The TWiST AI Basics series is made possible by Google Cloud! Check out Google Cloud’s new report, “Future of AI: Perspectives on generative media for startups,” Featuring thoughts from today’s guest, Joaquín Cuenca Abela Visit: goo.gle/futureofgenmedia to check it out! Today’s show: In today’s edition of TWiST AI Basics, J-Cal is joined by Joaquin Cuenca Abela, co-founder and CEO of Magnific (formerly known as Freepik). We’re discussing how generative AI is transforming the creative landscape for startups. In watching today’s show you’ll have-consider your expectations of what AI video can actually do for you and your business. What used to take a high end production team months and tens of thousands of dollars now takes 24 hours and one person with patience to learn the right tools. This conversation explores how founders can use these tools to scale their creative output better, cheaper, and faster. Timestamps: 0:00 Google Cloud - Check out Google Cloud's new report, "Future of AI: Perspectives on generative media for startups," Featuring thoughts from today's guest, Joaquín Cuenca Abela at https://goo.gle/futureofgenmedia 1:10 Welcome to AI Basics, presented by Google Cloud! 2:11 Meet Joaquín Cuenca Abela, CEO of Magnific (formerly Freepik) 3:12 Building a post-apocalyptic SF ad for TWiST in 24 hours 4:25 Storyboarding characters, blending images, and text-prompting scenes 6:39 The finished product: post-apocalyptic Jason! 7:56 How much cheaper is this than traditional advertising? 9:34 The tech stack: Magnific's upscaler and 3rd party frontier models 11:02 Which Hollywood productions are actually using AI? 13:14 Hollywood's 180 from "F these tools" to enthusiastic adoption 14:38 One director's 600-person AI-enabled production 15:23 Why Magnific built in Málaga, Spain and how they recruit AI talent 16:40 Can AI ever match human creative vision? 18:43 The future: 100 versions of the same ad, hyper-localized by city 21:35 Where to find Magnific + Google Cloud's Future of AI report Connect with Joaquín and Magnific! Magnific (formerly Freepik) — Joaquín's AI creative platform, 150M+ MAU, $230M ARR → https://magnific.com Joaquín Cuenca Abela on X → https://x.com/cuenca Joaquín Cuenca Abela on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaquin-cuenca-abela-905717a/ Magnific on X → https://x.com/magnific Panoramio — Joaquín's prior startup, acquired by Google in 2007 → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panoramio Fortune feature on Magnific's $230M ARR rebrand (April 2026) → https://fortune.com/2026/04/28/freepik-magnific-joaquin-cuenca-abela-230-million-arr-video-generation-ai-pivot/ Productions, Films & TV Discussed: House of David (Amazon Prime Video, by Wonder Project) — used Magnific for AI VFX → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_David_(TV_series) Wonder Project (Jon Erwin's studio behind House of David) → https://www.thewonderproject.com/ Better Call Saul (referenced by Jason as an example) → https://www.amc.com/shows/better-call-saul The Walking Dead (referenced by Jason) → https://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead Blade Runner (referenced for post-apocalyptic aesthetic) → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner Minority Report (referenced for dynamic personalized ads) → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_Report_(film) People & Events Mentioned: Gal Gadot — quoted on AI filmmaking at 1/3 the cost → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal_Gadot 2026 Breakthrough Prize ceremony (April 18, Santa Monica) → https://breakthroughprize.org/ Companies Referenced (Models & Competitors): OpenAI / DALL-E 2 — the 2022 trigger for Joaquín's pivot → https://openai.com/index/dall-e-2/ Google's Nano Banana (Gemini image model) → https://blog.google/products/gemini/updated-image-editing-model/ Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons Follow Alex: X: https://x.com/alex LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Thank you to our partner! Google Cloud - Check out Google Cloud’s new report, “Future of AI: Perspectives on generative media for startups,” Featuring thoughts from today’s guest, Joaquín Cuenca Abela at goo.gle/futureofgenmedia Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/ Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com