Google is apparently readying a new service to help developers build better chatbots. Dubbed Chatbase, said service will offer analytics and improvement tips, TechCrunch reports, citing sources. Chatbase is currently being tested by a dozen or so companies, including eBay, Unicef, and chat app Viber, sources tell TC.

Snapchat is expanding its promotional Lenses beyond selfies to include anything that users can capture with their phone’s camera. “For the first time, Snap is also selling Lens ads for audiences smaller than its national deals,” Bloomberg reports. “While a campaign like Taco Bell’s typically costs an advertiser $300,000 to $700,000, a national campaign for the more real-world-focused ads could go for 30 percent more.”

ProPublica and Vox are teaming up to produce some original video content. "Since the election of Donald Trump, ProPublica has been flooded with donations, and one of the areas it's investing in is video," NiemanLab reports. "ProPublica is also hiring a video producer to lead efforts to expand in the medium."

The Los Angeles Times investigates Snap’s acquisition strategy, which is largely led by Steve Hwang, VP of corporate development. To date, “Snap has gone after Kickstarter projects, emerging apps and struggling start-ups,” The Times notes. Meanwhile, “The acquisition team appears to have set few limits in what it will evaluate, how much it will pay and how often it will do a deal.”

Google is buying VR content studio Owlchemy Labs, the search giant announced on Thursday. Per the deal, “Owlchemy will keep releasing VR games for multiple platforms, but with backing from Google,” The Verge reports. “Owlchemy is known for developing games that closely mimic using real hands.”

The Wall Street Journal considers how artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to set the prices for everything from gas to gum. “These kinds of algorithms determine the optimal price sometimes dozens of times a day,” it writes. Unfortunately for consumers, however, “As they get better at predicting what competitors are charging and what consumers are willing to pay, there are signs they sometimes end up boosting prices together.”

Social media music startup Smule just raised $54 million from Tencent, and other investors. As Reuters reports: “The deal will help San Francisco-based Smule expand its foothold in Asia and puts it on course for an initial public offering that could come as soon as within the next year and a half.” Presently, about third of Smule’s usership are located within North America, by Reuters’ estimate.

As part of its broader video ambitions, Facebook appears to be in the market for a feature film producer. “The first duty listed is to ‘develop, script, produce and edit sharable motion picture content,’” CNBC writes regarding to the gig. “Another listing for a ‘software engineer, film’ has a number of duties, including ‘integrate footage from creative teams into our content rendering engine to produce new personalized videos.’”

With the help of a company named Lapetus Solutions, some life insurance companies are apparently trying to glean people’s life expectancy from their selfies. “Your face … tells a very unique story about you,” Karl Ricanek Jr., co-founder and chief data scientist at Lapetus, tells USA Today. Adds USA Today: “Life insurers already gather other data without your permission to get insight beyond the information you supply on the application.”

Snap has held talks with CBS and Fox about co-creating original content, The Wall Street Journal reports. Additionally, “Over the past several months, Snap has signed original show deals with NBCUniversal, Turner, A+E Networks, Discovery, BBC, ABC, ESPN, Vice Media, Vertical Networks, the NFL and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.” Meanwhile, “On Thursday, Snap plans to unveil another show deal with Food Network-owner Scripps Networks Interactive,” The Journal writes.