Santa Monica-based Snapchat announced a new Monetization Program for content creators this week that will feature expanded revenue opportunities and evolving rewards. Beginning February 1, creators that have at least 50,000 followers and post at least 25 times each month to Saved Stories or Spotlight videos will have the option to place ads in videos that are longer than one minute. Eligible creators would also need to meet one of the following criteria in the most recent month: 10 million Snap views, one million Spotlight views, or 12,000 hours of total view time. According to Snap, Spotlight video viewership is up 25 percent year-over-year. Read more

CES 2025, taking place the week of January 5 in Las Vegas, is expected to focus on artificial intelligence, unveiling a wave of innovative offerings — whether practical, visionary or experimental. As we stand on the brink of transformative change, it’s worth recalling that early AI models often fell short when they attempted to mimic human methods. As we approach CES in service to the entertainment industry, we’ll be most interested in products that use this constant advance to assist and amplify human potential. Media applications that impact the next generation of compelling stories, production techniques, and consumer experiences will be of most interest. Read more

Google has introduced Gemini 2.0, the latest version of its multimodal AI model, signaling a shift toward what the company is calling “the agentic era.” The upgraded model promises not only to outperform previous iterations on standard benchmarks but also introduces more proactive, or agentic, functions. The company announced that “Project Astra,” its experimental assistant, would receive updates that allow it to use Google Search, Lens, and Maps, and that “Project Mariner,” a Chrome extension, would enable Gemini 2.0 to navigate a user’s web browser to complete tasks autonomously. Read more

Google has unveiled Android XR, an operating system for computers and smart glasses powered by Google’s Gemini AI large language model. Samsung confirmed that it will release an extended reality headset that runs on Android XR sometime in 2025. Samsung worked closely with Google and Gemini throughout 2023, leading up to the Galaxy S24 series of smartphones that debuted at CES 2024 last January. Google announced the release of the Android XR SDK Developer Preview kit so new apps can be built and existing ones ported over to the new platform to support Samsung’s new headset and other devices. Read more

With AI powering a range of new world-building apps, 2025 could be the year the metaverse finally makes an impact. Midjourney joins the world-building club with Patchwork, a collaborate canvas for creating “infinite” fictional worlds. Now in research preview, the tool is being developed as a standalone app, though preview access requires a Midjourney Discord account linked to a Google account. Users are able to connect characters and worlds, and “share” their developing world — evolving as a “board” — with up to 100 collaborative partners on Midjourney (though the company recommends fewer participants for a more focused experience). Read more