meanwhile, montebicyclelo traced the tech’s lineage to an earlier park‑emulation demo and said Genie looks like a level‑up.
But the snark squad showed up fast: “Every character goes forward only,” sighed mosquitobiten, spawning a one‑way NPC meme. Folks poked at physics oddities, control lag, and that 60‑second cap. Some grumbled about the U.S‑only, paywalled access, while others turned “Nano Banana Pro” into the day’s banana joke. AGI (artificial general intelligence) ambitions? Cool—just please let the avatars turn left. The crowd’s split: breakthrough playground or flashy prototype with training wheels. Either way, everyone’s watching to see if Genie grants the next big creative wish.
Key Points
- •Google launched Project Genie, an experimental web app for creating, exploring, and remixing interactive worlds.
- •Project Genie is powered by Genie 3, Nano Banana Pro, and Gemini, and is available to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S. (18+).
- •Genie 3 generates real-time paths and simulates physics and interactions, supporting diverse scenarios aligned with DeepMind’s AGI mission.
- •Core capabilities include World Sketching (with previews via Nano Banana Pro), World Exploration, and World Remixing with gallery and randomizer.
- •Known limitations include realism and prompt adherence issues, character control latency, a 60-second generation cap, and missing features like promptable events.