Snap invests in AR, sports and music content
Snap has a suite of new tools for advertisers, which the social media company revealed at the IAB NewFronts in New York on Wednesday (May 1).
Snap’s president of Americas Patrick Harris took to the stage alongside CCO Colleen DeCourcy to announce the new solutions, programs and content – some of which include enhanced AR tools, sports content, and new machine learning and automation products.
As part of its newly launched AR Extensions, brands will be able to integrate AR Lenses and Filters directly into Snap’s ad formats – for example, they will now have the ability to show an augmented reality version of their products inside Dynamic Product Ads, Snap Ads, Collection Ads, Commercials and Spotlight Ads.
The company says it’s also expanding its partnership with Live Nation to give Snapchat users exclusive behind-the-scenes content with artists. It will also curate stories from Live Nation concerts and festivals, as shared by Snapchatters, Snap Stars, music fans, and artists.
As for its sports partnerships, Snap said it will continue to provide official WNBA, NBA and NFL content across its Stories and Spotlight features. It will also partner with NBCUniversal to develop AR experiences for the Paris 2024 Olympics and bring some of its popular influencers to Paris, where they will report on the Games from the ground.
Snap also revealed new automation tools that were developed to improve the AR creation process. A new set of tools were created for advertisers to be able to turn product catalogues into AR try-on assets faster and at scale. It also introduced ML Face Effects for Brands, which uses Gen AI to created branded AR ads, and allows advertisers to create more realistic face effects and selfie experiences for Snapchat users.
According to Snap, its platform attracts more than 800 million monthly and 422 million daily users (10% YOY growth). Snapchat reaches over 90% of 13- to 24-year-olds, and 75%-plus of 13- to 34-year-olds in over 25 countries. The company recently reported nearly $1.2 billion for the first quarter of 2024 (+21%).
Meta updates AI tool with new tech
In a recent Instagram video, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company’s free virtual assistant, Meta AI, has been updated with its latest open source language model called Llama 3.
Meta AI was launched on Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Messenger in Canada two weeks ago, and allows users to ask the machine learning tool to do things from acquiring information about a publication to finding the cheapest flights.
With Llama 3, Meta AI now appears in the search boxes at the top of the apps, allowing users to ask questions directly through the social networks’ search capabilities. Meta AI provide suggestions for users, or they can type to ask a full question. Answers on sports, entertainment and current events are provided by leading search providers.
Meta has also built a website, Meta.ai, for users to generate emails, do research and cerate images using AI. Similar to the latest OpenAI and Google’s Gemini models, Meta AI now has the ability to animate photos, turning images into animated GIFs.

The company introduced the virtual assistant in September last year in the U.S. and has since been launching it in other markets, including Australia and New Zealand. The launch has raised concerns from industry experts who say Llama 3’s open-language tech could lead to creations such as deepfakes.
Other social networks have also updated their apps with similar AI tools, such as LinkedIn, which launched an AI-enabled chatbot last year. The chatbot is powered by OpenAI tech and is available to premium users. TikTok also announced last year that it’s in the early stages of testing Tako, its AI-based chatbot that allows users to ask questions about the videos they’re watching or discover new content by asking for recommendations.
With files from Andrea Hernandez and Jennifer Horn