WhatsApp adds new features to protect against scams
The company announced that it took down over 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts linked to criminal scam centers targeting people around the world.
Jury rules Meta violated California privacy laws by quietly collecting Flo users’ menstrual health data
The class-action suit was brought by users of period tracking app, Flo, who alleged that the tech giant collected private menstrual health data without users' consent and used it for ad-tracking purposes.
Enterprises prefer Anthropic’s AI models over anyone else’s, including OpenAI
Anthropic holds 32% of enterprise LLM market share by usage. This is sharp reversal from just two years ago when OpenAI held 50%.
Zuckerberg says people without AI glasses will be at a disadvantage in the future
Mark Zuckerberg really believes AI glasses will be the ideal way to blend the physical and digital worlds together.
Meta to spend up to $72B on AI infrastructure in 2025 as compute arms race escalates
Meta is pouring money into the physical and technical infrastructure needed to scale its AI ambitions. The company said Wednesday in its second-quarter earnings report that it plans to more than double its spend on building AI infrastructure â like data centers and servers. âWe currently expect 2025 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $66-72 billionâ¦up approximately $30 billion year-over-year at the midpoint,â Meta said.
Zuckerberg: AI increased the time spent on Facebook and Instagram in Q2
Overall, Meta estimated that over 3.4 billion people used one of its "family of apps" on a daily basis.
Zuckerberg signals Meta won’t open source all of its ‘superintelligence’ AI models
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his vision on Wednesday for âpersonal superintelligence,â the idea that people should be able to use AI to achieve their personal goals, create, connect, and lead fulfilling lives. Smuggled into the letter is a signal that Meta is shifting how it plans to ensure widespread access to superintelligence, a suggestion that the companyâs most advanced AI may remain closed so that Meta can stay in the driverâs seat.
Google says it will sign EU’s AI code of practice
Google confirmed it will sign the European Union's general purpose AI code of practice. Meta has already said it will not sign the voluntary framework.
Google won’t say if UK secretly demanded a backdoor for user data
Google said it has "never built a backdoor" for its services, but refused to rule out that it had received a secret U.K. surveillance order demanding access to encrypted data.
Meta names Shengjia Zhao as chief scientist of AI superintelligence unit
Shengjia Zhao, a former OpenAI researcher, will round out the leadership team at Meta's new AI lab.
Meta to stop selling political ads in the EU from October
In response to the European Union's incoming regulation of political advertising, Meta said on Friday that it would stop selling and showing political ads in the EU from October 2025.
AI slop and fake reports are exhausting some security bug bounties
"We're getting a lot of stuff that looks like gold, but it's actually just crap,â said the founder of one security testing firm. AI-generated security vulnerability reports are already having an effect on bug hunting, for better and worse.
Meta researchers are developing a gesture-controlled wristband that can interact with a computer
The goal of this wristband is to provide less invasive tools to interact with computers for people with motor disabilities.Â
Instagram adds new protections for accounts that primarily feature children
The update will impact the accounts of family vloggers/creators and parents running accounts for "kidfluencers," both of which have faced criticism for the risks associated with sharing children's lives on social media.
Threads adds improved content performance metrics for creators
The Meta-owned platform says the updates are focused on helping creators build audiences.
Meta refuses to sign EU’s AI code of practice
Meta will not sign the EU's new rules, calling the implementation "over-reach"
Meta appoints generative AI VP to run Threads
Meta appointed Connor Hayes, Meta's VP of product for generative AI, to become the head of Threads.
Zuckerberg and Meta investors reach settlement in $8B privacy case
The shareholders' lawsuit alleges Facebook execs intentionally violated an FTC agreement by sharing user data with third-party apps without user consent.
Scale AI lays off 14% of staff, largely in data-labeling business
Scale AI is cutting 14% of the company just weeks after Meta invested $14.3 billion in the startup and hired away its CEO.
Meta acquires voice startup Play AI
Meta has acquired Play AI, a startup that uses AI to generate human-sounding voices.
As X loses its CEO, daily usage is down and competition is growing
X is still the dominant social media platform, but its daily active user base has declined and competitor Threads is seeing higher rates of growth.
Meta reportedly recruits Apple’s head of AI models
Ruoming Pang previously ran Apple's in-house team that trained the AI foundation models that underpin Apple Intelligence and other on-device AI features.
Threads is nearing X’s daily app users, new data shows
Threads' mobile app for iOS and Android saw 115.1 million daily active users, representing 127.8% year-over-year growth.
Not everyone is thrilled with Threads’ DMs
Earlier this week, Instagram Threads launched what the company said was its most-requested feature to date: direct messages, also known as DMs. However, the company is now facing a bit of a user backlash over the addition, as users, primarily women, are arguing that there should be a way to opt out of DMs entirely, […]
Meta has found another way to keep you engaged: Chatbots that message you first
Meta is experimenting with having customizable chatbots messaging users unprompted and follow up on past conversations.
A guide to using Edits, Metaâs new CapCut rival for short-form video editing
Meta shared that it was working on Edits in January after ByteDance-owned CapCut was removed from U.S. app stores.
Meta users say paying for Verified support has been useless in the face of mass bans
Users have shared their interactions with Meta Verified support reps, who they claim have been dismissive and unhelpful.
Threads launches its own DM inbox, as app moves further away from Instagram
At launch, DMs will be available in most markets where Threads is available, except for Japan, Australia, the U.K., and the E.U.
