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Tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet/Google have seized a large lead in shaping our potentially A.I.-dominated future. of Alphabet/Google, unveiled a suite of A.I. While there is some discussion as to whether Meta’s recent decision to give away its A.I. History has repeatedly demonstrated that control over information is central to who has power and what they can do with it. At the beginning of writing in ancient Mesopotamia, most scribes were the sons of elite families, primarily because education was expensive.

Persons: Sundar Pichai Organizations: Tech, Microsoft Locations: ChatGPT, Mesopotamia, Europe

☆ After a Rocky Year, Zuckerberg Lays Out Meta’s Road Map to Employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mark Zuckerberg has spent the last nine months against the ropes as his company has made big cuts to its work force and struggled to gain mainstream traction with its ambitious plans for virtual reality. On Thursday, he told Meta employees how he planned to get the company back on track. In an all-hands meeting, Mr. Zuckerberg offered an explanation for recent layoffs and for the first time laid out a vision for how Meta’s work in artificial intelligence would blend with its plans for the virtual reality it calls the metaverse. Mr. Zuckerberg’s talk was an attempt to rally staff after the most tumultuous period in his company’s 19-year history. The chief executive said he made “tough decisions” about layoffs with the goal of “building a better technology company” that shipped better products, faster — something he believed Meta wasn’t doing well as it swelled to more than 80,000 employees at the peak of the pandemic.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Meta wasn’t, ” Organizations: Meta, New York Times

☆ EU official to confront Zuckerberg after damning report on company’s handling of child sexual abuse material
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A top European Union official plans to confront Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an in-person meeting over reports this week that the company has failed to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material on its platform. Thierry Breton, a European commissioner who has led the charge on regulating digital platforms, will visit Meta’s California headquarters on June 23 and plans to raise the matter with Zuckerberg personally, he tweeted Thursday. “#Meta’s voluntary code on child protection seems not to work,” Breton said. “Child exploitation is a horrific crime,” the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the European Commission didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Thierry Breton, Zuckerberg, ” Breton, “ Mark Zuckerberg, Breton, Meta didn’t, Instagram, “, ” Organizations: CNN, European Union, Digital Services, Meta, Wall Street Journal, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, San, European Commission Locations: Meta’s California, San Francisco, California

☆ West Ham ends 43-year wait for major trophy but condemns fan trouble during final
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —West Ham ended its 43-year wait for a major trophy after beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday. It was knocked out of the Europa League semifinals last year but managed to reward its passionate fanbase with a memorable performance on Wednesday. West Ham captain Declan Rice was leading the celebrations after lifting the trophy, amid speculation around his future at the club. “There is interest from other club that’s out there but I have two years left at West Ham. “There hasn’t been anything yet, my focus is playing for West Ham, enjoying tonight and seeing what happens.”

Persons: Jarrod Bowen, West, David Moyes, “ I’ve, we’ve, ”, West Ham, Saïd Benrahma’s, Giacomo Bonaventura’s, Bowen, Lucas Paquetá’s, I’m, ” Cristiano Biraghi, Jonathan Moscrop, Cristiano Biraghi, West Ham United unreservedly, Declan Rice, ” Rice Organizations: CNN, Fiorentina, Europa Conference League, Premier League, Fortuna Arena, Europa League, West Ham, West Ham United, UEFA Europa Conference League, Reuters, London, UEFA, BT Sport, West Locations: Ham, Prague, “, West, Europe, West Ham, England

☆ EU's Breton demands Meta act against online content targeting children
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 8 (Reuters) - EU industry chief Thierry Breton will meet Meta Platforms (META.O) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on June 23 and demand that he act immediately to tackle content targeting children, as Meta's voluntary child protection code seemed not to be working. Social media platforms such as Meta's Instagram, ByteDance's TikTok, Snap's (SNAP.N) Snapchat and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) YouTube have stirred concerns among regulators and users over content targeted at young children. "#Meta’s voluntary code on child protection seems not to work," Breton said in a Twitter post. Breton said Meta would also have to demonstrate the measures it plans to take to comply with European Union online content rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) after Aug. 25 or face heavy sanctions. The DSA bans certain types of targeted advertisements on online platforms such as those meant for children or when they use special categories of personal data, such as ethnicity, political views and sexual orientation.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Mark Zuckerberg, ByteDance's, Breton, Meta, Foo Yun Chee, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Meta, YouTube, EU, Reuters, Meta's, European Union, Digital Services, DSA, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Menlo Park, California

