With Snap's AI Factory Acquisition, Deepfake GIFs Will Go Mainstream

Continuing its acquisition spree, Snapchat's parent company Snap has now bought AI Factory, a Ukrainian computer vision and AI-based startup that earlier collaborated with them to build Snapchat's new Cameos animated selfie-based video feature. According to reports, it would cost Snap $166 million to acquire AI Factory. It had earlier spent $150 million on another Ukraine based startup Looksery in 2015 to power its augmented reality lenses-- and shook up the lens filters game for all social video and photo apps. Lenses became a mega success for Snap where it was reported that 70% of its daily active users play with them, which not just brings in new users, but also increases user retention and revenues by way of sponsorships and the purchase of the devices by users. Founded in 2018, AI Factory has been developing innovative computer vision and augmented reality products with a focus on image and video technologies, analysis and processing.