Snapchat is launching Sponsored AI Lenses, a new advertising format enabling brands to connect with consumers in an immersive manner. While brands have long been able to pay for sponsored lenses on the platform, they can now utilize AI-generated experiences powered by Snap’s proprietary generative AI technology.
These interactive lenses allow brands to engage users in a more entertaining and engaging way compared to traditional ads, enabling users to take selfies and find themselves in various AI-generated scenes.
When users take a selfie using an AI Lens, Snap analyzes their face to integrate them into the scene, as explained in an email to TechCrunch. The AI Lens employs a preset prompt and pose to create immersive transformations, offering up to 10 different experiences within a single Lens.
“Over the past two years, we’ve refined our generative AI technology to ensure rapid and efficient high-quality creative execution,” the company stated in a blog post. “Sponsored AI Lenses eliminate the need for 3D and VFX design, replacing them with AI-generated templates that help reduce production timelines.”
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Brands such as Tinder and Uber have already utilized this new ad format. Tinder’s ad allowed users to create a personalized image with the caption “My 2025 Dating Vibe,” while Uber’s version featured a Thanksgiving theme.
Snap discovered that users engaged longer with Sponsored AI Lenses compared to standard lenses, with both Uber and Tinder reporting higher-than-average playtimes with the new AI creative format.
This launch represents Snap’s latest exploration of generative AI technology and its integration into the platform. Last month, the company introduced its first video generative AI Lenses, and in February, it unveiled an AI text-to-image research model for mobile devices that will enhance some Snapchat features in the near future.
SOURCE: TECH CRUNCH