☆ The rivalry between Meta and Apple is moving to a new playing field: virtual reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —Months after Apple unveiled a privacy change that threatened Facebook’s core advertising business, the social networking company rebranded as Meta and shifted its focus to virtual reality. Apple (AAPL) on Monday unveiled its mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, in one of its most ambitious product launches in years. On Thursday, just days before WWDC, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to preempt the expected Apple headset announcement by teasing the Meta Quest 3. Apple on Monday unveiled its first-ever virtual reality headset, challenging Facebook-owner Meta in a market that has yet to gain widespread consumer adoption. Apple chose not to focus on the term “virtual reality,” nor did it show off disembodied avatars without legs inhabiting a virtual world, as Meta did initially.

Persons: Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Meta, Josh Edelson, Morgan Stanley, “ We’re, ” Sheeva, ” Eric Alexander, Apple, ”, Julie, Forrester, Zuckerberg, that’s, Alexander, ’ ”, It’s, D.A, Davidson, Tom Forte, Forte, Blackberry, ” Forte Organizations: New, New York CNN, Apple, Meta, Vision, Microsoft, Google, VR, Facebook, Getty, Street, IDC, ” Sheeva Slovan, Reality Labs, CNN, Apple's, WWDC, Disney Locations: New York, AFP, ’

☆ Apple to sell Vision Pro AR headset for triple Meta's top-line price
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/4] People use cameras as Apple's Vision Pro headsets are on display at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. June 5, 2023. Apple's headset will be available early next year in the U.S. with more countries coming later in 2024. The Vision Pro has two hours of use with an external battery, which Apple said would reduce the weight on the user's head. Investors and tech fans alike are focused on how much Apple's view of the virtual reality market overlaps with Meta's. In addition to Meta, Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and ByteDance-owned Pico both recently released virtual reality devices.

Persons: Loren Elliott CUPERTINO, Apple, Alan Dye, Tim Cook, Walt Disney's, Mark Zuckerberg, there's, John Ternus, Apple's, Craig Federighi, Stephen Nellis, Yuvraj Malik, Dawn Chmielewski, Katie Paul, Peter Henderson, Aditya Soni, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Developers, REUTERS, Apple Inc, Pro, Apple, Vision, Reuters, Adobe, Microsoft, Unity, Meta, Sony Group Corp, Pico, Research, IDC, Mac Pro, Mac, Intel, Thomson Locations: Cupertino , California, U.S, Loren Elliott CUPERTINO , California, Bengaluru, Dawn, Los Angeles, New York

☆ Instagram lifts ban on anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after launch of presidential bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Instagram announced Sunday it had lifted its ban on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist who has launched a presidential bid, two years after it shut down Kennedy’s account for breaking its rules related to Covid-19. “As he is now an active candidate for president of the United States, we have restored access to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s, Instagram account,” Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Instagram’s parent company Meta said in a statement. Kennedy, who has a long history of spreading vaccine misinformation, was banned from Instagram in February 2021. A company spokesperson at the time said Instagram had removed his account for “repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.”While Kennedy’s Instagram account was banned, his Facebook account remained active. Kennedy was a leading anti-vaccination voice during the Covid-19 pandemic, using his social media platforms to sow doubt and misinformation about the shots.

