Snapchat Makes Its First Open Prompt AI Lens Available for Free in the US

Why It Matters

If successful, widening access could help Snap defend attention and slow subscriber churn amid intensifying AI-driven social media competition.

Summary

Snapchat has made its Imagine Lens—its first open‑prompt image‑generation AI Lens—available free to all U.S. users after an initial paid rollout, offering a limited number of image generations and plans to expand to Canada, the U.K. and Australia. The tool lets users edit selfies or generate new images via custom prompts and can be shared in Stories or outside the app; Snapchat says Lenses are used more than 8 billion times daily. The move appears aimed at boosting engagement and user retention among younger audiences as competitors like Meta and OpenAI roll out advanced AI video features. If successful, widening access could help Snap defend attention and slow subscriber churn amid intensifying AI-driven social media competition.