$SNAP

A federal appeals court (Ninth Circuit) removed a procedural hurdle in thousands of lawsuits alleging Meta Platforms and Snap, plus Alphabet and TikTok, harmed young users via addictive features. The court said Section 230 is a defense to liability, not immunity from suit. The article cites New Mexico orders against Meta totaling $942 million and notes a multistate trial starting Aug. 12.

Snap says it completed its Ads Model Context Protocol (MCP) server rollout on July 25. The integration lets advertisers connect third-party AI tools to Snap’s ad platform to get campaign advice grounded in authorized Snap Ads API data. Approved connections are read-only at launch, with write access planned later. Snap is also updating Dynamic Product Ads and has a “Snap Smart Assistant” for advertisers.

Snapchat, via Snap India, says Gen Z purchase journeys in India shift from discovery to social validation, citing GWI-Snapchat research. It reports 10X growth in advertisers over two years and 3X growth in consistent advertiser spend. Snap is pushing AI ad tools and “Sponsored Snaps” plus chat-based commerce to improve measurable performance.

Reuters reports Disney and TikTok launched a US pilot letting TikTok creators use Disney content in short videos, with clips streamed on both platforms. Accenture agreed to acquire Whalar, adding it to Accenture Song. Snap introduced AR glasses SPECS for pre-order. YouTube published a 2025 US creator impact report citing $60B GDP impact and $100B paid to creators. LinkedIn rolled out an invite-only Creator Marketplace. Mastercard announced a Manifest Debit Mastercard for creators.

Snap says it is rolling out a new in-feed ad format for U.S. pharma brands, called multi-CTA attachments, aimed at meeting Rx ad disclosure rules. Snap cites 95% of its 971 million users showing active interest in health and wellness. Brands can add up to three disclaimer CTAs with a primary CTA in several ad products.

Montgomery County filed a lawsuit against Meta, Snap, TikTok and Google, alleging their platforms harm children’s mental health, citing claims that 3+ hours of social media usage doubles depression and anxiety risk. Separately, Pennsylvania AG Dave Sunday announced a lawsuit against TikTok over alleged failures to protect children and alleged misrepresentation of adult-themed content for an age-13+ rating.

Snap says its SPECS AR glasses are available for preorder at specs.com for $2,195, with a $200 refundable deposit. Shipping is expected in Fall 2026. The device features a transparent waveguide display (51-degree field of view, 16 million colors), adaptive electrochromic lenses, dual Snapdragon processing, and up to four hours mixed-use battery life, with a case extending total use to about 20 hours.

Reuters factbox reviews U.S. litigation alleging Meta, YouTube (Google), TikTok (ByteDance) and Snap designed platforms to harm children’s mental health and misled users. It cites Meta penalties of $375M plus $567M ordered in New Mexico, and a March Los Angeles verdict ordering Meta $4.2M and Google $1.8M, with appeals. Thousands of state, school district and individual suits are ongoing or settled.

Snap held its Q2 2026 earnings call, with CEO Evan Spiegel discussing pre-order interest in its upcoming AR glasses, Specs. Specs are priced at $2,195 and scheduled to launch Sept. 16. Spiegel said there is “a huge amount of interest” but gave no pre-order numbers. Snap reported $1.6B revenue (+19% YoY) and a net loss of $164M.

Snap Inc. (SNAP) reported Q2 2026 revenue of $1.6B, up 19% year over year, with Adjusted EBITDA rising to $250M and free cash flow of $121M. MAU was 971M (+4%) and DAU 493M (+5%). Q3 revenue guidance is $1.70B to $1.74B and Adjusted EBITDA $300M to $350M. The company raised full-year infrastructure cost guidance to $1.65B to $1.70B.