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This week, you may have heard about a so-called “National Day of School Violence” threat being spread on social media.

Reportedly, the threats originated on the social media platform TikTok, though that has not definitively been established. Regardless, posts about the threats spread quickly over social media causing worry across the country and even forcing some schools to shut down for the day.

Throughout the week, we worked to ensure that schools were aware and took necessary precautions. Thankfully, the day has passed without incident. Rest assured, we will continue to fight to end these social media-related dangers, educating families on safe social media use, advocating for updated laws to ensure that social media platforms act responsibly, and developing technology to provide real-time protection.

Unfortunately, for the time being, parents and school administrators must be proactive in preventing social media-related school violence:

1. Use Third-Party Safety Software

In your own household, consider using third-party safety software. Third-party software can provide life-saving alerts when dangerous content like threats of violence or self-harm is posted on your child’s social media account,

The Organization for Social Media Safety endorses Bark. (The Instagram posts made by the teen suspect in the latest school shooting tragedy in Oxford, Michigan would have been flagged by Bark’s software.)

2. Get Your Community to Use Third-Party Safety Software

In this social media era, every family must play their part to keep students safe. If a majority of the families in a school community use third-party safety software, all students will be safer, as more potential threats can be identified and remediated. This recommendation includes schools using safety software on their own networks.

3. Teach Your Student to Report

If your child sees a threat of violence on social media, teach them to immediately report it to the platform and an authority figure.  Reporting is critical to ensure that schools can identify possible threats and that social media platforms can remove dangerous content before it spreads.

LONDON, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The global green ammonia market was valued at USD 150.8 million in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 5.10 billion by 2035, according to Credence Research. The report states a 42.22% compound annual growth rate for 2025-2035. Asia Pacific held the largest regional share at 60.2% in 2025, while Latin America is the fastest-growing region at a modeled 54.11% annual rate. Market sizes, segment shares and regional allocations are Credence Research estimates.

Key Takeaways

- Credence Research estimates market value at USD 150.8 million in 2025 and USD 5.10 billion by 2035, with a reported 42.22% CAGR for 2025-2035.

- Asia Pacific held 60.2% of modeled 2025 value. Latin America has the fastest forecast regional growth at 54.11%.

- Alkaline water electrolysis represented 73.6% of 2025 technology value.

- Fertilizers accounted for 68.3% of 2025 application revenue, the largest end use.

- Solid oxide electrolysis has the highest modeled technology growth at 63.37% annually, from a small base.

- Marine fuel is projected to grow fastest among applications, but its starting commercial base remains limited.

Scope & Segmentation - Green Ammonia Market

The market measures the selling value of ammonia made with electrolytic hydrogen powered by renewable electricity, including relevant renewable output from retrofitted fertilizer plants. It covers fertilizer, chemical feedstock, power and prospective marine fuel uses. It excludes conventional ammonia, blue ammonia made with fossil hydrogen and carbon capture, stand-alone electrolyzers, renewable generation equipment and downstream fertilizer products beyond the contained ammonia value.

- By technology: Alkaline water electrolysis; Proton exchange membrane electrolysis; Solid oxide electrolysis.

- By application: Fertilizers; Industrial and chemical feedstock; Power generation; Marine fuel; Other uses including hydrogen carriers and refrigeration.

Read the full report and request a sample: https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/green-ammonia-market

Why This Report Matters

- Developers can separate announced electrolyzer capacity from renewable ammonia that has a committed buyer and a credible delivery schedule.

- Fertilizer companies and importers can evaluate the commercial importance of certification, fixed-price contracts and renewable electricity availability.

- Investors can assess why some projects advance with binding offtake while others remain exposed to cost gaps, policy changes and financing delays.

Market Overview

Green ammonia is produced using hydrogen generated from water electrolysis powered by renewable electricity, followed by conventional ammonia synthesis. It can serve fertilizer and chemical demand without changing the basic molecule, but production costs and emissions depend on the power supply and plant operation.

