Former TikTok execs built an app that uses AI to teach you how to pose for a photo

Former TikTok execs built an app that uses AI to teach you how to pose for a photo. 25% off tickets now Back by popular demand: Save up to $300 on Disrupt Close Image Credits:Superpose Apps Former TikTok execs built an app that uses AI to teach you how to pose for a photo Ivan Mehta 7:42 AM PDT · September 15, 2026 Companies have been increasingly using AI’s image generation chops to teach people photography skills.

What happened

On the same slant, two former TikTok employees, Melody Chu and Jing Liu, are launching a new iOS app called Superpose that uses an AI guide to teach people how to pose for pictures. Essentially is a camera app, Superpose analyzes selfies or photos and generates four potential poses using AI. Users can take a selfie or photo of a friend, and the app will generate four potential poses using AI. Prior to founding Superpose, Chu worked in various product roles in companies like Meta, Nextdoor, Roblox, TikTok, and Slack.

Loading the player… While Chu acknowledged that other companies are also entering the AI-guided photography space, she said Superpose wants to focus on becoming the best camera to take portrait photos by following directions from AI. Google last year released a feature called Camera Coach on Pixel phones to guide users about framing and composition, and in July, Adobe released a new feature in its experimental camera app to use AI to critique photos and suggest changes for capture.

Some of the poses are extravagant, and, at times, the generation seems uncanny.

The wider picture

Image Credits:Superpose Users can save generated poses, or use the match-pose feature to try to place themselves in the frame based on its suggestions. Meanwhile, Liu was a founding engineer at a 3D face-scanning startup, and later worked on image and video models at TikTok. Chu said that the idea for the app stemmed from a personal problem: her husband wasn’t able to take good photos of her. Superpose was launched in July, and has been downloaded over 22,000 times so far.

The company says its users have generated more than 190,000 poses. The startup doesn’t want to get into creating AI backgrounds and images, and wants to focus on real-life photographs, she added. She also acknowledged that some of the pose suggestions might seem uncanny, and the company is working on improving that. Topics AI, Apps, camera app, Khosla Ventures, TikTok When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission.

What has been reported

Disrupt 2026: OpenAI, Anthropic, Replit, and more take over 6 industry stages. It was a true pain point in our marriage where I don’t understand how he gets me to look just so terrible all the time. And I thought to myself, there has to be a way to solve this problem with advancements in computer vision and generative AI. And I decided to set out on my own,” Chu told TechCrunch. The app gives users five generations for free every day, but they can buy a pack of five additional generations for $2.

“We want to lean into the core of memory capture versus, say, putting you in a fantastical place that you’ve never been. I think there are so many apps that do that well already, but we really wanna focus on actually capturing the lived moment and experience,” Chu said. The startup says it is working on improving its generation styles, personalization, and ways to better coach users directly from the viewfinder.

What happens next

2 million in funding from Khosla Ventures, Chinese smartphone and selfie app maker Meitu, and OVTR VC. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Ivan Mehta Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web. You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing im@ivanmehta. com or via encrypted message at ivan. View Bio October 13 – 15 San Francisco Last day to book an exhibit table is September 18.

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