Today, Snap hosted its sixth annual Lens Fest where the company announces upcoming features to its creator community and brings together AR creators and developers.
At the Lens Fest 2023, Snap introduced new collaborations with Open AI’s ChatGPT, faster loading speeds, and support for more tools to help developers create AR effects. All of these were mentioned as a part of the latest Lens Studio 5.0 Beta version that developers can now try.
“Our mission is to offer this growing AR community the most advanced tools available to build next-generation experiences for the Snapchat community and beyond through Camera Kit and Spectacles. So, we are rebuilding a new version of Lens Studio from the ground up to support more advanced AR development by collaborative teams.”
For Lens Studio 5.0 Beta, Snapchat teamed with Open AI to expand its AI capabilities by offering a new ChatGPT Remote API. With this, developers can enjoy a variety of innovative learning, conversational, and creative experiences. It previously introduced My AI capability by collaborating with Open AI.
Developers can also get a 3D face mask generator that combines Generative AI and Snapchat’s mesh capabilities to create a “self-expression” Lens on the app quickly.
Furthermore, the beta version aids in better project management by supporting version control tools like Git. Thus, multiple developers can work on a project simultaneously. Snapchat also mentioned that its projects now load 18x faster in the latest update.
While the company celebrates its new product launch, it has laid off 20 employees with project management titles from its product department.
Despite high earnings in the third quarter earnings of 2023, the company clarified the layoffs were a part of streamlining and cutting overheads. According to the third quarter results, Snapchat experienced a 5% year-over-year growth in its sales hitting $1.19 billion.
Unlike last year's layoffs, the number of affected employees is small as the 20 departures were spread over three months. The corporation employs around 5,000 employees at the moment.
