Snapchat launched new AR and GenAI tools targeting brands and advertisers, aiming to make ad creation more interactive and efficient.

Brands can create custom Lenses backed by GenAI by providing a text or image prompt to add realistic face effects. These can subsequently be used as AR ads on Snapchat. The company also launched AR Extensions, allowing advertisers to integrate filters and AR lenses into Snapchat’s different ad formats (Spotlight Ads, Snap Ads, etc).

Analyst QuickTake: Snap has found implementing ML tools to its platform increasingly successful, noting that the number of ML and AI Lenses viewed by users increased by more than 50% YoY in Q1 2024. The news also follows the launch of the company’s Lens Studio 5.0 Beta in November 2023 , which introduced GenAI-backed AR content creation capabilities, among other improvements.