I hate Snapchat 👻 but they are AR kings 👑

Y'all know I am not a fan Snapchat. However, their recent release of "Cameos" is the type of viral animation that's core to Snapchat's DNA. Snap Inc. recently acquired the startup behind Cameos, AI Factory, for a reported $166M last week.

• Location: Uncreatively-named AI Factory is based in Ukraine, with an office in San Francisco to convince those who judge books by their covers.
• Not his first exit: Its founder is Victor Shaburov — who already sold a previous startup to Snap in 2015 (he's the tech artist behind virtual rainbow vomiting).
• Not dangerous (yet): Making a video of one person appear as another is the definition of "Deepfake" (it's a freaky futuristic technology that could potentially cause mahyem on what you think is true). But we tried Snap's Cameos — they're shallowfakes at best.

The Takeaway
Snap is the leader in Augmented Reality. Period... Tech leaders believe AR will replace smartphones, just like smartphones replaced many PCs. Facebook, Apple, and Google are all building headsets and glasses so they don't miss it. Before you strap a computer to your face, Snap's way ahead:

Those tech giants haven't offered mainstream products yet — and Facebook's chief scientist thinks it'll be 5-10 years before they do.
Snap has. Its filters, lenses, and Spectacles take your real world, then augment it with humanity-improving dancing hotdogs.

Why Listen?

• This episode I am going to break down what why Snap is on its way to becoming the "fastest way we communicate" with things like Bitmoji and Cameo. 

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