Instagram Adds AI Video Editing Assistant to Its Edits App
The assistant analyzes follows, views, retention, likes, shares, comments, trends and audience interests to surface personalized insights, while leaving creative decisions to creators. Announced September 30, 2026, it has usage limits, with more access via Meta One.
Instagram announced on September 30, 2026 that it is bringing an AI video editing assistant to Edits, its video editing app. The tool is designed to give creators personalized, analytics-driven feedback rather than generic advice.
Brett Westervelt, who leads the Edits app, described the assistant’s capabilities in a blog post: “The assistant knows your account’s Instagram metrics, things like follows, views, video retention, likes, shares and combines them with your comments, what’s trending on Instagram and what your audience is into. It can spot patterns in your performance over time and surface actionable insights that are hard to see from the metrics alone.”
Westervelt noted that the tool was developed in close collaboration with a group of creators. A key finding from that process shaped the assistant’s focus. “One thing we heard consistently: creators want a tool that handles the analysis, not one that does the creative work for them,” he wrote. “Edits assistant does the digging for you. The creative calls are still yours.”
Meta first previewed the Edits AI assistant in June 2026 at an invite-only creator event, where it also announced it was working on an Edits desktop app. Usage of the AI tool will be subject to limits, though creators can unlock additional usage through a Meta One subscription.
Instagram is not alone in this space. YouTube announced last week that it is also developing a conversational video editing tool, expected to be available early next year. Based on available details, Meta’s assistant appears focused on performance analysis, while YouTube’s tool is aimed more at assisting with the editing process itself.