JUMPon theTREND
The AI Hug AI trend in short
What it is: You and someone you love close the last step across a sunlit room and hold on.
How to do it: Add a clear selfie on this page, see yourself in it free, then make the 5-second video. No app, no prompt.
Who to put in it: You and your partner, You and the friend who lives on another continent, You and a parent or grandparent you've lost.
AI Hug: posts and how-tos
- Mustsharenews · the Thai graduate and his late mother, made by the studio @give.me.ai, 6 Aug 2024, 1.5M+ views on TikTok
- detikInet · the Vidu how-to that called the AI hug a TikTok trend, 24 Aug 2024 (in Indonesian)
- Erick Skyes · an early English how-to for the TikTok hug, YouTube, 30 Aug 2024, 106K views (read 18 Oct 2026)
- New Straits Times · a Malaysian woman's hug with her late grandfather, almost 1M views, 5 Sep 2024
- Dexerto · how the hugging trend worked and who people hugged, 1 Oct 2024
- Storyboard18 · the 'hug my younger self' photo wave on Instagram, 16 Sep 2025
Clips belong to their creators and link to the original post. Creators can ask us to remove a link.
What is the AI Hug AI trend?
An AI hug video is five seconds of two people from two separate photos finally sharing a frame. They stand a step apart in a sunlit room, smile, close the gap and hold each other. It's one of the simplest AI videos there is and one of the most personal: people make it with a partner who lives abroad, a friend they haven't seen in years, or a parent or grandparent who has died before the photo they wanted was ever taken. Our version is quiet on purpose. Soft window light, one step in, a long hold, no dramatic camera.
It started as an effect, not a single clip. In August 2024 people put two photos side by side, asked an AI video app to make the two people hug, and posted the result on TikTok. A Thai studio's video of a graduate hugging his late mother had passed 1.5 million views by 6 August (Mustsharenews), detikInet called it a TikTok trend in a how-to on 24 August, and Google searches for "ai hug" peaked two days later. On 5 September the New Straits Times wrote about a woman in Malaysia whose hug with her late grandfather had been watched almost a million times. By Dexerto's how-to on 1 October, people were hugging partners, pets, celebrities, younger versions of themselves and loved ones who had died. A photo spin-off, "hug my younger self", swept Instagram in September 2025.
Here you add one photo of you and one of the other person, or your pet. You see a free preview still of the two of you in the room, usually in about a minute. If it looks right, the 5-second video is 100 credits ($9.90), in 1080p, with no sound so you can add your own song in TikTok. Both photos have to show adults: an adult photo of a younger you is fine, a childhood photo isn't.
Is the AI Hug trend still growing?
Evergreen effect: searches for "ai hug" peaked on 26 Aug 2024 and were still at 4–12% of that peak between 20 Sep and 11 Oct 2026 (our Google Trends pulls). On 18 Oct 2026 Google completes "ai hug video" with "generator free", "maker" and "prompt". A steady search, not a rising trend.
How to do the AI Hug trend: by hand or in one click
By hand: put your photo into the scene with an image model, regenerate until the face looks like you, give that still to an image-to-video model with the moves written out, then check the face holds to the last frame.
Here, in one click: add a photo for each person, see a free preview still of you in the scene, then make the 1080p video from it. You pay only when it’s ready.
AI Hug mixes
- You + someone
- You + your pet: Pet version: instead of a second person, the pet from the photo, the whole animal with its own breed, size, coat colour, markings and eye colour, stands on the wooden floor about two metres in front of the person, facing them, ears up and tail raised. The person kneels on one knee with their arms slightly open, smiling at the pet. Both faces are fully visible to the camera. The pet stays a real animal: no clothes, no human expression.
Photo tips for AI Hug
- One person per photo, face toward the camera and sharp: head and shoulders or waist up works best.
- Match the two photos if you can: a similar angle and similar light make the two of you look like you're standing in the same room.
- Old prints are fine: lay the print flat and photograph it straight on, without glare. It comes out in colour.
- Both photos must show adults. An adult photo of a younger you works; a childhood photo doesn't.
