MyHeritage's 'Deep Nostalgia' Smart Tool Brings Old Photos to Life

‘Some people love the Deep Nostalgia feature and consider it magical, while others find it creepy and dislike it,’ MyHeritage says. Photograph: MyHeritage.com
‘Some people love the Deep Nostalgia feature and consider it magical, while others find it creepy and dislike it,’ MyHeritage says. Photograph: MyHeritage.com
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MyHeritage's 'Deep Nostalgia' Smart Tool Brings Old Photos to Life

‘Some people love the Deep Nostalgia feature and consider it magical, while others find it creepy and dislike it,’ MyHeritage says. Photograph: MyHeritage.com
‘Some people love the Deep Nostalgia feature and consider it magical, while others find it creepy and dislike it,’ MyHeritage says. Photograph: MyHeritage.com

Genealogy service MyHeritage has just launched a new feature that lets users fulfill their familial nostalgia by turning old family photographs into animated pictures using Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm.

The Black Mirror-style pull of seeing late relatives or famous people from another era brought to a synthetic approximation of life with tilting faces and emotional reactions on the screens of smart devices, as if they're wondering why they're stuck inside this useless digital photo frame.

According to the TechCrunch website, the new feature has led to an inexorable stream of social shares since it was launched on Wednesday.

MyHeritage's AI-powered viral marketing playbook with this deepfakery isn't a complicated one: They're going straight for tugging on your heartstrings to grab data that can be used to drive sign-ups for their other paid services.

It's free to animate a photo using the deep nostalgia tech on MyHeritage's site, but you don't get to see the result until you hand over at least an email and agree to its privacy policy, which has attracted a number of concerns over the years.



Google to Discount Cloud Computing Services for US Government, FT Reports

FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo is pictured on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair in Las Vegas. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa
FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo is pictured on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair in Las Vegas. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa
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Google to Discount Cloud Computing Services for US Government, FT Reports

FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo is pictured on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair in Las Vegas. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa
FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo is pictured on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair in Las Vegas. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa

Google will heavily discount cloud computing services for the United States government, in a deal that could be finalized within weeks, the Financial Times reported on Friday, amid President Donald Trump's efforts to implement sweeping measures to minimize federal spending.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Oracle will offer federal agencies a 75% discount on its license-based software and a "substantial" discount on its cloud service through the end of November.

Google's cloud contract is likely "to land in a similar spot", the Financial Times said, citing a senior official at the General Services Administration, adding that equivalent discounts from Microsoft's Azure and Amazon Web Services are expected to follow soon.

"Every single of those companies is totally bought in, they understand the mission," the senior official told the newspaper. "We will get there with all four players."

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Google and the General Services Administration did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside regular business hours.

In April, Google agreed to offer a 71% discount till September 30 to US federal agencies for its business apps package that could generate up to $2 billion in cost savings if there is government-wide adoption.