Lensa AI’s Avatars Return Startup Prisma to the Limelight

My social media feeds are full of cartoon selfies of people, thanks to a new feature called Magic Avatars on Lensa AI, a photo and video editing app. Although the app is four years old, the new feature has made it a hit in the past week, with people forking over $8 for 50 different personalized avatars. The app was No. 1 for free apps on Apple and Google’s app store charts on Tuesday afternoon. 

Lensa has given its developer Prisma Labs another taste of social media fame. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based startup in 2016 became known for a separate app called Prisma, which turns photos into colorful paintings. Since then, Prisma developed Lensa AI, which has been selling AI-powered editing tools to spice up photos and videos, such as special effects like blurring an image or overlaying filters.