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On Monday, Oct 20, Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced problems from around 3:11 a.m. Eastern Time to 6:01 p.m. later that day. In technical terms, the health monitoring system of network load balancers inside AWS’s Elastic Compute Cloud 2 (EC2) internal network in US-East-1 malfunctioned. Simply put, there was a database malfunction in a major cloud computing hub. Amazon reported increased error rates and connectivity issues across multiple services across the United States. AWS is a cloud computing platform that provides technology infrastructure, such as data processing, storage and management to other companies that purchase it. Instead of buying hardware and infrastructure that needs to be maintained, companies can simply rent the services it runs on from AWS. Because AWS already has and operates the infrastructure needed to power Amazon, they are able to also rent their cloud services out to others for a profit. However, AWS sharing its service with these companies also means it powers them. These companies include apps like Zoom, Reddit, Snapchat, Duolingo, Microsoft 365 and more. For some of these companies, like Snapchat and Duolingo, websites and services were completely down during the outage, while some just experienced slowdowns.  Canvas was one of the apps

A view of Camoapa, Nicaragua. From Google Street View. Camoapa, Nicaragua is a town of about 18,000. Its main industry is cows; it is surrounded by verdant fields and hills. Its similarities to Arcata made it a prime target to become its sister city in the ‘80s — their need for regular clean drinking water and healthcare supplies, which were affordable enough to pay for by mass fundraising, also helped.  In the years since, the main form of cultural exchange between Camoapa and Arcata has been the annual I Street Block party, which raises money for projects in Camoapa. Camoapans sometimes visit Arcata; a mayor, high school students, and nurses have all made the trip. The relationship is at a content equilibrium.  But there might be another sibling to add into the mix someday. Arcata’s City Council meetings have been inundated for over a year with people asking the council to consider becoming a sister city with Gaza in Palestine as a way to support those afflicted by the recently-paused war with Israel. Although the councilmembers have shown no interest in that idea, it got a few people thinking that it’d be worth it to have a framework for evaluating

Snapchat is making its new “Imagine Lens,” the company’s first open prompt image-generation AI Lens, available to all users for free. The Lens was initially launched in September but only for paid subscribers. With the Lens, users can edit their own Snaps using custom prompts or generate their own. For instance, you could prompt the app, “Turn me into an alien” after snapping a selfie, or request an image of a “grumpy cat.” The company suggests you could use the Lens to try on Halloween costume ideas, or reimagine your friend in a new look, among other things. The results can be shared with friends, posted to your Story on Snapchat, or shared beyond the app. The broadened availability of the AI Lens follows the launch of AI video-generating apps from Meta (Meta AI) and OpenAI (Sora), which compete for young people’s attention with even more advanced AI tools and features than photo modifications. For instance, Sora lets users generate videos of themselves after providing the app with a one-time video and audio recording to capture their appearance. Friends can share these AI personas, dubbed “cameos,” with one another, so they can star in videos together. That puts pressure on

In a demonstration of how social media platforms are racing to embed generative aesthetics into everyday communication, Snapchat has just freed one of its most advanced creative tools to the masses. This week, the company is making its Imagine Lens, the app’s first open-prompt image-generation AI Lens, available for all US users at no cost. Previously available only to paying subscribers (via its Lens+ and Platinum tiers), the Imagine Lens now lets any Snapchat user type in a prompt like “turn me into an alien” or “grumpy cat” and watch the AI transform a selfie or generate a new image altogether. What’s notable is how the company is embedding prompt-driven image generation directly into the in-camera experience, rather than as a separate tool. Innovation under the hood What’s technically interesting about this new feature that that the Imagine Lens is built to accept open text prompts rather than fixed filter choices. This positions it more akin to the emerging generative-AI paradigm (text to image) rather than the typical AR overlay model, according to Snapchat.  By making it free (at least in limited quantities) to everyone, Snap is reducing the friction for experimentation, which may surface new user behaviours, creative norms

Snapchat has announced that its new “Imagine Lens”, the company’s first open prompt image-generation AI Lens, is now available for free to all users in the United States. Initially launched in September for paid Lens+ and Snapchat Platinum subscribers, the Imagine Lens allows users to edit their Snaps or generate entirely new images using custom text prompts. For example, users can instruct the app to “turn me into an alien” after taking a selfie, or request fun concepts such as a “grumpy cat”. Snapchat suggests the feature can also help users try out Halloween costume ideas or experiment with new looks. Once generated, the results can be shared directly with friends, posted to Stories, or distributed beyond the app. The wider rollout comes amid intensifying competition from Meta and OpenAI, both of which have introduced new AI video-generation tools aimed at younger users. OpenAI’s Sora, for instance, enables users to create short videos featuring digital versions of themselves using one-time video and audio inputs, while Meta has been integrating Meta AI features into its suite of social platforms. Snap’s decision to make the AI Lens free is seen as a strategic move to keep pace with rival apps offering more

