What You Need To Know: HUG Shop, Meta AI, Airchat

I'm officially a Boston Marathon finisher! It wasn't the race of my dreams, but considering that I was injured and not even running six weeks ago, it was a huge win to cross that finish line. Special thanks to my friends back home for all the love and support. Now, I have more fuel and fire than ever to come back and conquer Boston in the future. Until then, I will rock my finisher medal and jacket proudly because I worked HARD for these! It was an incredible experience to run this marathon, with a truly electric weekend in Boston.

What You Need To Know:

Meta AI launches across Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook.

Read now on The Verge, from Alex Heath .

Today, Meta rolled out their new AI assistant across Instagram, Whatsapp, and Facebook with their new AI LLM, Llama 3. AI has already established itself inevitably in both personal and professional contexts. This latest release from Meta poses Llama 3 as a major competitor to ChatGPT. As much as I love marathon metaphors, when it comes to the race for AI mass adoption, it's about who gets there fastest and who takes technology the furthest across audiences.

Meta has come such a long way since my tenure at Facebook. I would have never imagined AI would ever be a piece of the puzzle when things first started, but then again, not many of us were imagining AI at all twenty years ago.

Airchat's Social Audio Social Network

Read now on Forbes, from Cathy Hackl .

Everyone can't stop talking about Airchat, no really, they can't stop. The latest social audio app pitches itself as a "social walkie-talkie". Instead of typing a post, you speak into your phone and it transcribes what you say to be read along with an audio recording.

It wasn't that long ago when Twitter/X Spaces were the height of social audio. Before, that Clubhouse became a creature comfort that got many of us through the pandemic and introduced NFTs to a new generation of crypto-adopters. From party lines to new social profiles, Airchat reminds us that humans are social creatures who are always looking for new ways to connect. Time will tell if Airchat has that sticky, staying power tech companies and consumers are always searching for.

What's happening at HUG:

Say hello to HUG Artist Storefronts!

Today, HUG transforms from social discovery to social marketplace. With our latest release, Artist Profiles now can have an add-on that turns your profile from a virtual showcase to an individual storefront to grow and diversify your creative revenue.

Now, artists will be able sell the art & expertise however they like - as NFTs, as digital downloads, physical art and merchandise, commissions, and even live sessions for coaching and tutorials.

For our grand opening, you can now shop from the one & only Amber Vittoria . If you've read this far, you can even book 1:1 time with me!

In the coming weeks, we'll be rolling more storefronts from some of my favorite artists and welcoming others from our waitlist.

Shop on HUG

Join the Waitlist

$1000 Portfolio Review Contest

A good portfolio is the secret to unlocking the best opportunities for your art, from landing a dream client to finding your next collector. We are awarding $250 each AND newsletter + social features to 4 artists with the best-designed portfolios in the following categories:

?? Digital art

?? Physical art

?? Multidisciplinary art

?? Most innovative

I'll be reviewing these myself, and I can't wait to explore everyone's works. Submissions are open through April 28, so don't wait up too long.

That's a wrap on this week's edition. Right now, I'm en route to London for yet another race- The TSC London Marathon!

Wish me luck. I'll be wishing you the same.

Sincerely,

Randi