- The timeline of the operation: from internal team to autonomous company
- Why video AI has become too expensive to manage in-house
- Winners and losers: who benefits from the Dotmo spinoff
- The video AI market in 2026: the numbers that frame the scene
- The view from a Milanese agency: what changes for those who create content in Italy
- Implications for content creation and martech strategies
- Next moves: what to watch in the coming months
Snap has announced the spinoff of its internal team dedicated to AI video. The new entity is called Dotmo . The employees involved are leaving Snapchat to found an independent company focused on AI-driven video generation. The stated motivation is internal cost pressure.
However, the move has broader implications. Dotmo is born as an independent business model in a market — that of AI video — which saw explosive growth in 2025. Therefore, the spinoff is not just a financial restructuring: it's a signal of how large platforms are repositioning their creative technologies towards B2B and martech markets. Consequently, for marketing managers of Italian SMEs and mid-market companies, understanding this dynamic is strategically relevant.
We at SHM Studio we are closely monitoring the evolution of AI tools applied to content and digital marketing. In this article, we analyze the history of the operation, the winners and losers, and the operational implications for those managing communication and content creation budgets in Italy in 2026.
The timeline of the operation: from internal team to autonomous company
On June 18, 2026, TechCrunch has reported the official news. Snap has decided to spin off its dedicated video AI team into a separate company. The new entity is called Dotmo . The personnel involved are formally leaving Snapchat to focus exclusively on developing AI-driven video generation technologies.
The official reason is cost pressure. However, this is not the first time Snap has adopted this strategy. The platform has already spun off other internal units in the past. Therefore, Dotmo fits into a precise pattern of corporate restructuring aimed at operational efficiency.
Furthermore, the spinoff occurs at a time of strong consolidation in the video AI market. Competitors like Runway, Pika Labs, and OpenAI's Sora have already redefined industry expectations. Consequently, Dotmo is born into an extremely mature competitive landscape.
Why in-house AI video became too expensive to manage
AI video generation requires significant computational infrastructure. The latest generation models consume enormous GPU resources. Therefore, keeping them within a social platform — whose core business is the distribution of ephemeral content — creates a structural misalignment between costs and revenues.
Snap has clearly calculated that the value generated by AI video didn't justify the internal investment. Conversely, by spinning off the team into a separate company, it frees up its balance sheet and potentially retains a stake or a commercial partnership with Dotmo. This model has already been adopted by other tech players.
In fact, according to analysis by McKinsey on the AI market , companies that spin off AI units into separate entities generally achieve faster go-to-market speed. Furthermore, they attract vertical investments more easily. Therefore, Snap's move follows a consolidated industrial logic.
Winners and losers: who benefits from the Dotmo spinoff
The first winner is the team itself. The professionals who make up Dotmo gain operational autonomy, the possibility of raising dedicated funding, and a clear mandate. This translates into greater product development speed.
Snap, paradoxically, is also a winner in the short term. It reduces fixed costs and potentially maintains privileged access to technology through commercial agreements. However, in the long term, it risks losing a strategic asset if Dotmo were to grow and ally with competitors.
Potential losers are the already established AI video platforms. Dotmo is born with Snap DNA: it understands the logic of vertical content, short format, mobile-first engagement. Therefore, it could compete directly with Runway or Pika Labs in specific segments. Finally, brands that today depend on a Snap ecosystem for creative production might find themselves having to renegotiate their integrations.
The video AI market in 2026: the numbers that frame the scene
In 2025, the global video AI tools market surpassed $4 billion in value. Projections for 2027-2028 indicate sustained growth, with annual rates exceeding 30%. This data emerges from analyses by Gartner on the generative AI sector .
In Italy, the adoption of AI tools for content marketing is still in the early majority phase. However, the demand for automatically generated videos is growing rapidly, particularly in retail and B2B. Consequently, a tool like Dotmo — if oriented towards the enterprise or mid-market — could find fertile ground in the Italian context as well.
Beyond this, the short video format continues to dominate engagement metrics across all platforms. Therefore, the ability to produce quality videos scalably and at a low cost represents a real competitive advantage for marketing teams with limited resources.
The view from a Milanese agency: what changes for those who create content in Italy
From SHM Studio , we are observing this operation with analytical interest. Dotmo's spinoff confirms an already evident trend: video content production is becoming infrastructure, no longer an exclusive competence of agencies or structured creative teams.
For marketing managers of Italian SMEs, this has concrete implications. Firstly, AI video tools will become more accessible and specialized. Dotmo, born from a social-first context, could develop solutions focused on short formats and personalization. Therefore, it could easily integrate with workflows of Digital marketing already existing.
Secondly, the proliferation of specialized players requires marketing teams to have a greater ability to evaluate and select tools. Thus, technological orchestration competence becomes more critical than creative competence alone. We at SHM Studio support our clients in exactly this type of strategic choice, through our AI consulting services .
Implications for content creation and martech strategies
The first operational impact concerns the production of content for paid campaigns. Who manages google ads campaigns or LinkedIn campaigns knows how critical the availability of quality video assets is. Tools like Dotmo could drastically reduce production times and costs.
However, the quality of AI-generated video remains a variable to monitor. Not all formats and sectors lend themselves equally to automatic generation. In particular, B2B requires a precise tone and brand consistency that current models still struggle to guarantee autonomously.
Therefore, the most effective strategy is not to replace human creative production with video AI, but to integrate it. This also applies to the SEO content production , where editorial quality remains a determining ranking factor. Similarly, for websites and landing pages, narrative consistency between copy and video is fundamental. Our team of web development already integrates these considerations into the projects we follow.
Next moves: what to watch in the coming months
The first element to monitor is the business model that Dotmo will adopt. If it focuses on a SaaS approach for marketing teams, it could quickly become a relevant tool for the Italian market. Conversely, if it remains focused on complex enterprise integrations, its impact on SMEs will be more limited in the short term.
Furthermore, it will be interesting to see if Snap maintains a privileged commercial relationship with Dotmo. This would determine if the technology remains within the Snapchat ecosystem or becomes available on broader platforms. Therefore, upcoming partnership announcements will be indicative of the strategic direction.
Finally, the spinoff could trigger similar moves in other social players. Meta, TikTok, and YouTube all have internal video AI teams. If the Dotmo model proves effective, it could become a replicable template. For this reason, those involved in SEO and Digital marketing should keep this scenario on their strategic radar.
For more insights on how to integrate AI tools into your martech stack, you can consult our Blog or contact the SHM Studio team for a dedicated consultation.
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