Yazılar

Perplexity Teams Up With Snapchat to Bring AI-Powered Search to the App

/in /tarafından

Snapchat X Perplexity AI $400 Million Collaboration

Perplexity and Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, announced a strategic partnership on Wednesday to bring AI-powered search and chat capabilities directly into the social media app. Under the agreement, Perplexity’s AI chatbot will be integrated alongside Snapchat’s existing My AI feature, allowing users to ask a wide range of questions and receive intelligent responses in real time. The collaboration not only expands Snapchat’s AI offerings but also provides financial benefits to Snap through the partnership.

According to a Snap newsroom post, Perplexity’s AI chatbot will soon be accessible to more than 943 million monthly active users (MAUs) on Snapchat. The integration aims to make AI a more natural and interactive part of the app experience, enabling users to explore information, engage in dynamic conversations, and discover new content without leaving the platform.

Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc., emphasized the company’s vision for AI in social media, stating, “Our goal is to make AI more personal, social, and fun – woven into the fabric of your friendships, Snaps, and conversations. This partnership reflects our shared vision for the power of AI to enhance discovery and connection on Snapchat.” By embedding AI seamlessly into everyday interactions, Snapchat hopes to elevate user engagement and satisfaction.

The collaboration also signals Snap’s commitment to innovative AI partnerships that bring meaningful value to its community. By integrating Perplexity, the company strengthens its position in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, offering users smarter tools for learning, entertainment, and social interaction while providing developers with new opportunities to expand AI-driven experiences within the app.

Amazon Restores AWS Cloud After Global Outage Disrupts Major Apps and Businesses

/in /tarafından

Amazon (AMZN.O) said its AWS cloud services had fully recovered by Monday afternoon following a massive outage that disrupted businesses and websites worldwide, including major platforms such as Snapchat, Reddit, Venmo, and Zoom. While all core systems were back online, Amazon noted that some AWS services still faced a backlog of messages expected to clear within hours.

The outage, which began earlier in the day, briefly knocked thousands of companies offline across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, halting digital payments, travel bookings, and business operations. It was the largest internet disruption since the CrowdStrike crash of 2024, underscoring the fragility of global cloud infrastructure.

According to Amazon, the failure originated in the US-EAST-1 region — AWS’s oldest and largest data center cluster in northern Virginia, which has suffered similar incidents in 2020 and 2021. The root cause was traced to a malfunction in the subsystem monitoring network health for its Elastic Load Balancers, which distribute web traffic across multiple servers.

AWS explained that the issue began within its EC2 internal network, disrupting the Domain Name System (DNS) used to connect services to their databases, including the DynamoDB API, which stores critical user data.

Experts said the incident exposes the world’s dependence on a few dominant cloud providers. “This outage once again highlights the dependency we have on relatively fragile infrastructures,” said Jake Moore, cybersecurity advisor at ESET. Nishanth Sastry, of the University of Surrey, added that the disruption showed “the risk of relying on just one service provider.”

The outage’s ripple effects hit a wide range of sectors. Financial institutions including Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, and HMRC, as well as telecom firms BT and Vodafone, reported temporary downtime in the UK. In the U.S., Coinbase, Robinhood, Perplexity, and Lyft experienced interruptions, while gaming services like Fortnite, Roblox, and Clash Royale also went dark. Even Amazon’s own Prime Video, Alexa, and shopping platform were affected.

Despite the chaos, Wall Street shrugged off the disruption, sending Amazon shares up 1.6% to $216.48 by market close. Experts estimate that hours of cloud downtime can translate into millions of dollars in lost productivity for large companies, a reminder of the growing risks in the digital economy.

European Commission Reviews Child Safety Measures on Snapchat, YouTube, and App Stores

/in /tarafından

The European Commission has begun reviewing how platforms such as Snapchat, YouTube, Apple’s App Store, and Google Play protect minors online under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The investigation focuses on whether these companies’ safeguards are sufficient to prevent young users from being exposed to illegal products or harmful content.

The Commission has requested detailed information on age verification tools and on how the platforms block access to content promoting illegal substances, including drugs and vapes, as well as to material that could encourage eating disorders.

EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen said the assessment, carried out in cooperation with national authorities, aims to determine whether platforms are truly protecting children.

Google stated it already enforces “robust parental controls” and offers “age-appropriate experiences” across its platforms. “We keep expanding these efforts and continue to engage with the Commission on this critical area,” a Google spokesperson said.

The DSA, which came into full effect in 2024, imposes strict obligations on digital platforms to identify and mitigate risks linked to illegal or harmful content — marking one of the EU’s strongest steps toward regulating online safety for minors.