Meta adds business voice calling to WhatsApp, explores AI-powered product reccomendations
WhatsApp is adding more AI features to its business suite. The company on Tuesday announced it’s introducing the ability for large businesses to reach customers through voice calls, which will allow the app to explore the use of AI-powered voice agents. The company is also looking into using AI to recommend products to users. WhatsApp […]
Meta restructures its AI unit under âSuperintelligence Labsâ
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is restructuring the companyâs AI efforts to center around building AI âsuperintelligence.â Going forward, all teams working on AI at Meta will fall under a new group called Meta Superintelligence Labs, according to Bloomberg, which viewed an internal memo sent Monday. Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of data labeling startup Scale […]
Meta reportedly hires four more researchers from OpenAI
Looks like Meta isnât done poaching talent from OpenAI.
Week in Review: Â Meta’s AI recruiting blitz
Welcome back to Week in Review! Lots of news for you this week, including Travis Kalanick's possible return, CoreWeave's CEO is now worth $10 billion, Apple users aren't happy with how the company is promoting its new F1 movie, and much more.Â
Meta is offering multi-million pay for AI researchers, but not $100M ‘signing bonuses’
Meta is offering multi-million pay packages to AI researchers. But no one is really getting an $100 million "signing bonus."
Meta buys over 1 GW of renewables to power its data centers
Meta has been on a renewable buying spree in recent months.
Meta in talks to acquire voice cloning startup Play AI
Meta is in talks to acquire a voice cloning startup called Play AI, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.
Threads now lets you manage Hidden Words separately from Instagram, set time limits
Threads, Metaâs competitor to X, now has its own Hidden Words settings that operates separately from Instagram.
Meta hires key OpenAI researcher to work on AI reasoning models
Meta has hired a highly influential OpenAI researcher, Trapit Bansal, to work on its AI reasoning models under the company’s new AI superintelligence unit, a person familiar with the matter tells TechCrunch. OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood confirmed to TechCrunch that Bansal had departed OpenAI. Bansal’s LinkedIn page says that he left OpenAI in June. Bansal […]
Federal judge sides with Meta in lawsuit over training AI models on copyrighted books
A federal judge sided with Meta on Wednesday in a lawsuit brought against the company by 13 book authors, including Sarah Silverman, that alleged the company had illegally trained its AI models on their copyrighted works. Federal Judge Vince Chhabria issued a summary judgment â meaning the judge was able to decide on the case […]
Meta is adding AI-powered summaries to WhatsApp
Meta announced on Wednesday that it’s adding an AI-powered summaries feature to WhatsApp. The optional new feature uses Meta AI to summarize unread messages in a chat. This summary would only be visible to you, not others in your chat, the company notes. The feature builds on the AI technology that Meta released in April, […]
Facebook Group admins complain of mass bans; Meta says it’s fixing the problem
After a wave of mass bans affecting Instagram and Facebook users alike, Meta users are now complaining that Facebook Groups are also being impacted by mass suspensions. According to individual complaints and organized efforts on sites like Reddit to share information, the bans have affected thousands of groups both in the U.S. and abroad and […]
US bans WhatsApp from House of Representatives staff devices
The U.S. government has banned WhatsApp from devices used by U.S. House of Representatives staff, saying the app poses potential security risks.
Week in Review: Â Meta reveals its Oakley smart glasses
Welcome back to Week in Review! Lots in store for you today, including Wix’s latest acquisition, Meta’s new smart glasses, a look at the new Digg, and much more. Have a great weekend! Smart specs: Meta and Oakley have teamed up on a new pair of smart glasses that can record 3K video, play music, […]
After trying to buy Ilya Sutskever’s $32B AI startup, Meta looks to hire its CEO
Mark Zuckerberg’s AI talent hiring spree continues. In recent months, Meta tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence, the $32 billion AI startup co-founded by OpenAI’s former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, according to a report from CNBC on Thursday. Sutskever ultimately turned Meta down, according to CNBC, but the company is now in talks to hire Safe […]
Meta unveils its Oakley smart glasses
After months of rumors, Meta has officially announced its next pair of smart glasses with Oakley.
A glitch is turning Threads into a literal echo chamber
A Threads glitch is making it look like everyone on your feed is saying the same thing.
Sam Altman says Meta tried and failed to poach OpenAI’s talent with $100M offers
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that Meta tried to poach its employees with nine-figure offers, but failed to recruit OpenAI's best people.
Meta is reportedly building AI smart glasses with Prada, too
Meta is reportedly working on a pair of AI smart glasses with Prada.
Instagram tests a reposts feature
Instagram is testing the ability for users to repost posts, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday.
Instagram users complain of mass bans, pointing finger at AI
Instagram users report that their accounts were banned even though they had not violated the company's terms of service or other policies.
WhatsApp is adding ads to the Status screen
After years of not showing any ads, WhatsApp is adding ads to Status updates.
Google reportedly plans to cut ties with Scale AI
Metaâs massive investment in Scale AI may be giving some of the startupâs biggest customers pause. Reuters reports that Google had planned to pay Scale AI $200 million this year but is now planning to cut ties with the startup and is having conversations with its competitors.
New details emerge on Metaâs $14.3B deal for Scale
Metaâs deal to sort-of but not really acquire AI startup Scale, giving it 49% ownership, is certainly unusual.
Scale AI confirms ‘significant’ investment from Meta, says CEO Alexanr Wang is leaving
Data-labeling firm Scale AI confirmed on Friday that it has received a "significant" investment from Meta that values the startup at $29 billion.
The Meta AI app is a privacy disaster
Meta does not indicate to users what their privacy settings are as they post, or where they are even posting to. So, if you log into Meta AI with Instagram, and your Instagram account is public, then so too are your searches.
Meta teams with XGS Energy to build a 150 MW geothermal power plant
XGS Energy will build the new power plant in New Mexico.