Snapchat has announced that its “Imagine Lens”—the platform’s first open prompt AI image-generation tool—is now available for free to all users in the United States. Initially launched in September for premium subscribers, the Lens lets users edit Snaps or create new ones using creative text prompts. What is imagine lens? The new AI-powered Lens enables users to transform their photos with prompts such as “Turn me into an alien” or “Show me a grumpy cat.” Users can also use it to experiment with Halloween costumes, reimagine friends in new looks, or generate entirely fresh visuals. The generated results can be shared directly with friends, posted to Stories, or even exported beyond Snapchat—making it one of the app’s most engaging AI features to date. Competing in AI creativity race The broader release of Imagine Lens comes as Meta and OpenAI expand their AI video-generation tools. Meta’s AI Studio and OpenAI’s Sora now allow users to create short videos or realistic avatars, raising the bar for creative expression. For instance, Sora enables users to generate lifelike videos of themselves after a one-time video and audio recording. These AI avatars, known as “cameos,” can be shared among friends—allowing them to co-star in digital

Natalie Sherman Business reporter Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been ordered to testify in a landmark trial in the US over the impact of social media on young people. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl this week rejected the argument his company, Meta Platforms, had made that an in-person appearance was unnecessary. Her order also applies to Snap boss Evan Spiegel, as well as Adam Mosseri, who leads Meta-owned Instagram. The trial, expected in January, is among the first to advance from a wave of litigation accusing social media companies of making their apps addictive and enticing to young people despite being aware of mental health and other risks. Meta did not respond to a request for comment. Law firm Kirkland & Ellis, which is representing Snap, said the decision did not "bear at all" on the truth of the claims. It said it looked forward to the opportunity to explain why they believe the "allegations against Snapchat are wrong factually and as a matter of law". Hundreds of claims brought by parents and school districts were consolidated into one case before the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2022. They accuse the companies of having ineffective parental

Updated: October 21, 2025 at 10:36AM EDT Published: October 21, 2025 at 10:26AM EDT Sarnia police have charged a Caledonia man after he allegedly used Snapchat to communicate with a teen girl. CTV’s Lauren Stallone reports.

Updated on: Oct 20, 2025 07:14 pm IST A major AWS outage on Monday caused widespread disruptions for Snapchat and other applications, with over 22,000 users reporting issues. A significant Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage impacted operations for hundreds of websites and applications on Monday morning, causing Snapchat users to report over 22,000 outages. The Downdetector website states that at least 22,295 reports were received before 9 AM. Snapchat users face difficulties accessing accounts, with many reporting lost messages after deleting and reinstalling the app.(REUTERS) People are complaining that they can't send or load any messages or log in. Some people have reported that they have been locked out of their accounts in extreme cases. Following multiple tries, the users purportedly got the following notification: “Due to repeated failed attempts or other unusual activity, your access to Snapchat is temporarily disabled. Please try again.” Numerous websites and apps were impacted by the outage, including Roblox, Fortnite, Coinbase, and Ring. Also Read: AWS outage Live Updates: Services crawling back to normal as Amazon works on 'full recovery' Snapchat users rushes to X: ‘Snaps are gone’ Users of Snapchat are now using X to convey that after deleting the app, their buddies

In the early hours of October 20, 2025, the digital world screeched to a halt as Amazon Web Services (AWS), the backbone of much of the internet’s infrastructure, suffered a massive outage. Starting around 12:11 a.m. PDT (3:11 a.m. ET, 12:41 p.m. IST), a critical failure in AWS’s US-East-1 region in Northern Virginia triggered widespread disruptions, knocking out major platforms like Snapchat, Amazon Prime Video, Canva, and countless others. For hours, millions of users worldwide faced frozen apps, inaccessible websites, and stalled workflows, exposing the fragility of our reliance on a single cloud provider. While AWS declared the core issue resolved by midday, the fallout lingered, sparking debates about the risks of centralized cloud infrastructure. A Digital Domino Effect The outage began with a seemingly minor issue: elevated error rates in AWS’s DynamoDB, a critical database service that handles vast data queries for thousands of applications. By 12:11 a.m. PDT, AWS’s internal monitoring systems detected connectivity problems between customers and its network gateways in the US-East-1 region, a hub hosting over 100 data centers and serving as a critical gateway for global internet traffic. What started as a hiccup quickly snowballed, as failures in DynamoDB rippled to other core services