Paint gets AI experiments: Animate and Generative Edit in Windows AI Labs

Windows 11’s Paint just moved from nostalgic curiosity to a legitimate, experiment-driven creative surface: Microsoft has quietly added two experimental generative-AI features — a one‑click Animate flow that converts still images and sketches into short looping animations, and a Generative Edit tool that lets users alter images with natural‑language directions — both surfaced via an opt‑in program called Windows AI Labs. These additions are being flighted to limited testers and Insiders, and they show where Microsoft is placing AI experiments: inside long‑standing, widely used inbox apps where millions of users can try generative workflows without installing new software.

Background / Overview​

Microsoft has been steadily refashioning Paint from a throwaway doodle tool into an approachable creative editor with layers, better brushes, and AI helpers for months. The company folded image generation, generative erase/fill, and an integrated Copilot hub into Paint in prior updates; the new Windows AI Labs experiments are the next stage of that effort — a consented, server‑gated testbed where Microsoft can deploy preview‑quality ideas to a small group, gather feedback and telemetry, and decide which features graduate to the public build. Unlike the broader Windows Insider rings, Windows AI Labs is explicitly opt‑in and focused on experimental AI features within apps.
Two practical design choices stand out about Microsoft’s strategy. First, embedding experiments in familiar apps lowers the adoption barrier; users do not need a new app to test high‑risk ideas. Second, Microsoft is gating certain experiments by device capability (Copilot+ hardware with NPUs) and account entitlements, enabling some generative workloads to run locally on capable machines while others execute in the cloud. This hybrid architecture is central to Microsoft’s approach to privacy, latency, and UX.

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What’s new in Paint: Animate and Generative Edit​

Animate — turn stills and sketches into short loops​

The Animate feature appears inside Paint’s Copilot surface as a new option in the dropdown: pick an image or sketch, click Animate, open the new right‑hand sidebar, and press Generate. Microsoft’s flow is intentionally simple — the app does not ask users for elaborate prompts in the Paint UI; instead it handles prompt engineering behind the scenes and presents a rendered canvas. After generation completes (tester reports indicate roughly 40–60 seconds on average for a single animation on typical consumer hardware), the output can be copied to the clipboard as a GIF or saved to disk. This is a deliberate, low‑friction experience designed for quick content creation and social sharing.
Early hands‑on reports show the feature behaves like a short, stylized motion generator rather than a long‑form video engine. Generated clips are brief and loopable; the aim is to bring an image to life, not to produce minute‑long, cinematic scenes. That difference matters for expectations: Paint’s Animate is closer in spirit to short motion stickers and GIFs than to full text‑to‑video systems. The company describes Animate as an AI system that “generates video animations from your input image,” and it explicitly warns the output “may create things you don’t expect,” a typical caution for preview generative features.

Generative Edit — prompt‑driven image rework inside Paint​

Generative Edit extends Paint’s Copilot capabilities beyond replace/erase tools by allowing free‑form text directions to alter an existing image. Instead of masking an area and letting the AI fill it only based on surrounding pixels, Generative Edit accepts a description — for example, “turn the white background into a fruit jungle” — and attempts to synthesize a new background or object appearance to match the prompt.
Tester anecdotes show mixed results: straightforward edits (background swaps, stylistic restyles) work reliably, while more targeted requests (for example, removing a prominent branded logo from an object) may sometimes fail or produce unsatisfactory results. Microsoft’s messaging clarifies that Generative Edit “makes changes to your input image based on your text description” and that behavior will vary with the input and the experimental model. These are early‑stage features and, as Microsoft warns, they may never make it to the general production build in this exact form.

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How Windows AI Labs differs from Insiders and standard updates​

Windows AI Labs is not simply “Insider lite.” It’s a purpose‑built opt‑in pilot that runs experimental AI features behind an app‑level gate. Users who spot the Labs toggle in Paint’s settings undergo a registration flow and must consent to preview‑quality behavior and telemetry collection. The program is intended for rapid feature validation — surface novel AI ideas in a controlled cohort, collect usage signals, and then iterate or kill features based on the data. Early sign‑ups have been inconsistent (some enrollments returned errors while Microsoft completed server‑side rollout), illustrating the staged nature of the program.
Key attributes of Windows AI Labs:

• Opt‑in, consented sign‑up inside an app (instead of blanket Insider OS builds).
• Server‑gated enablement, which allows Microsoft to flip features on for selective accounts without an app update.
• Hardware and account gating — some features require Copilot+ certification (NPUs) to run locally.