Early commercial output is concentrated in China and a small number of European plants. Indian supply contracts and international offtake agreements are expanding the project pipeline. Marine fuel is a longer-term opportunity, with demand dependent on vessel technology, bunkering infrastructure and shipping regulation.

Market Insights

- Alkaline water electrolysis represented 73.6% of 2025 technology value.

- Fertilizers accounted for 68.3% of 2025 application revenue, the largest end use.

- Solid oxide electrolysis has the highest modeled technology growth at 63.37% annually, from a small base.

- Marine fuel is projected to grow fastest among applications, but its starting commercial base remains limited.

- Asia Pacific represented 60.2% of 2025 value, reflecting early Chinese plant output and demand.

Key Attributes

Market Segmentation

The segmentation below follows the current report taxonomy and separates products, applications and buyers to avoid overlapping revenue definitions.

- By technology: Alkaline water electrolysis; Proton exchange membrane electrolysis; Solid oxide electrolysis.

- By application: Fertilizers; Industrial and chemical feedstock; Power generation; Marine fuel; Other uses including hydrogen carriers and refrigeration.

Market Drivers

Fertilizer producers can reduce reliance on fossil-based hydrogen by purchasing certified renewable ammonia or replacing a portion of their own feedstock. Long-term supply contracts can make the economics more predictable for producers and buyers.

Large renewable energy resources and improving electrolyzer supply support new plants in China, India and prospective export hubs. Project economics still depend heavily on utilization and electricity costs.

Cross-border contracts create a clearer financing route than nonbinding project announcements. Importers that require renewable fuel certification can anchor investments in production and shipping logistics.

Regional Analysis

The following regional shares represent Credence Research estimates of 2025 market value. They are not independently audited supplier sales totals.

Asia Pacific | 60.2% share in 2025

Operating Chinese plants and Indian fertilizer procurement programs underpin the largest base. Japan and South Korea are potential import markets for certified supply.

Europe | 26.7% share in 2025

Pioneer projects and stringent certification requirements support premium demand, while high energy costs encourage some buyers to seek imports.

Middle East and Africa | 8.0% share in 2025

Saudi Arabian and other coastal projects seek to pair renewable power with export infrastructure, but project schedules remain important.

North America | 3.3% share in 2025

Electrolytic ammonia remains a small share of supply, with some producers favoring carbon capture on conventional plants.

Latin America | 1.8% share in 2025

Chile and Brazil have strong renewable resources and potential fertilizer or export demand, producing the fastest modeled regional growth from a small base.

Market Challenges

Renewable ammonia generally costs more to produce than conventional ammonia. Intermittent wind and solar power complicate operation of the synthesis loop and can require storage or grid balancing.

Many proposed projects lack binding buyers, permitting or funding. Uncertain global shipping rules can delay marine-fuel demand, so developers often prioritize fertilizer and chemical customers first.

Future Outlook

The strongest near-term projects are likely to be those with verified renewable electricity, certification and binding offtake. China remains an early production center while India and Gulf projects could expand exports later in the decade.

Marine fuel demand may eventually diversify the customer base, but the timeline is uncertain. Investors should distinguish operating tonnage from proposed capacity and account for power variability, shipping costs and policy risk.

Competitive Landscape

Envision Energy, State Power Investment Corporation and China Energy Engineering are linked to operating Chinese renewable ammonia projects. AM Green, ACME Group and NEOM Green Hydrogen Company are export developers, while Yara and Iberdrola participate in European pioneer projects. Air Products is a NEOM co-owner and contracted offtaker, not simply an independent ammonia producer. Fortescue is excluded from the active producer list because it canceled selected hydrogen projects in 2025. No reliable comparable company-by-company green ammonia revenue ranking is available.

Key Players

- Envision Energy

- State Power Investment Corporation

- China Energy Engineering

- AM Green

- ACME Group

- NEOM Green Hydrogen Company

- Yara International

- Iberdrola

- Air Products (offtaker and co-owner)

Recent Developments

Feb. 27, 2026: Envision announced a commercial shipment of green ammonia from its Chifeng facility in China to LOTTE Fine Chemical in South Korea. The company described the cargo as an end-to-end renewable ammonia delivery.

