Google Meet launches an AI-powered makeup feature (techcrunch.com)

Google Meet has added an AI-powered virtual makeup filter, rolling out on mobile and web beginning October 8. The feature lives under Appearance → Portrait touch-up (the same menu that launched complexion smoothing, under-eye lightening and eye whitening in 2023) and offers 12 preset makeup styles. Google says the effect is stabilized to follow a user’s face reliably—so the makeup stays aligned even as you move or gesture—and the setting is off by default, can be toggled before or during calls, and will remember your last selection. For the AI/ML community this is notable for a few reasons: it signals continued investment in real-time face segmentation and landmark-tracking to deliver natural-looking overlays, and it brings Meet into parity with competitors like Zoom and Teams. The persistent, motion-stable makeup implies improvements in temporal consistency and low-latency rendering for live video. The default-off behavior and per-meeting controls reflect usability and consent considerations, while the capability raises ongoing questions about presentation norms, fairness across skin tones, and how such models are evaluated for robustness and bias in real-world conditions.