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Recent advances in graph machine learning (ML) with the introduction of Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have led to a widespread interest in applying these approaches to business applications at scale. GNNs enable differentiable end-to-end (E2E) learning of model parameters given graph structure which enables optimization towards popular node, edge (link) and graph-level tasks. While the research innovation in new GNN layers and training strategies has been rapid, industrial adoption and utility of GNNs has lagged considerably due to the unique scale challenges that large-scale graph ML problems create. In this work, we share our approach to training, inference, and utilization of GNNs at Snapchat. To this end, we present GiGL (Gigantic Graph Learning), an open-source library to enable large-scale distributed graph ML to the benefit of researchers, ML engineers, and practitioners. We use GiGL internally at Snapchat to manage the heavy lifting of GNN workflows, including graph data preprocessing from relational DBs, subgraph sampling, distributed training, inference, and orchestration. GiGL is designed to interface cleanly with open-source GNN modeling libraries prominent in academia like PyTorch Geometric (PyG), while handling scaling and productionization challenges that make it easier for internal practitioners to focus on modeling. GiGL is used in multiple production settings, and has powered over 35 launches across multiple business domains in the last 2 years in the contexts of friend recommendation, content recommendation and advertising. This work details high-level design and tools the library provides, scaling properties, case studies in diverse business settings with industry-scale graphs, and several key lessons learned in employing graph ML at scale on large social data. GiGL is open-sourced at https://github.com/snap-research/GiGL.

Today, Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, one of the most popular social-media apps for teenage users, is announcing a new computer that you wear directly on your face. The latest in its Spectacles line of smart glasses, which the company has been working on for about a decade, shows you interactive imagery through its lenses, placing plants or imaginary pets or even a golf-putting range into the real world around you. So-called augmented reality (or AR) is nothing new, and neither is wearable tech. Meta makes a pair of smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban, and claims they're so popular that the company can't make them fast enough. Amazon sells an Alexa-infused version of the famous Carrera frames, which make you look like a mob boss with access to an AI assistant (Alexa, where's the best place to hide a body?).

Since first introducing its generative AI assistant, Snap has been steadily ramping up the amount of AI in its app. Now, the company is adding a new slate of AI-powered features as it begins testing a larger redesign of the app. Snap often brings new AI features to its Snapchat subscribers first, and the company is continuing the trend with a new feature called "My Selfie." The feature uses selfies to create AI-generated images of users and their friends (if they also subscribe) in creative poses and situations. The company is also rolling out a new "grandparents lens" that uses AI to imagine what you might look like as a senior citizen.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to determine what is AI-created as tools' capabilities continue to improve. Marking AI-created images is one solution and an option Snapchat is expanding on. The platform is introducing a watermark on AI-generated content that is saved to your camera roll or exported. In a surprise to absolutely no one, Snapchat's AI watermark will be a ghost with sparkles next to it. There doesn't seem to be any way to control where the icon appears (as is typical with watermarks), but we'll know more when Snapchat adds the feature "soon."

Elon Musk has announced new changes to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that will allow certain accounts to unlock free premium features. Posting on the platform Thursday, the 52-year old tech billionaire, and TIME's 2021 Person of the Year, said: "Going forward, all X accounts with over 2500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5000 will get Premium for free." Previously, X Premium features would cost a user 8 per month and include the ability to share longer posts and video uploads, have larger reply prioritization, and see fewer adverts on their timeline. Meanwhile X Premium users have all the features of Premium with no adverts in the For You and Following timelines, as well as access to generative artificial intelligence chatbot Grok. These models are the only way users can now display a blue checkmark that once denoted a verified account before the Tesla and SpaceX CEO acquired Twitter Inc for 44bn in April 2022.

Parenting in 2023 requires talking with your kids not just about the hazards of the internet and social media but also the artificial intelligence spreading rapidly into just about every app or online service. Common Sense Media, the nonprofit that rates movies and other media for parents, is trying to help families adapt to the age of AI. Today it launched its first analysis and ratings for AI tools, including OpenAI's ChatGPT and Snapchat's My AI chatbot. My AI received one of the lowest scores among the 10 systems covered in Common Sense's report, which warns that the chatbot is willing to chat with teen users about sex and alcohol and that it misrepresented Snap's targeted advertising. Common Sense concludes there are "more downsides to My AI than benefits."

Snapchat grew to more than 400 million users, Snap announced in its third-quarter earnings report. The app added nine million new users in the last quarter, bringing its total daily active users (DAUs) to 406 million, an increase of 12 percent from last year, the company said. The milestone comes a little more than a year after Snap laid off about 20 percent of its workforce in an effort to cut costs as advertising revenue slowed. Those cuts, along with new product features, are apparently starting to pay off. The company reported $1.19 billion in revenue for the quarter, an increase of 5 percent from last year and better than Wall Street analysts expected, according to CNBC.

Information Commissioner John Edwards said, "The provisional findings of our investigation suggest a worrying failure by Snap to adequately identify and assess the privacy risks to children and other users before launching My AI.

It's no secret that filters can transform us into almost anything - whether it be a dog or a dancing hotdog. But Snapchat has now taken this up a notch, with the launch of a new tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to completely reimagine your photographs. The so-called'Dreams' feature will allow users to create fantasy-themed AI selfies in just a few taps - and the results are unbelievably realistic. Deep-sea mermaids and Renaissance-era royals are among the initial pack of eight complimentary Dreams that can be created, while others start at $0.99. The AI tool will be launched first in Australia and New Zealand, before making its way to other Snapchatters across the globe in a couple of weeks.