Snapchat launches a ChatGPT-powered My AI chatbot

Image: Snap

Snapchat gets an in-app chatbot powered by the latest version of OpenAI's ChatGPT. The My AI chatbot will be pinned to the app's chat tab above the conversations with friends. It's coming first to Snapchat Plus subscribers, with the eventual goal of bringing it to all of Snapchat's 750 million monthly users. It isn't designed to be a search engine. Instead, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel envisions it as another service you can chat with daily aside from your friends and family.

As The Verge noted, My AI seems like the fast mobile-friendly version of ChatGPT but inside Snapchat. But it is a more restricted version, with Snap training the chatbot to adhere to its trust and safety guidelines. It will not give responses that include swearing, sexually explicit content, violence, or opinions on hot-button topics like politics. It's also taken out the option to write academic essays. Snap plans to keep tuning My AI as more people use it.

Snapchat tests a paid subscription service

Snapchat wants you to pay for a subscription service, and it's unsurprisingly being called Snapchat Plus. Snap spokesperson Liz Markman said the feature is in its "early internal testing" phase. They envision it as a way "to share exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features with our subscribers, and learn more about how we can best serve our community."

App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi has shared information about this service on Twitter. There are features like pinning a friend as "#1 BFF," access to exclusive Snapchat icons, profile badge, info on how many friends rewatched your story, learn your friend's whereabouts in the last 24 hours (if they share your location with you), and more. Pricing is currently listed as 4.59 Euros, which is approximately CA$6. Of course, that's a placeholder price for now.

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Snap's Pixy drone gets an extended shipping time up to 4 months

If you just recently decided you wanted to pick up Snap's Pixy drone, then you'll have to be okay with a wait of up to four months. If you check Snap's website, the estimated shipment for the drone will take around 15 to 16 weeks. As The Verge pointed out, this could mean the drone is selling well, but also, it might be that the company hasn't made enough. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has hinted to The Verge before Pixy's launch that it might have made too few of them. The company might have wanted to avoid the loss it experienced when it made too many Spectacles. Unfortunately, you'll have a longer waiting time to get yours.

You can watch this Jennifer Lopez Snapchat digital concert as your Bitmoji

Source: Snap

Snapchat's parent company Snap is diving into the virtual concert space with Jennifer Lopez and Colombian pop singer Maluma. The concert won't take place within the Snapchat app. Instead, you'll sign into a dedicated website to watch using your Snapchat login and then have your Bitmoji avatar appear as a spectator in the crowd. It actually got pushed back to today at 5 PM PT due to "overwhelming demand," so you can set an alarm for it.

A handful of interactive effects will be available during the show, including the ability to start "the wave" and trigger a virtual laser effect. Lopez and Maluma will appear as 3D avatars, too. The 10-minute concert promotes the upcoming romantic comedy Marry Me starring Lopex and Maluma. It isn't clear if this will be a regular event for Snap, but we won't be surprised if they do more if this becomes successful.

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