Zoom Drops Photoreal Avatars and Cross-Platform AI Notes

Zoom just shook up video meetings at Zoomtopia with AI Companion 3.0, launching November 2025 for paid Workplace users at no extra cost. The update packs a punch: photorealistic avatars that mimic your real expressions arrive in December, offering a polished on-camera presence for when you want to skip the makeup or hit a meeting without being camera-ready. More than just looking real, these avatars could change the culture of remote work—with norms around disclosure sure to follow. But the feature everyone’s buzzing about? AI Companion’s new cross-platform notes. Now, Zoom’s slick note-taking follows you not just in Zoom, but across Microsoft Teams and Google Meet too. That means automatic summaries, action items, and follow-ups no matter which platform you or your clients prefer, slashing busywork and context-switching for agencies, creators, educators, and podcasters alike. Zoom 3.0 ups the fidelity too: 60fps video meetings, 1080p and 4K sharing hit Zoom Rooms for smoother design reviews, crisper content walkthroughs, and vibrant classroom sessions. “Free up my time” agentic features debut as well, with proactive nudges to keep you focused and drop low-value calls, moving Zoom’s AI from passive notetaker to active meeting coordinator. The competition is fierce, with Microsoft, Google, and Cisco all dropping AI-powered meeting tools and avatars. But Zoom’s cross-platform notes and photoreal avatars are a bold play, aiming for both style and serious productivity gains. Expect companies to clarify policies on avatar use and watch how deep Zoom’s integration really goes—but if the rollout lives up to the hype, your next meeting might just star your digital twin and a smarter notetaker.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Happy Friday, September nineteenth, twenty twenty five. You're tuned into
the Blue Lightning AI Daily Podcast. I'm zain caffeinated, curious,
and yes, this episode was assembled with AI. If something
glitch's mid sentence, we're leaving it in. It's our brand
now and I'm Pippa.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
If my Mike autocorrects my face, that's the Zoom avatar's fault.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Kidding sort of.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Today Zoom dropped AI Companion three point zero at zoom
Toopia and it's a lot photorealistic avatars, cross platform notes
for teams in Google Meet, sixty fps video, the whole
glow up.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Big mood Let's anchor the facts first. According to Zoom's
own zoom Topia page, AI Companion three point zero goes
general availability in November twenty twenty five for paid Zoom
Workplace accounts at no additional cost. Photorealistic avatars arrive in
December twenty twenty five. That's straight from Zoom's newsroom.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Right, and crnback's the timeline on avatars hitting in December. Plus,
tech Radar confirms the cross platform play Zoom's AI notes
showing up in Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
That's low key the spiciest part for me.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Same photorealistic avatars are the headline, but cross platform notes
is the workflow killer feature. If your clients bounce between
teams and meat, Zoom's AI companion following you is a
big reduction in context chaos. Tech Radars coverage lines it
up as Zoom finally playing nicely outside its own house.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Okay, but avatars first, because vanity Zoom says lifelike avatars
mirror your expressions and head movement in real time. If
they land it without uncanny Valley, that's huge for creators
doing client reviews, webinars or live classes when it's a
not camera ready day. CRNS piece made it sound like
these avatars plug right into waiting rooms too, for that
pre roll polish.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
And that's a key difference from Microsoft Teams avatars. Teams
has had three D cartoonish avatars since twenty twenty three,
and then Mesh opened up immersive rooms earlier this year.
Solid vibes, but Zoom is going photoreel, which could be
more brand consistent for on camera creators. The Verge covered
team's avatar rollout back in twenty twenty three.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
If you want the history photoreel is also a culture shift,
like disclosure matters. Are we cool with a synthetic you
and a client pitch? I'm imagining policy docs that say
avatars ok for stand ups, not okay for approvals. Otherwise
it's giving catfishing your boss meme caption camera off not
camera upgraded.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Huh. On the practical side, cross platform notes might save
more hours than the avatar saves makeup. Zoom's AI note
taker already does summaries, action items and follow ups. In
Zoom Now it trails into teams and meet for agencies,
juggling five clients. That's one brain across all the rooms.
Tech Radar confirms.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
The expansion and they're adding more agentic behavior. Zoom calls
it free up my time, basically nudging you to skip
low value meetings, surfacing tasks, pre meeting prep.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
It's giving calendar bouncer energy.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
If you're a solo creator, that could be an hour
or two back per week, easy just from fewer zombie
calls and cleaner recap docs.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
We'll see how smart the nudges are, but the intent
is clear. Sist a shift from passive note taker to
active coordinator. Zoom's newsroom frames, it as goal aware, not
just transcribe and prey.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Okay video nerds, your turn sixty fps in meeting and
better sharing and Zoom rooms getting ten eighty P sixty
plus four K content sharing. In December, tech Radar called
those out for design reviews, animation dailies, game demos, chef's kiss.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
With the usual caveat bandwidth and devices still matter. It's
not magic. If you're on cafe Wi Fi, sixty fps
could become six fps, but in studio or classroom setups,
that fidelity is real value.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
Who's this four?