This approach lets Microsoft test riskier UX experiments and compute‑heavy ideas while limiting exposure and capturing user feedback quickly.

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Hands‑on impressions and limitations (what works and what doesn’t)​

Practical testing reported several takeaways worth noting for everyday users and IT pros alike:

• Simplicity first: Microsoft’s UI choice to avoid raw prompt input for Animate lowers the learning curve. This suits Paint’s broad audience and prevents many malformed prompts from producing poor edits.
• Speed and resource profile: generation times observed in community tests sit in the 40–60 second window for a single short animation on consumer hardware. That timing will vary by device, internet connection (if generation runs in the cloud), and image complexity. Treat 40–60 seconds as a practical observation from testers, not an SLA.
• Model opacity: Microsoft has not published specific model names for the Animate system used in Paint. Early testers believe the model is not OpenAI’s Sora or other popular consumer video models, but that claim is speculative; Microsoft’s statement describes the feature only as “powered by an AI system.” Treat model provenance as unverified unless Microsoft publishes specifics. Flag: model identifications reported by testers are unverified.
• Content limitations: Generative Edit succeeded for broad style and background changes in many tests but struggled with precise object/logo removal or editing that required strict brand recognition or legal nuance. These limitations reflect the general state of image editing models when fed imperfect inputs or constrained output expectations.

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Technical underpinnings: on‑device vs cloud, gating, and credits​

Microsoft’s hybrid strategy matters for performance, privacy, and enterprise adoption. The company has been explicit about three elements that affect Paint’s generative features:

• Hardware gating (Copilot+): certain features in Windows’ AI stack — notably on‑device inference for low‑latency tasks — are prioritized for Copilot+ certified hardware that includes an NPU. That enables offline or local model execution for some workloads, improving responsiveness and reducing data movement to cloud services.
• Cloud fallback and account entitlements: when on‑device execution is unavailable, Paint will route generative tasks to Microsoft’s cloud models. Features may require a Microsoft account sign‑in, and some experimental experiences could be tied to entitlements or credits similar to other Copilot systems. Early reports indicate Microsoft collects telemetry and might gate features by account or subscription status. This influences privacy and corporate governance.
• Moderation and content safety: Microsoft states it incorporates moderation into these models, but the precise policies and retention guarantees for content sent to cloud services are implementation details that organizations should evaluate before broad deployment. The company’s broader Windows AI roadmap emphasizes built‑in moderation and actions to avoid abuse, but preview features will evolve.

These three levers (hardware, cloud, moderation) are the primary knobs that determine how Paint’s AI features behave in a specific environment.

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Comparing Paint’s features to Google’s Nano Banana and other image models​

The generative edit capability in Paint will inevitably be compared to Google’s high‑profile image editing model Nano Banana (officially Gemini 2.5 Flash Image). Nano Banana is a specialized image generation and editing model released by Google that has been widely adopted across the Gemini app, Google Lens, and Google Search integrations; it emphasizes high‑quality edits, character consistency, and targeted transformations. Google published details of Gemini 2.5 Flash Image and integrated it into Search, Lens, and API surfaces to accelerate image editing workflows.
Where Paint and Nano Banana differ in practice:

• Purpose and scope: Paint’s Generative Edit is an experimental, app‑level editing tool meant for quick canvas edits inside Paint. Nano Banana is a dedicated image model with broader API and app integration for generation and fine‑grained editing.
• UX tradeoffs: Microsoft’s approach in Paint favors frictionless, non‑prompt‑heavy flows for mainstream users (e.g., a single Generate button for Animate). Nano Banana, integrated into Gemini and Lens, exposes more prompt control and advanced editing primitives for power users and developers.
• Quality and control: early public comparisons show Nano Banana produces highly consistent edits for faces, pets, and product variants due to targeted model engineering; Paint’s experimental edits produce useful outcomes but are still being refined, especially for licensing‑sensitive or precision edits. Cross‑platform model maturity explains some of the observed differences.

In short: Nano Banana is a purpose‑built image model with broad integrations and fine control. Paint’s innovations are notable because they bring image editing into an app used by a massive Windows user base — but they are intentionally conservative and experimental in scope.

