The excitement is palpable at Chennai’s Snapchat Creator Connect. With the place teeming with Gen-Z, the buzz is on how content and social media trends can shape societal narratives.

The numbers tell a story: 90 percent of their user base in India is between 13 and 34. At 250 million active users currently, Snapchat’s focus on visual storytelling, short videos and AR is clearly targeted at the young Indian. And now, with viral sensation, musician Asal Kolaar, they hope to strengthen their connect with regional players and culture.

In the middle of all this action is Saket Jha Saurabh, Director and Head of AR & Content Partnerships, Snap Inc. “The south – particularly Tamil Nadu – has great history, with music, movies and culture. We feel there is a huge opportunity, and this is the beginning of a long journey with creators.”

Chennai’s Snapchat Creator Connect
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

That journey filled with pictures, because, as Saket puts it, “the Gen-Z generation thinks in visuals.” “They send a photo of a dish to communicate that they have arrived at a place,” he explains, adding that 76 percent of users in Chennai use AR lenses in the app. “We call it lenses, not filters. We did a AR lens featuring a 70s look that was a huge hit..”

How does the increased use and misuse of Artificial Intellience (AI) play out in all this? “AI is fused into our product. We equip the user with AI-led benefits, to ease content creation and personalise it for them. However, if people misuse it to create deepfakes, we will take action against them and pull down their account,” he says.

Despite the existence of multiple chat and social media platforms, Snapchat thrives because it is relaxed, he says. “Here, creators tend to do well if they are just being themselves. Most other platforms are about being on-stage and choosing the best version of yourself. Here, we encourage people to put the real you out there.”

Russia has blocked access to the U.S. children’s gaming platform Roblox, accusing it of distributing extremist materials and “LGBT propaganda”.

Announcing the move on Wednesday, the communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said Roblox was “rife with inappropriate content that can negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children”.

A Roblox spokesperson said in an emailed comment to Reuters: “We respect the local laws and regulations in the countries where we operate and believe Roblox provides a positive space for learning, creation and meaningful connection for everyone.”

The spokesperson said Roblox has “a deep commitment to safety and we have a robust set of proactive and preventative safety measures designed to catch and prevent harmful content on our platform.”

Roblox, which averaged 151.5 million daily active users in the third quarter of this year, has been banned by several countries including Iraq and Turkey over concerns about predators exploiting the platform to abuse children.

Roskomnadzor has a long track record of restricting access to Western media and tech platforms that it deems to be hosting content that breaches Russian laws.

Last year, language-learning app Duolingo deleted references to what Russia calls “non-traditional sexual relations” after being warned by the watchdog about publishing LGBT content.

In 2023, Russia designated what it called the “international LGBT movement” as extremist and those supporting it as terrorists, paving the way for serious criminal cases against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their advocates.

In August this year, Russia began limiting some calls on WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms, and on Telegram, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of refusing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases. Roskomnadzor last week threatened to block WhatsApp completely.

Apple has introduced hypertension notifications for Apple Watch users in India, enabling the smartwatch to detect signs of chronic high blood pressure/hypertension, and alert the user so they can be made aware.

Hypertension is the leading modifiable risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease, Apple noted, adding that it impacts approximately 1.3 billion adults globally.

Apple Watches will use data from the device’s optical heart sensor, analysing how users’ blood vessels respond to heartbeats. The algorithm works passively in the background, per Apple, reviewing data over 30-day periods.

Users are set to be notified if the watch detects consistent signs of hypertension.

The gadget-maker added that if users get a hypertension notification, it is recommended that they log their blood pressure for a week with a blood pressure cuff and share the results with a doctor.

“While hypertension notifications will not detect all instances of hypertension, with the reach of Apple Watch, the feature is expected to notify over 1 million people with undiagnosed hypertension within the first year,” noted Apple in a newsroom article.

Apple Watch users can get more health insights through their smartphones as well
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Special Arrangement

With the year coming to a close, Google released its annual roundup titled ‘India’s Year in Search 2025: The A to Z of Trending Searches,’ to paint a sweeping picture of what Indians googled this year.

Google noted that it saw a “vibrant mix of sports fervour, from the IPL to a breakout year for Women’s Cricket,” while users also expressed curiosity about advancements in artificial intelligence and trending pop culture events.

Google noted that the IPL was the “undisputed champion of trends,” explaining that IPL 2025 took the top spot on both the Top Overall Search and Top Sports Events lists.