Jan. 12, 2026: Uniper and AM Green signed a binding long-term agreement for up to 500,000 metric tons a year of certified renewable ammonia from India, with initial deliveries expected from 2028.

Report Coverage

The study analyzes market size, the base-year product and application mix, regional demand, technology adoption, competitive positioning, constraints and dated industry developments. It also examines commercialization, customer economics and the factors that could change the pace of adoption through 2035.

Forecasts and regional shares are proprietary Credence Research model estimates. Company announcements and regulatory materials are used for industry context; they do not independently validate the modeled global revenue totals. The report's market definition and exclusions should be considered when comparing it with broader adjacent industries.

Read the full report and request a sample: https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/green-ammonia-market

Related Reports

About Us

Credence Research Inc. is a global market intelligence and consulting firm founded in 2015. It provides quantitative market research, competitive intelligence and strategic advisory services to organizations assessing new products, investment decisions and regional opportunities. The firm combines primary and secondary research with industry interviews and structured market models.

Its research spans industrial technology, semiconductors, energy, health care, consumer markets and other sectors. Credence Research evaluates market size, segmentation, growth drivers, supply-chain risks, regional policy and competitive positioning to help clients make evidence-led decisions.

Contact Us

Credence Research Inc.

Tower C-1105, S 25, Akash Tower

Vishal Nagar, Pimple Nilakh, Haveli

Pune - 411027, India

Europe: +44 7453 598 606 | North America: +1 6282 627 656

Email: [email protected]

Website: Credence Research

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Dangers of Social Media

Sammy Chapman was an amazing kid, sweet, funny, curious, and an A student. His parents Sam and Laura worked hard to keep him away from dangerous people and places. But, like most parents, they had no idea that drug dealers were preying on their children using social media platforms. And they had no idea illegal, untested drugs could be delivered to a child’s house as easily as a pizza. Last February, a drug dealer reached out to Sammy on Snapchat and delivered drugs to him at home. Sammy snuck out after his parents went to sleep to meet the dealer, who gave him what turned out to be a lethal dose of fentanyl. (Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid twice as addictive as heroin, 100 times more powerful than morphine, and fatal even in microscopic doses.) Sammy thought he had purchased Xanax and had no idea he was actually taking Fentanyl. As a result, Sam and Laura experienced every parent’s worst pain —they lost their son.

Tragically, Sammy is one of the thousands of children this past year who died from drugs purchased off of social media.

Drug dealing via social media is a serious, emerging social media-related threat. According to research done before the pandemic, about a quarter of teens observed illegal drugs being advertised on social media. We are conducting new research, but in the meantime, we would guess that this number has increased exponentially over the last year-and-a-half of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This social media marketing of illegal drugs impacts developing children. Teens that use social media regularly are five times as likely to smoke cigarettes, three times as likely to abuse alcohol, and twice as likely to use marijuana.

Once children transition from observers to buyers, social media makes obtaining these drugs easier than ever before. The Organization for Social Media Safety has found in our own comprehensive testing that it takes about three minutes to connect with a drug dealer on social media and receive a “menu” of drugs for sale. This level of convenience and accessibility is incomparable to anything we have seen in our modern history. Previously, children determined to obtain drugs could certainly do so. But now, with a few clicks from inside a bedroom, children have access to almost any drug imaginable.

Combined with the recent explosion in the supply of Fentanyl and other lethal opioids, this new ease of getting drugs over social media is proving to be absolutely deadly. Overdose deaths are up almost 30%, setting historical records. And the trend continues to move in the wrong direction.

Most social media companies have simply been unable to stop the sale of drugs on their platforms. Dealers and buyers will use multiple social media platforms to conduct a single transaction to evade safety protocols. They will communicate using emojis to fool content moderators. And dealers will set up fake profiles designed to look like legitimate small businesses. That is why Snap’s Vice President of Public Policy said in a recent Congressional hearing, “[The drug dealers] are constantly evading our tactics, not just on Snapchat but on every platform.”

