How One Company Is Using A.I. to Make Custom Emojis
From Apple's Animojis to Bitmoji, the emoji world is beginning to merge technology with self-expression. Mirror A.I.'s Serge Faguet joins Cheddar to discuss his company's keyboard, which uses facial recognition to make custom emoji. He explains the research and development that went into creating the app's software.
The co-founder and CEO also gives his take on the emoji industry's landscape. He says his company has a leg up on Bitmoji, thanks to its facial-recognition software and the ability to make likenesses of friends, in addition to oneself. He says this makes the app inherently more social, which gives it an advantage over competitors.
Finally, we discuss what the future of emoji may hold in store. Faguet says his company is exploring entering the VR and personalized advertising spaces. We also discuss how celebrities are using custom emoji keyboards to market their brands.
Amid a backdrop of ongoing tariff uncertainty, more and more gamers are facing price hikes. Microsoft raised recommended retailer pricing for its Xbox consoles and controllers around the world this week. Its Xbox Series S, for example, now starts at $379.99 in the U.S. — up $80 from the $299.99 price tag that debuted in 2020. And its more powerful Xbox Series X will be $599.99 going forward, a $100 jump from its previous $499.99 listing. The tech giant didn’t mention tariffs specifically, but cited wider “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” Beyond the U.S., Microsoft also laid out Xbox price adjustments for Europe, the U.K. and Australia. The company said all other countries would also receive updates locally.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf.
Shares of Deliveroo, the food delivery service based in London, are hitting three-year highs on Monday after it received a $3.6 billion proposed takeover offer from DoorDash.
X, the social media platform owned by Trump adviser Elon Musk, is challenging the constitutionality of a Minnesota ban on using deepfakes to influence elections and harm candidates.