The internet giant revealed its top searches of the year in alphabetical order, with Bollywood stars and IPL moments dominating users’ queries, along with curious searches about Google’s own AI offerings: Gemini and Nano Banana Pro. On the other hand, Grok emerged as a trending Search and AI Term as users explored the wider landscape of artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, the number one “What Is” question was “What is Waqf Bill,” per the company.

Google also noted that after the Pahalgam attack, searches for ‘Operation Sindoor’ increased sharply, due to millions tracking the army’s response in real time.

“We witnessed deep curiosity for the AI world; Google Gemini soared to become the #2 top trending search, while people embraced Nano Banana trends. We celebrated national sensations, with Jemimah Rodrigues and Vaibhav Suryavanshi featuring as trending personalities, leaned into major events like the Maha Kumbh, while relying on Google for practical information like checking “Earthquake near me” and “Air Quality near me”. We found time for joy, planning getaways to rising destinations like Phu Quoc, celebrating the Saiyaara craze, and asking about viral sensations like Labubu and the #67 meme, all while pausing to honor the legacy of icons like Dharmendra,” said Google in its official blog post.

Brussels is planning a new antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in WhatsApp, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, reflecting rising scrutiny of Big Tech’s use of generative AI on large platforms.

The commission was set to open the probe into how the California-based company integrated its Meta AI system into the messaging service earlier this year, the FT said, citing two officials.

Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been built into WhatsApp’s interface since March 2025 across European markets.

The company told Reuters it has not received details of the probe and pointed to an earlier WhatsApp statement on the Italian inquiry, which it dismissed as “unfounded.”

Italy’s antitrust watchdog opened an investigation in July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp. The probe was expanded in November to examine whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking rival AI chatbots from the messaging platform.

The commission is expected to announce the investigation in the coming days, though the timing could change, the newspaper reported.

FT said the probe will be conducted under traditional antitrust rules rather than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark legislation currently used to scrutinise Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud services for potential curbs. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment. It declined to comment to the FT.

OpenAI is reportedly developing a new AI model codenamed as ‘Garlic’ as Google’s latest releases threaten to overtake in the closely contested AI race. As per a new report from The Information, OpenAI plans to release a version of the new large language model by early next year. 

Citing sources, the report stated that the AI firm’s Chief Research Officer Mark Chen told employees that the AI model was on par with Google’s new Gemini 3 model and Anthropic’s Opus 4.5 on tasks like coding and reasoning. 

The AI model is expected to be released as GPT-5.2 or GPT-5.5. 

Just a couple of days ago, it was reported that CEO Sam Altman had declared “code red” internally to push ChatGPT’s core efforts while delaying initiatives around their other consumer-facing tools like health and shopping. 

Altman also said that OpenAI has a new reasoning AI model that is ahead of Gemini 3 according to internal evaluations. 

The report also added that the ‘Garlic’ model still remains to go through post-training, testing and safety evaluations before its release. 

Post the launch of Nano Banana Pro and Gemini 3, Goole’s Gemini app has been catching up in popularity while garnering praise from industry execs like Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff as well as users.

The Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) AI glasses have launched in India at a starting price of ₹39,900, with the social media company touting improvements in video capture, battery life, the Meta AI experience, and the device style.

The new Meta Ray Ban AI glasses (Gen 2) are set to deliver 3K Ultra HD video capture, ultrawide HDR, and upgraded Meta AI experiences. The battery can last up to eight hours, with fast charging supplying 50% charge in 20 minutes. In addition to this, a charging case provides another 48 hours of power.

Users can also expect media features such as hyperlapse and slow motion through future updates.

Coming to interactions, Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) AI glasses now support Hindi communication to help out with the wearer’s queries. Users can also interact with Deepika Padukone’s AI voice.

In the near future, they will be able to make secure UPI QR-code payments directly from the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) glasses. This can be done by looking at a QR code while wearing the glasses and saying, “Hey Meta, scan and pay” to pay via UPI Lite, per the company. Payments are slated to be processed through users’ WhatsApp-linked bank account.

“Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 arrives in the legendary Wayfarer, the modern Skyler, and the popular Headliner styles. This year’s lineup introduces seasonal colors such as Shiny Cosmic Blue, Shiny Mystic Violet, and Shiny Asteroid Grey,” said Meta in a blog post, adding, “We look forward to more people across India experiencing the all new Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 smart glasses.”

Meta said the collection will be available at Ray-Ban India and leading optical and eyewear retailers.