Speaker 2 (03:24):
I see three buckets one streamers and YouTubers who need
consistent on brand presence. Avatar days reduce reshoots and let
you keep pace two. Agencies and studios, cross platform notes
lowers email ping pong three educators and trainers. Four K
deck shares make diagrams and UI walkthroughs not look like
mashed potatoes.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Fair, and for podcasters that cross platform summary means post
interview cleanup is almost done before you open your door.
I could see some folks dropping Otter or notion AI.
If Zoom summaries are good enough across teams meet, we'll
need side by side tests. No benchmarks, yet.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
Price check Zoom says there's no extra cost for paid
workplace accounts for three point zero. There's also a custom
AI companion add on floating around for advanced stuff CMS
wire Pegg did at twelve dollars per user per month,
but the big headline features we're talking about are included
for paid plans per zum.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Competitive field looks busy. Microsoft has copilot across teams with
notes and action items, plus those avatars and meshrooms. Google
Meet's layered Gemini assist, Cisco's WebEx AI assistant is strong
on meeting summaries and catchups, but Zoom stepping into teams
meet with its own AI is a power move coopetition.
CRN even noted Zoom's integrations with enterprise platforms like service

(04:36):
Now earlier more meeting to action pipes.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Trend Wise, this screams AI managed presence plus AI managed coordination.
Your face can be synthetic, your follow ups are handled.
Creators get to do more creating between meetings. It's honestly
where the market was heading. Zoom just made it loud.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
Limitations to watch authenticity norms around avatars, expect teams to
require disclosure cross platform depth. How deep does Zoom hook
into time teams and meat permissions, security, speaker attributions, details
matter and performance. Sixty fps four K is only as
good as your network and GPU.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Also mobile, Zoom didn't hype avatars on phones yet makes
sense battery would rage quit. I'm curious if the sixty
fps experience or avatar mirroring lands on iPad pros.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
First quick scenarios. A TikToker doing brand feedback calls use
the avatar for consistency, then use AI companion summaries to
feed your content calendar. A podcaster record and meet because
the guest insists. Let Zoom's AI Companion summarize anyway and
push action items into your task app. A filmmaker on
set share four K mood boards in a Zoom room
at sixty fps so continuity and art see color accurate frames.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
My real life plan, I'm sending my avatar to the
eight am status while I'm doing hair, but I'll disclose
it in the name.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
Card pippa avatar mode.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Then I'll ask free up my time to drop the
status that could have been a Slack thread. Meanwhile, for
brand reviews, four K share so nobody argues about the
pink being cooral.

Speaker 3 (05:57):
It's pink.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
Is this a small tweak or a big game changer?
I'd call it a step function for workflow. If the
cross platform notes are robust, avatars are the sizzle. Interoperability
is the stake facts.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
If you had to meme it came to the meeting
in four K, left in AI or sorry I'm late,
my avatar was networking. Also, the pop culture vibe is
very dead, ringers you.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
But optimized availability one more time. AI Companion three point
zero rolls out November twenty twenty five for paid Zoom
Workplace at no extra cost per Zuom's newsroom. Photoreel avatars
start December twenty twenty five per CRN's reporting. Cross platform
notes for teams and meet confirmed by tech Radar sixty
fps meetings and Zoom rooms ten ADP sixty plus four
K content sharing hit with the platform updates toward December.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Benchmarks not a public We'll be testing latency on avatars
and whether action items tag the right humans and mixed
platform meetings if it's solid. Some third party note apps
are in trouble.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
And just to source the receipts. Zoom Newsroom for GA timing,
CRN for the avatar window and Agentic Angle tech Radar
for teams meet support, and the six D FPS four
K highlights the Verge for the team's avatar history. We
read the docs so you don't have to.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
You're welcome, and if our AI cut off a syllable,
that's the glitch we kept in.

Speaker 4 (07:09):
It's authentic. Ironically, that's our show. Thanks for hanging with
the Blue Lightning AI Daily podcast. For more coverage and
tutorials on your favorite AI tools, hit blue lightningtv dot com.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Catch you later.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Creators, stay crispy, stay curious, and maybe let your avatar
take the Monday meeting