- For the pet version, use a photo that shows your pet's face and coat clearly.
Who to cast
- You and your partner
- You and the friend who lives on another continent
- You and a parent or grandparent you've lost
- You and your dog or cat
AI Hug FAQ
Is there a free AI Hug AI video generator?
You can preview yourself in the AI Hug scene free. The full 1080p video costs 100 credits, charged only when it's ready. Credits come in packs from $9.90 for 100 and work on any trend.
Which app makes the AI Hug AI video?
Creators put their photo into the scene with an image model, then animate it with an image-to-video model. This page does both for you from one photo: a free preview still first, then the video.
How many photos do I need for AI Hug?
One clear, front-facing photo per person (or pet). This template has room for 3. Add up to 3 photos of each for a closer likeness.
What happens to my photos?
They are stored privately, sent to the video model through short-lived links, never used for training, and deleted with your video after 30 days.
What is the AI hug trend?
Two photos of two people go in, and a few seconds of video of them hugging comes out. It spread on TikTok in August 2024, when people used AI video apps on two photos side by side, and searches for "ai hug" peaked on 26 Aug 2024. It has stayed a steady search since, with a photo spin-off, "hug my younger self", in September 2025.
Is there a free AI hug video generator?
The preview is free here: add the two photos and you get a still of the two of you in the room, usually in about a minute. The video itself is 100 credits ($9.90). We'd rather say that up front than call the whole thing free.
How do I make an AI hug video?
Add one photo of you and one of the person you want to hug, each on their own. Check the free preview still, and if both faces look right, make the video. You get 5 seconds in 1080p: a step in, the hug, a long hold. No prompt to write.
Can I make a hug video with someone who has died?
Yes. It's one of the main reasons people make these, and the trend grew out of exactly that: a graduate and his late mother in Thailand, a granddaughter and her late grandfather in Malaysia. Use the clearest adult photo you have of them; old or black-and-white prints come out in natural colour. Take your time with it. People often find it hits harder than they expected.
Do I need permission to make a hug video of someone?
If the other person is alive, ask them first. A video of two people holding each other says something about them that a photo of each doesn't, and it's theirs to agree to. Don't use photos of strangers or of anyone who wouldn't want it. More on this in our safety guide at /guides/is-ai-face-swap-safe/.
Can I hug my younger self?
With an adult photo of you, yes: you at 20 hugging you now works well. We don't take childhood photos, even old ones of you, because every face here has to be an adult's. That's why there's no 'hug my child self' version on this page.
Can I make an AI hug video with my dog or cat?
Yes, pick You + your pet. You kneel, your pet trots over and you gather it into a hug, its head on your shoulder. Your pet keeps its own breed, coat, markings and eye colour from the photo. Dexerto's 2024 write-up lists pets among the first things people hugged.
What photos work best for an AI hug?
One person per photo, facing the camera, sharp and well lit, head and shoulders or waist up. The closer the two photos are in angle and light, the more it looks like you were in the same room. Sunglasses, hats and group shots make it harder to keep each face right.
Will it look like both of us?
That's the point, and it's the hard part: two faces turn into one embrace, and AI can blend them or let one slide. We keep both heads side by side and turned toward the camera so both stay recognisable. Check the free preview first; if a face looks off there, try a sharper photo.
How long is the video, and does it have sound?
Five seconds, vertical 9:16, in 1080p. It has no sound: most hug videos are posted with a song the person chooses, so add yours in TikTok or Instagram.
Is this the hug in heaven trend?
No. The heaven versions are separate templates in which you run up a stairway of light or across clouds to meet someone who has died. This page is the plain hug: two people in a sunlit room, one step, one long hold.
Which app started the AI hug trend?
There wasn't one. detikInet's how-to (24 Aug 2024) used Vidu, Dexerto's (1 Oct 2024) used Luma's Dream Machine, and a Thai studio was making them to order before either. They all worked the same way: two people, one picture, a prompt to make them hug.
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Independent tool. Not affiliated with TikTok, the creators of the trend posts, or the rights holders of the songs. Only upload people who agreed to be in it.
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