Silicon Beach Report July 9: Snap Builds Camera Search

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Guess Inc. teams with Alibaba’s AI pop up, Musk goes big with fast-tracked mini sub, Snap is adding visual search functionality

Snap Builds Camera Search

Techcrunch reports Snap Inc.’s Snapchat app is developing a “visual search” feature to be used within its app to identify objects, barcodes and even songs playing nearby. The feature works in tandem with Amazon.com Inc. If an item is detected by the camera the Amazon app or webpage will launch and show buying options. In 2016, Snapchat began this project by integrating with Shazam Entertainment Ltd. to allow users the ability to record and identify songs and artists through the app.

AI-Enabled Shopping in Hong Kong

Downtown Los Angeles’ Guess? Inc. is teaming up with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.com Ltd. to harness the power of artificial intelligence to help customers shop. The collaboration is part of Alibaba’s FashionAI project, which uses AI to provide “smart mirrors,” “concept stores,” and AI-assisted fitting rooms to suggest Guess clothing items to shoppers. Currently, the AI-assisted retail store is only open at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, but could expand to other locations if successful, Socaltech reports.

SpaceX Builds Child-Sized Submarine

Although four of the 12 members of the youth Thai soccer team stuck in a flooding cave have already been rescued by officials, Elon Musk has built a “kid-size” submarine anyway. Ars Technica reports Musk ordered Space Exploration Technologies Corp. engineers to repurpose the hull of a Falcon rocket and create a submarine just over one foot wide with four oxygen ports. On July 8, Musk tweeted that the submarine, having undergone testing in a Los Angeles pool, will nonetheless be “on a plane to Thailand” soon.

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