Sadly, many platforms, particularly the ones without a lot of child users, are unwilling to make the changes that would most effectively protect children from drug dealers on social media. They continue to block parents from using third-party safety software, like Bark, which can prevent or deter social media-related substance abuse among children. That is why we developed and are working to pass Sammy’s Law in Congress, which would require all social media platforms to give parents this choice.

So what can parents and educators do?

- Have your social media safety conversations.

- Discuss the danger of purchasing items from strangers or shady businesses on social media. These products, including prescription drugs, nutritional supplements, and diet pills, can and often will be counterfeit or tainted.

- Talk to your child about the dangers of substance abuse, and especially this newer danger of Fentanyl poisoning. While taking unprescribed prescription drugs is never safe, children need to realize that the dangers of taking social media-purchased prescription drugs have increased significantly. With Fentanyl circulating, taking any of these drugs, including Vicodin, Xanax, and Percocet, now has a greater risk of death.

2. Set your social media safety rules.

- Make sure you actually tell your child that your family has a rule against using drugs, including unprescribed prescription drugs. While this may seem too obvious of a rule to spend time discussing, clearly communicating it to your child increases the likelihood they will comply.

3. Calibrate your social media safety settings.

- Especially for tweens and younger teens, make sure that your child cannot download social media apps without your permission. Certain apps, like Snapchat, are, in our opinion, riskier for younger children and have been linked to drug dealing activity. Your child should only be using social media apps that you have judged to be safe given their current level of maturity and judgment.

- Make sure your child’s social media apps have the maximum privacy setting engaged so that drug dealers cannot target and contact them.

- Consider third-party safety software, which will provide you with alerts when dangerous content, including drug-related material, comes through your child’s social media accounts. We particularly recommend this software for high-risk children, meaning those who have any history of substance abuse, behavioral problems, school problems, or mental health issues. We endorse Bark. (While some platforms, like Snapchat, block Bark on iOS, you can use Bark on Android with a lot of these platforms.)

To learn more tips, sign up for our free Buckling the Social Media Seatbelt SuperCourse for parents.

THE HARLEY SCHOOL ACHIEVES TOP COUNTY & CITY RANKINGS ON NICHE'S 2027 BEST SCHOOLS LIST

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Harley School has been recognized on the 2027 NICHE Best Schools List as the #1 Best Private High School and Best Private K-12 School in both Monroe County and the Rochester area. Additionally, the school was ranked #2 for Best High School STEM Programs—the highest ranking for any private school in the area.

NICHE, a professional school and college search online platform, releases rankings annually based on a comprehensive K-12 report card and real reviews, user data and surveys. The database is a go-to resource for families seeking the right school for their children.

"These rankings reflect the transformative power of The Harley School's approach to K-12 education, which empowers students to discover their truest potential both academically and personally," says Dr. Ryan Kimmet, Head of School. "We owe this honor to our visionary faculty and staff, whose dedication to personalized, heartfelt mentorship allows our students to thrive and become their best selves."

For a full list of The Harley School's regional, state and national rankings, click this link.

ABOUT THE HARLEY SCHOOL

Founded in 1917, The Harley School is a nationally recognized, independent school in Rochester, NY, offering an innovative and demanding college preparatory program for approximately 500 students in Nursery (age 3) through Grade 12. Across the curriculum, faculty guide students through idea-driven exploration and problem solving, cultivating curiosity, confidence, and joy in learning. Taking a balanced approach to academic disciplines, the arts, and athletics, Harley teaches critical thinking, creativity, empathy, and civic responsibility. Harley's motto, and hope for each student, is "Become What Thou Art."

SOURCE The Harley School

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Victory Live Named Official Data and Analytics Provider of the Capital One Orange Bowl

Partnership provides ticketing technology and analytics support ahead of the 2027 College Football Playoff Semifinal

ATLANTA, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Victory Live, a leader in ticketing technology and analytics, today announced a partnership with the Orange Bowl to serve as the Official Data and Analytics Provider of the Capital One Orange Bowl.

