A rocky past haunts the mysterious company behind the Lensa AI photo app

South Africa News News

A rocky past haunts the mysterious company behind the Lensa AI photo app
South Africa Latest News,South Africa Headlines
  • 📰 NPR
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 63 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 28%
  • Publisher: 63%

Remember those stylized AI portraits that were plastered all over social media? This is the story of the little-known Cyprus company behind the viral trend — and its shadowy past.

. The promise and potential pitfalls of AI wizardry was being taken in by thousands of people each day, as everyone gazed in wonder at AI images wearing their faces.

The company would not comment on specific figures, but said it relies on Amazon Web Services' servers to power the feature. an AI-powered photo app and so they teamed up with Poyaganov and Usoltsev, who both previously worked at Yandex, the most popular search engine in Russia.With a shoestring team of just nine people,so people could make theirit the best app of the year in 2016, declaring that"Prisma will make you fall in love with photo filters all over again.

"There were some troubles. Visa issues and so on," Hardy, a Prisma co-founder, told NPR."So the whole discussions just faded."met with Moiseenkov and expressed interest just before Snap went public in 2017, two sources told NPR. But before an offer could be extended, talks broke down over visa issues related to moving Prisma's small Moscow team to the U.S.

Last year, in March, Usoltsev laid off 30% of the staff and told employees they would have to relocate to Cyprus, or outside of Russia. Back in 2016, Mail.ru also invested in Prisma Labs. Since 2021, its chief executive, Vladimir Kiriyenko,by U.S. and European authorities following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But Mail.ru no longer has any ownership of Prisma.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

NPR /  🏆 96. in US

South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Bitzlato, a little-known crypto exchange, was just shut down by the DOJThe Justice Department just shut down little-known crypto exchange Bitzlato and arrested its Russian founder in what authorities claim is a huge blow to crypto crime
Read more »

A new California housing law has done little to encourage building, report saysA new California housing law has done little to encourage building, report saysA California law passed in 2021 was supposed to make it easier for homeowners to build duplexes, but few are taking advantage of it.
Read more »

Little Village volunteers step up to protect street vendors from robberiesLittle Village volunteers step up to protect street vendors from robberiesVolunteers are stepping up in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood to watch out for street vendors after an increase in robberies.
Read more »

Larry Summers says he’s ‘still cautious’ but has a ‘little bit more hope’ about economyLarry Summers says he’s ‘still cautious’ but has a ‘little bit more hope’ about economyFormer Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said in a Bloomberg interview posted Wednesday that the 'situation does look a bit better' for the U.S. economy.
Read more »

Dow futures little changed amid weakening data, earnings in focus By Investing.comDow futures little changed amid weakening data, earnings in focus By Investing.com⚠️BREAKING: *U.S. STOCK FUTURES POINT TO LOWER OPEN AMID RESURGENT RECESSION FEARS; DOW FUTURES DOWN 250 POINTS $DIA $SPY $QQQ 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
Read more »

Your little do-it-yourselfer can have a birthday party at Lowe'sYour little do-it-yourselfer can have a birthday party at Lowe'sLowe’s is now booking in-store birthday party packages for kids ages 5 and up at select locations across the U.S., complete with DIY projects and pizza.
Read more »



Render Time: 2025-03-01 22:05:01