Generative Video Pioneer Vidu Powers Honor 400 Series & Reimagines Journey to the West to Forge Blueprint for Next-Gen Original AI Studio

TOKYO, June 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Vidu, the flagship product of ShengShu Technology and a leader in generative video, has launched two strategic initiatives that redefine creative production. A partnership with Honor to embed its advanced image-to-video AI technology into the Honor 400 Series smartphones, and a landmark IP deal with the epic 1999 Journey to the West anime. Together, these moves ignite the "smartphone-studio era", transforming consumer-grade devices into AI-powered creative hubs, while positioning generative platforms as engines for cultural IP origination. This accelerates Vidu's development of a proprietary IP catalog, reshaping ownership models and creative possibilities in the generative video landscape.

Honor: Cinema-Grade Production in Every Hand

The Honor 400 Series (launched May 28, 2025) integrates Vidu's multimodal Image-to-Video AI feature, enabling professional-grade video generation directly on consumer devices. Users instantly transform static images into cinematic videos, erasing traditional barriers between studio production and daily creativity as technology evolves from a "tool" to a seamlessly integrated "intelligent life companion." This leap, powered by Vidu's breakthrough in real-time, mobile-optimized processing, overcomes historical computational limits and shatters the bottleneck of high-load computing on smartphones.

"In an AI landscape dominated by giants, our partnership with Honor validates a core belief: true innovation thrives," said Luo Yihang, CEO at ShengShu Technology. "Vidu's mobile-optimized architecture overcoming historical bottlenecks to deliver cinematic video generation on consumer devices, transforms smartphones from passive tools into proactive creative partners. This collaboration isn't just about technological integration, it's about democratizing studio-grade storytelling and redefining how humanity interacts with intelligent systems."

Reimagining Iconic Cultural Intellectual Property for Modern Audiences

Vidu is pioneering the long-term value of IP through co-creation, securing rights and embracing a cultural legacy. This marks a generative AI evolution, setting a blueprint for next-gen original content studios. Announced today at Vidu's Tokyo Global Talents Meetup, its Journey to the West partnership empowers the community to reimagine the legendary Monkey King -- a character whose influence spans from opera to Dragon Ball Z and 2024's Black Myth: Wukong, transforming the classic into a dynamic canvas for a timeless IP.

As the feature rolls out on Vidu over the next several months, users will be able to upload a single photo of themselves and enjoy creatively reinterpreting the Monkey King through a modern lens. Vidu analyzes the photo and applies the distinct aesthetic of the 1999 'Journey to the West' anime art style to the user's likeness with high fidelity. The user can then select from a curated list of engaging, pre-defined plotline templates or scenarios that will result in a 16 second personalized video segment. For instance, in one template, Sun Wukong (The Monkey King) is conjuring many little monkeys to help with his chores. But he can be made to humorously interact with your digital likeness at the same time, and affix believable generated voiceovers and background music to the clip.

"We're incredibly excited not only about this partnership, but about what it represents for the future of IP," said Luo Yihang, CEO at ShengShu Technology. "For the first time, generative AI isn't just powering creativity behind the scenes, but it's becoming a vehicle for ownership, worldbuilding, and reimagining beloved stories. Only now, with Vidu, we're proving that generative video platforms can do more than generate content. Vidu is building for creative co-ownership through strategic partnerships or even future acquisitions, which can help shape the next generation of cultural IPs."

Vidu's Bold Moves to Ink Deals and Roll Out New Models

These announcements follows the recent launch of Vidu's Q1 model, which introduced features that rival cinematic-grade visual effects. These include its First-to-Last Frame technology for seamless transitions between realistic and animated sequences, and industry-first AI sound effects that deliver high fidelity 48 kHz audio. In parallel, Vidu formed a strategic partnership with Lenovo to deploy its models across Lenovo hardware, advancing its push into consumer and professional ecosystems. And the company also secured a content deal to produce an AI animated series in partnership with Luo Yan and D.T. Carpenter's Aura Prods.

Global Momentum Builds at Tokyo Meetup

Vidu's Global Talents Meetup at J. F. Oberlin University showcased real impact. A Tokyo student noted, "Vidu allows me to create animation studio-quality clips alone. I'm even considering it for my graduation project." Independent animator Rou Shu Te Xiao and his Observer Paradox animation, made with Vidu, hit more than 3 million views by blending authentic Japanese aesthetics with cinematic detail.

About ShengShu Technology

Founded in March 2023, ShengShu Technology is a world-leading artificial intelligence company, specializing in the development of Multimodal Large Language Models. Driven by innovation, the company delivers cutting-edge MaaS and SaaS products that revolutionize creative production by enabling smarter, faster, and more scalable content creation. With its flagship video generation platform Vidu, ShengShu Technology's solutions have reached more than 200 countries and regions around the world, spanning fields including interactive entertainment, advertising, film, animation, cultural tourism, and more. To learn more about Vidu, please visit https://www.vidu.com