Under the agreement, Victory Live will provide ticketing data and analytics tools to support the Orange Bowl's operational planning and ticketing strategies.

The Capital One Orange Bowl is scheduled to host a College Football Playoff Semifinal on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2027, at Hard Rock Stadium.

"The Orange Bowl has a proud history in college football and a lasting impact on South Florida," said Sam Soni, founder and CEO of Victory Live. "We look forward to supporting the organization with technology and data insights to assist their ticketing operations. With a College Football Playoff Semifinal ahead, this is an exciting opportunity to work together on an event that means so much to fans and the community."

About Victory Live

Founded in 2021 by Sam Soni, Victory Live is a technology platform specializing in sports and entertainment event management, ticketing software, data insights, and multi-channel distribution. Its end-to-end solution, Victory Live One, helps manage millions of tickets for live event rightsholders and ticket sellers across sports, concerts, and theatre. Victory Live's marketplace is the industry leader in B2B ticket distribution and connectivity solutions. Learn more at www.victorylive.com.

Press Contact:

Eric Nemeth

[email protected]

www.victorylive.com/

SOURCE Victory Live

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In the News

April 1, 2022

News@Northeastern

One of the most problematic uses of the technology is when an individual’s likeness, typically a woman’s, is manipulated and put on a sexually explicit video, making it appear as if the individual they are targeting is participating in the sexual activity, says Marc Berkman, the executive director of the Organization for Social Media Safety, a nonprofit dedicated to making social media safe through advocacy and education.

News@Northeastern

Click here for the full article.

YPSILANTI, Mich., Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Eastern Michigan University is offering eligible students a $4,000 scholarship to join the university's Marching Band, giving students the opportunity to participate in one of EMU's signature traditions while pursuing any academic major.

The scholarship provides $1,000 per year for four years and is available to all students who meet the marching band requirements. Students do not need to major in music to qualify.

"I'm thrilled that President Kelly and the executive leadership team have elected to pursue this opportunity at Eastern because it gives us an opportunity to attract more students and reward them for the countless hours they spend participating in a life-changing activity that they love," said J. Nick Smith, associate director of bands and director of Athletic Bands at Eastern.

EMU's Marching Band reflects the university's broad academic community. Only about 40% of its members are music majors, while students in disciplines across the university make up the rest of the membership.

"As a two-time alum, I'm proud of our band and its continuous momentum over the years," said EMU President Brendan Kelly. "EMU's college experience is about finding and building community — that's what our marching band is all about. I'm thrilled we can offer this scholarship to students who want to be a part of a movement they'll remember and be proud of among people with shared interests for the rest of their lives."

Known as the "Pride of the Peninsula," EMU's Marching Band has a 132-year history and provides students with opportunities to perform at athletic events and other university and community events. The ensemble also offers diverse musical and performance experiences, including collaborations with groups such as internationally known piano-rock duo and EMU alumni Drew & Kin and Grammy Award-winning artists such as The Temptations, featuring EMU alum Jawan M. Jackson, who joined the group in 2022.

Participation in the band also provides students with experiences that extend beyond the field.

"Students who participate with us develop deep ties to their education, lifelong friends, lessons in leadership, professionalism, time management, high expectations and advanced musicianship and marching skills," said Smith. "We pride ourselves on providing our students life-changing experiences that develop their core being so that, upon graduation, they have a diverse set of skills that are immediately applicable to their careers."

Students interested in joining the EMU Marching Band and applying for the scholarship should:

- Apply to and be admitted to Eastern Michigan University: emich.edu/apply/

- Complete the marching band membership form: https://tiny.emich.edu/emumb

- Attend orientation and register for marching band.

- Receive the scholarship through their financial aid package once all requirements are completed.

The scholarship is available to students regardless of their intended major. For more information about the EMU Marching Band and scholarship opportunities, visit the band webpage. To view the band's past performances, visit the band's YouTube page.