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Risks, governance, and enterprise considerations​

Generative tools embedded in desktop apps raise legal, security, and policy issues that IT teams and creators must weigh. Several risk vectors stand out:

• Copyright and likeness: generative edits can produce content that invokes copyrighted characters or real‑person likenesses. Outside controllers (publishers, estates) may object; broader ecosystems have already seen disputes around image and video models. Enterprises should include guidance for employees and prevent sensitive or rights‑protected content from being inadvertently generated. Recent high‑profile debates about image and video models (including issues with other vendors’ models) underscore this risk.
• Data leakage and DLP: experimental features that route images or prompts to cloud services must be evaluated against organizational Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies. The newly introduced .paint project files and AI pipelines could contain sensitive images or metadata; backup and eDiscovery systems may not recognize a proprietary project container unless explicitly updated. Administrators should treat .paint files as working documents and continue exporting standard formats for archival.
• Moderation and biased outputs: Microsoft includes moderation in its AI stack, but preview systems are imperfect and may generate biased, inappropriate, or hallucinated content. Teams must factor in review workflows for any outputs intended for public or regulated use.
• Stability and versioning: Windows AI Labs features are preview quality and may change or be removed. Avoid using experimental flows for production assets; keep export copies in standard formats (PNG, TIFF, JPEG) and do not rely on Labs features for business‑critical deliverables.

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What to expect in rollout and how to try it safely​

Availability: Windows AI Labs for Paint is rolling out gradually as a sign‑up toggle in Paint’s Settings. The program is opt‑in and does not require joining the Windows Insider Program, although many preview features appear first in Canary/Dev Insider channels. Enrollment behavior has been inconsistent in early stages while Microsoft completes back‑end enablement; expect a staged rollout.
How to try it (practical steps):

• Update Windows 11 and Paint via the Microsoft Store if not already on the latest inbox updates.
• Open Paint and navigate to Settings; look for the Microsoft AI Labs or Try experimental AI features toggle.
• Opt in and follow on‑screen prompts; expect a registration confirmation or a “stay tuned” message while features are enabled server‑side.
• Use Copilot → Animate or Generative Edit on sample images; save results and export flattened copies for archiving.

Recommended best practices for testers:

• Use a non‑critical machine for early experiments; preview features can be unstable.
• Export flattened PNG/JPEG copies for sharing; retain .paint files only as working masters.
• Treat cloud‑backed features as potentially subject to content moderation and telemetry.
• Document issues and use the feedback flows — that is the explicit purpose of AI Labs.

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Strategic implications for Microsoft and the market​

Microsoft’s decision to treat Paint as a proving ground for generative UX signals a pragmatic strategy: bring AI into widely used, low‑friction apps to build familiarity, gather massive behavioral telemetry, and discover which simple, repeatable workflows actually matter to mainstream users. This contrasts with the platform‑centric approach of exposing models only via APIs or new standalone apps.
Two strategic outcomes are plausible:

• If features like Animate and Generative Edit prove broadly useful, Microsoft can fold them into stable builds of Paint and the Copilot surface, giving Windows a distinct, ubiquitous generative canvas advantage.
• If the features fail to deliver consistent value or raise policy liabilities, Microsoft can iterate or sunset them without a major public spectacle, thanks to the gated AI Labs approach.

For other players — Google with Nano Banana and OpenAI with models like Sora — Microsoft’s move increases the emphasis on where generative features are delivered, not just what they produce. Ease of access inside OS inbox apps can be as strategically important as raw image quality for mainstream adoption.

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Final verdict: practical, cautious optimism​

Microsoft’s Paint experiments represent an important, sensible step in bringing generative AI to mainstream desktop users. The Animate and Generative Edit features show thoughtful UX design: low friction, sensible export options, and an opt‑in testbed that collects feedback before broad rollout. For casual creators, educators, and social content makers, these capabilities make Paint substantially more useful than it was a year ago.
However, the features remain experimental. Model provenance is not disclosed, output quality is inconsistent for precision edits, and enterprise concerns (DLP, licensing, moderation) remain unresolved. Organizations and power users should pilot the functionality in controlled environments, export standard image formats for sharing and archiving, and monitor Microsoft’s documentation for details about model hosting, privacy guarantees, and a formal .paint file specification.
Ultimately, Paint’s evolution is emblematic of a broader trend: AI is migrating from cloud‑hosted labs into the desktop apps people use every day. The key question is not whether generative features are technically possible — they are — but whether vendors can ship them with the reliability, transparency, and governance required for long‑term mainstream trust. Microsoft’s measured, opt‑in Windows AI Labs experiment is a realistic way to find the answer.

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Microsoft’s Paint is no longer just a relic on the Start menu. It is now a lightweight, experimental canvas where the company tests the shape of generative creativity for a mass audience — and the results will matter not only to doodlers and hobbyists, but to enterprises and policymakers who must reconcile creativity with copyright, privacy, and safety.

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Source: Windows Latest Windows 11 Paint now lets you create short animations, edit image using AI, similar to Nano Banana