Google and the 1 Billion Followers Summit are giving away a $1 million (approximately £740K / AU$1.5 million) prize in a new global filmmaking competition – but the contest is only open to submissions that are generated by Google’s AI. The 1B AI Film Award by 1 Billion Summit and Google Gemini is a global contest inviting AI creators to submit a short film on one of two themes.
Google and the 1 Billion Followers Summit say that the new 1B AI Film Award is the largest and most valuable prize for content creation in the world. One winner from the global competition will be awarded the one-million-dollar prize during the 1 Billion Followers Summit, a content creator expo happening in Dubai on January 09-11 2026.
Contest rules require creators to use Google’s AI tools to generate a film between 7-10 minutes long, such as Google Veo 3 and Flow. Google notes that “70% of the content must be generated using Google AI tools and models.
"This means you can use Google Gemini or any other Google AI models and tools for the core video generation. While you are free to use other software and tools for supplemental editing, they should not be used for the primary creation of the video content.”
ABOVE: Watch the trailer for the event
The film can be on one of two themes. For 'Rewrite Tomorrow', AI creators are asked to create a film with “an optimistic and inspirational view of the future.” The 'Secret Life of' category invites submissions on AI-generated videos that share inspiring, untold stories.
The competition is open to AI creators worldwide, and films can be in any language but must have English subtitles.
Submissions in the competition are open until November 20. The contest organizers indicate that judging will be done “by a jury of global experts in tech and filmmaking.”
The 1B AI Film Award is a new competition and joins the relatively new expo, with the first 1 Billion Followers Summit dating to January 2024.
The judges will select a top ten shortlist in December, which will be followed by public voting among those ten entries. The top five will premiere at the 1 Billion Followers Summit, with the winner being announced on the final day of the summit on January 11, 2026.
Full contest rules are available at the AI Film Award’s website.
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