SOURCE Eastern Michigan University

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Dangers of Social Media

Unfortunately, apps that allow anonymous messaging between teens are seeing a resurgence. In recent weeks, the anonymous app NGL has exceeded 15 million installs. Parents, and teens, need to be aware of the real danger of anonymous messaging.

While the mechanics of various anonymous messaging apps can differ, the concept is consistent. These apps allow social media users to send messages to others without revealing their identity, an ability exploited by those intending to cyberbully, defraud, or molest.

Children Have Been Harmed

On June 23, 2020, 16-year-old Carson Bride died by suicide. From January 23, 2020, to June 22, 2020, Carson received 105 messages via YOLO, an app that allowed children to send anonymous messages on Snapchat. The messages to Carson were mostly severe harassment, often sexually explicit and outright threatening. (We will not quote any of them.) Evidence indicates that Carson tried multiple times to identify the perpetrator, or perpetrators. And on the morning of Carson’s death, the last piece of web history on his phone shows that Carson was searching “Reveal YOLO Username Online” reflecting Carson’s final attempt to figure out who was harassing him.

Here is Elizabeth Long’s story in her own words:

My name is Elizabeth. I’m 19 years old, a freshman in college, and last year I tried to commit suicide. While still recovering, I started seeing messages about me on Yik Yak, anonymously telling me that I should kill myself. And I was not the only one. . . Yik Yak allows users to post anonymous messages that are broadcast to other users close by. . . With the shield of anonymity, users have zero accountability for their posts, and can openly spread rumors, call classmates hurtful names, send threats, or even tell someone to kill themselves — and all of these things were happening.

https://www.change.org/p/stop-bullying-and-harassment-on-yik-yak

The list of teen fatalities related connected to anonymous apps includes many more teens:

- 17-year-old Alexis Pilkington from Long Island, New York

- 15-year-old Natasha MacBryde from Worcestershire, U.K.

- 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer from Buffalo, New York

- 13-year-old Ciara Pugsley from Leitrim, Ireland

- 19-year-old Jacob Marberger from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania

What Parents Should Do

Regarding anonymous messaging apps, we believe the benefits to children, especially young teens, to be marginal, if not negligible, while the severe risk of such apps is clear from even a brief review of their history. That is why we strongly recommend that parents and guardians:

- talk to your child about the dangers of anonymous messaging;

- implement a rule barring your child from using anonymous apps and websites;

- calibrate your child’s device settings to prevent downloading apps without your permission. (See our free, comprehensive parent course for instructions.)

This assessment does not necessarily include legitimate, trusted apps or websites that enable teens to speak anonymously with licensed professionals, including mental health professionals.

What Social Media Platforms Should Do

Social media platforms should ban anonymous apps for child users. Recently, in response to ongoing litigation, Snapchat removed Yolo and LMK from its service. At the time of this article, Instagram continues to permit the use of NGL on its platform. To protect the lives of its most vulnerable users, we most strongly urge them to reconsider.

AI-Powered In-Car Assistants Evolve into Intelligent Digital Companions, Finds Frost & Sullivan

New Frost Radar™ benchmarks nine leading technology providers as generative AI, software-defined vehicles and connected services reshape the automotive experience

LONDON, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The global market for AI-powered in-car assistants is entering a new phase of innovation as automakers increasingly adopt generative AI, intelligent voice interfaces and personalised digital experiences to differentiate their connected vehicles.

Frost & Sullivan's latest Frost Radar™: AI-Powered In-Car Assistants, 2026, benchmarks nine leading technology providers against their growth performance and innovation capabilities, highlighting the competitive dynamics, emerging technologies and growth opportunities shaping the future of intelligent in-vehicle experiences.

Frost & Sullivan estimates that global connected vehicle sales will increase from 68.3 million in 2026 to 84.6 million by 2032, creating significant opportunities for advanced AI assistants capable of managing navigation, vehicle functions, entertainment and connected services through increasingly natural, context-aware interactions.

As software-defined vehicles become more prevalent, AI-powered assistants are evolving beyond basic voice commands into intelligent digital companions capable of anticipating driver needs, delivering personalised recommendations and seamlessly connecting vehicle functions with broader digital ecosystems.

