Ray 3 and Seedream 4.0: New Rivals in the AI Race

Artificial intelligence technologies are advancing at full speed. After models like Google Banana and Google Veo 3, two strong contenders have now entered the stage: Ray 3 by Luma AI and Seedream 4.0 by ByteDance.

Ray 3: A Reasoning Video Model

Ray 3 stands out as a “reasoning video model”, meaning it can think and plan before generating a video. Unlike traditional models, Ray 3 evaluates logical flow, adheres to physics, and ensures character consistency.

It also supports HDR (High Dynamic Range), enabling more realistic and dynamic results. Ray 3 is available through lumalabs.ai, where users can try it for free—though with some resolution limitations in the free version.

Seedream 4.0: ByteDance’s New Image Model

While Google Veo 3 shifted the balance, Seedream 4.0 raises the bar once again. Key features include:

Up to 4K resolution with fast and consistent results,
Style consistency with up to 6 reference images,
Ability to generate 9 images at once,
Natural language editing support,
Strong accuracy in character and environment consistency.

Seedream 4.0 can currently be tested for free in two ways:

Dreamina website (dreamina.capcut.com) → An independent platform connected to CapCut’s ecosystem. By signing up, users can generate images directly from here.
LMArena → By navigating to “Battle” → “Direct Chat” → “Image” and selecting Seedream 4.

Both methods deliver quick results, and early tests show particularly strong performance in consistency and detail.