Phota Labs launches iOS app that turns everyday photos into professional-looking shots

Phota Labs launched a free iOS app that uses a personal AI photo assistant to turn everyday snapshots into professional-looking images while preserving subjects' real appearance. The a16z-backed startup, founded by former Adobe computational photography staff Cecilia Zhang and Zach Xia, built its own identity model so edits don't alter faces, and adds invisible watermarks to AI-altered photos. It raised a $5.6 million seed round last year and plans an Android app.