Benchmarking the Competitive Landscape

The Frost Radar™ evaluates nine prominent technology providers shaping the evolution of AI-powered in-car assistants: Cerence AI, Google, Amazon, Apple, SoundHound AI, Microsoft, OpenAI, Perplexity and iNAGO.

The competitive landscape encompasses automotive-focused technology specialists, established consumer technology companies and general-purpose AI providers, each bringing different capabilities and approaches to the market.

While established technology companies benefit from extensive consumer ecosystems and AI development resources, automotive specialists differentiate themselves through deeper vehicle integration, domain-specific expertise and flexible deployment models.

The research highlights the growing importance of generative and agentic AI, multimodal interaction and hybrid edge-cloud architectures in enabling increasingly sophisticated in-car experiences.

New Growth Opportunities in Connected Mobility

As basic voice-control functionality becomes increasingly standard, competitive differentiation is shifting towards proactive assistance, personalised services, seamless integration with vehicle systems and secure management of driver data.

Advances in AI and connectivity are also creating new opportunities for automakers to monetise connected services through premium subscriptions, features on demand and hands-free commerce, including EV charging, parking and other in-vehicle transactions.

"AI-powered assistants are evolving into a central interface for the software-defined vehicle, fundamentally changing how drivers interact with their cars and access connected services," said Gautham Prakash Hegde, Growth Expert at Frost & Sullivan. "As competition intensifies, the ability to combine advanced AI capabilities with seamless vehicle integration, security and personalised user experiences will become increasingly important in shaping the next generation of connected mobility."

The study further highlights the importance of collaboration between automakers, technology providers and ecosystem partners in delivering scalable, reliable and secure AI-powered experiences across increasingly complex vehicle platforms.

To explore the full Frost Radar™ analysis, including the benchmarking methodology, company scores, competitive positioning and emerging growth opportunities in the AI-powered in-car assistant market, click here.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan's Growth Pipeline Engine, transformational strategies and best-practice models drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth opportunities. Is your company prepared to survive and thrive through the coming transformation? Join the Journey

Editor's Note

To arrange an interview or for any questions, please contact:

Kristina Menzefricke

Marketing & Communications

Global Customer Experience, Frost & Sullivan

[email protected]

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

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Reviews

This month, Snap, Inc. (“Snap”) announced a new safety tool called Family Center. Unfortunately, after review, the Organization for Social Media Safety believes that it will not have any meaningful impact on child safety.

With Snapchat’s Family Center, parents, after requesting permission from their child, can see a list of who their child is friends with on Snapchat and which of those friends they have communicated with over the last seven days. Snap confirmed that the tool will provide parents no insight into “the substance of those conversations.”

Why Snapchat’s Family Center Is Not a Serious Safety Offering:

(1) Secret Accounts: By enabling parents to identify suspicious Snapchat accounts that their child has connected with, Snapchat presumably intends this new feature to deter or prevent children from engaging in certain high-risk activities, like drug seeking or communicating with adult strangers. However, if a teen is intent on engaging in such activities through Snapchat then they likely will, or may already, be using a second, secret account. Parents will have no ability to monitor a child’s secret Snapchat accounts with this new feature (and currently have little to no ability to conduct such monitoring otherwise.) So while a parent can connect the Family Center tool to a child’s main account, with which a child can conduct most of their Snapchat activities, that child can easily employ a secret account for high-risk activities without any parental oversight whatsoever.

Snap has said in response to this concern that “if a person does have multiple accounts they would have to fully log out of the app to toggle between them.” In a test, we found it takes about four seconds to accomplish this toggling, which, coincidentally, is the same amount of time it takes us to access the Family Center from the home screen.

(2) Redundant: As discussed, Family Center offers parents the ability to see who their child is friends with on Snapchat. However, parents have always been able to see their child’s friend list by directly reviewing their child’s account. We do not understand why Snap used months of valuable time and resources to offer a capability that parents already have.

