On Tuesday, Snapchat unveiled a new advertising format aimed at enhancing user engagement on its platform. Known as Sponsored AI Lenses, this feature allows brands to design artificial intelligence (AI) Lenses that users can utilize for taking selfies and sharing them on the app. The Santa Monica-based company has been expanding its augmented reality (AR) capabilities over the years, recently incorporating AI to enhance image and filter generation within its offerings.
Snapchat Will Now Let Brands Create AI Lenses
In a recent announcement on its newsroom page, Snapchat described the Sponsored AI Lenses as a “new way to create immersive, generative AI advertising on Snapchat.” The company cited internal statistics indicating that this innovative ad format could help brands achieve 25-45 percent more impressions within just a single day.
This new advertising solution enables brands to purchase AR-enhanced AI Lenses that vividly present their marketing campaigns. These Lenses will join the existing array of filters available to Snapchat users, providing brands with an additional channel to connect with their audience and promote products effectively.
Notable brands such as Tinder, Uber, and the British pop-rock group Coldplay have already taken advantage of Sponsored AI Lenses to create distinctive filters for Snapchat users. Tinder launched the “My 2025 Dating Vibe” AI Lens in late December 2024, while Uber introduced the “My Thanksgiving Vibe” AI Lens earlier in the previous year. Coldplay also employed a unique AI Lens to promote their tenth studio album, entitled Moon Music.
According to the announcement, the immersive qualities of these formats resulted in Snapchatters spending more time interacting with Sponsored AI Lenses compared to conventional Lenses. Between November 2024 and January 2025, internal data revealed that both Uber and Tinder experienced “higher than average” engagement times with this new ad format, although specific figures were not disclosed.
Additionally, Snapchat reported that over 300 million users engage with AR experiences on the platform daily, based on data from the second quarter of last year. Users interested in Sponsored AI Lenses can easily locate them within the Lens Carousel feature.