(The Family Center does offer the added ability for the parent to see, only within the past seven days, if a child communicated with someone that they then removed as a friend on Snapchat. However, if a child is actively removing Snapchat friends to avoid detection, then that child would likely just create a secret account as discussed above.)

(3) Impractical for Parents: If the objective of Snapchat’s Family Center is to help parents identify users with whom their child should not be communicating, then this tool is highly inefficient for most parents. First, teens can have hundreds of Snapchat friends and are regularly adding more. And teens send a lot of messages, called snaps, with some teens even sending hundreds of thousands per year. We do not believe that the average, busy parent will be able to undertake a weekly review of the lengthy list of their child’s Snapchat friends and identify the one or two suspicious connections. (Bizarrely, the Family Center tool seemingly offers no ability for parents to be alerted when their child has a new Snapchat connection.)

In addition, the Family Center tool only shows parents the registered names of their child’s friends on Snapchat, which is generally insufficient for these purposes. Unfortunately, teens often do not register on Snapchat with their actual names, simply using first names, nicknames, or phrases. So, even with this tool, a parent will usually have a very limited ability to identify who a child’s Snapchat friends actually are, meaning parents will have to either take their child’s word for who they are connecting with, just as before this tool was available, or undertake some heroic verification process, on a weekly basis.

(4) Useless for the Most Common, Major Risks: Based on our observation, the most common dangers facing children from Snapchat use come from interactions with peers they actually know in person. The long list of such dangers includes cyberbullying, sexting, depression, self-harm, violence, sexual harassment, hate speech, and substance abuse. Generally, Family Center, which focuses on assisting parents to identify Snapchat friends who are not known to the child, provides parents with no way to increase protection against the danger of using Snapchat with known peers.

How To Start Using the New Family Center Tool:

To be able to use the new Family Center tool, parents need to:

(1) Create their own Snapchat account.

(2) In the new parent account: Make a request to connect with your child.

(3) In the child’s account: The child must accept the request to connect.

(4) In the parent account: Using the magnifying glass tool on the home screen, search for and click on “Family Center”.

(5) In the parent account: Search for and add the child to the Family Center dashboard.

(6) In the child’s account: Have the child approve the invitation to be added to your Family Center dashboard.

How To Maximize the Safety Benefits of the New Family Center

The best way to make use of the new Family Center is to use it in conjunction with our Buckling the Social Media Seatbelt System:

- Conversations: Discuss with your child why you will be using the Family Center tool.  This conversation should include a review of the dangers of connecting with anyone on social media that your child does not know in real life.

-  Rules: Especially for younger teens, consider setting a rule that your child is not allowed to connect with anyone on Snapchat who they do not know in real life and who is not their own age.  Also, especially for younger or higher-risk teens, consider limiting your child’s Snapchat friends to a reasonable number, which would make reviewing their Snapchat friend list through Family Center more practical for parents.  If your child violates these rules or any other social media safety rule, consider letting them know in advance that they will lose Snapchat and/or their mobile devices for a certain amount of time.

- Calibrate the Settings: Using your operating system or third-party safety app to restrict the amount of time that your child can use Snapchat will lessen the number of messages that they can send, potentially making the Family Center tool more practical for you by creating fewer connections for you to review. You can also use these settings to restrict Snapchat use if your child violates your social media safety rules. (See our free, parent course for instructions.)

Finally, please consider carefully whether your child is ready to use Snapchat. Many children have been harmed through using the platform, so we suggest real caution. According to Snapchat’s own terms of service, children under 13 should not be using the platform.

Snap Needs To Do Better To Protect Children

After months of promising action in the wake of numerous child deaths connected to Snapchat use, Snap finally launched this new safety feature. The weakness of Snapchat’s Family Center is offensive in the face of the ongoing harm linked to the platform. Significantly more effective safety options are available to Snap, yet it chooses to prioritize this incredibly limited one. For the health and safety of our children, Snap must do better.

This tool is new, and we will continue to reassess its effectiveness. Please let us know about your family’s experience with it.