Persons: New York CNN — Instagram, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Kennedy, Jr, Andy Stone, Meta, Instagram, “, Cheryl Hines, Kennedy’s, Anne Frank, Hines, ”, Jack Dorsey, tweeting, “ Robert F, ” Dorsey, Elon Musk, Stone Organizations: New, New York CNN, Instagram, Meta, The Washington Post, YouTube, Trump, DeSantis, Democratic, CNN Locations: New York, United States, Nazi Germany, Silicon Valley

☆ Apple Debuts Its Next Big Product, a Virtual Reality Headset
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Kellen Browning | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Apple lived up to months of expectations on Monday when it introduced new high-tech goggles that blend the real world with virtual reality. The $3,500 device, called the Vision Pro, will offer “augmented reality” and introduce “spatial computing,” Apple said. But conspicuously absent from its carefully choreographed announcement were the actual words “virtual reality,” underscoring the challenges the tech giant will likely face in marketing the device to a mass consumer audience. Past virtual reality offerings, including Google Glass, Magic Leap, Microsoft’s HoloLens and Meta’s Quest Pro, have been either commercial failures or only modest successes. And companies have so far failed to demonstrate what is indispensable about virtual reality.

Persons: Apple, ”, —, Microsoft’s Organizations: Google, Meta’s

☆ Mark Zuckerberg Unveils Meta’s Newest VR Headset Days Ahead of Apple Event
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Joseph De Avila | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones

☆ Meta asks office workers to return to in-person work
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

The internet giant — which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — has asked that employees currently assigned to an office return to in-person work three days a week starting September 5. Meta employees who are designated as remote workers will be allowed to keep their remote status. “We’re committed to distributed work, and we’re confident people can make a meaningful impact both from the office and at home. In the post, Zuckerberg shared that the company’s internal analysis showed that engineers who joined Meta in-person performed better on average than those who joined remotely. Meta joins a wave of large corporations that have asked workers to return to in-person work for at least a few days per week this year.

Persons: —, “ We’re, We’re, ”, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Meta Organizations: CNN, Meta, Disney

☆ Meta threatens to pull news content in California if bill to pay publishers passes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, threatened to remove news from its social media sites in California if the state passes a bill requiring big tech companies to pay news outlets for their content. The bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, requires digital companies such as Google and Facebook to pay local news publishers a “journalism usage fee” whenever their news content is used or posted on those platforms. The bill also requires news publishers to invest 70% of usage fee profits into journalism jobs. “This threat from Meta is a scare tactic that they’ve tried to deploy, unsuccessfully, in every country that’s attempted this,” Wicks said in a statement. The bill has garnered praise from some of the largest journalism unions in California, including Media Guild of the West and Pacific Media Workers Guild.

Persons: Andy Stone, ”, ” Stone, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, ” Wicks, “, Wicks Organizations: CNN, Meta, Facebook, Twitter, Oakland, Google, California State, Media Guild, West and Pacific Media Workers Guild, Free Press Locations: California

☆ A.I. Poses ‘Risk of Extinction,’ Industry Leaders Warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Kevin Roose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A group of industry leaders is planning to warn on Tuesday that the artificial intelligence technology they are building may one day pose an existential threat to humanity and should be considered a societal risk on par with pandemics and nuclear wars. “Mitigating the risk of extinction from A.I. The open letter has been signed by more than 350 executives, researchers and engineers working in A.I. companies: Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI; Demis Hassabis, chief executive of Google DeepMind; and Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic. movement, signed the statement, as did other prominent researchers in the field (The third Turing Award winner, Yann LeCun, who leads Meta’s A.I.

☆ Meta slapped with record $1.3 billion EU data privacy fine over transfer of Facebook data to US
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The European Data Protection Board announced the fine in a statement Monday, saying it followed an inquiry into Facebook (FB) by the Irish Data Protection Commission, the chief regulator overseeing Meta’s operations in Europe. The fine is the largest ever levied under Europe’s signature data privacy law, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. Meta has also been ordered to cease the processing of personal data of European users in the United States within six months. Meta’s infringement is “very serious since it concerns transfers that are systematic, repetitive and continuous,” said Andrea Jelinek, chair of the European Data Protection Board. EU and US policymakers were on a “clear path” to resolving this conflict under a new transatlantic Data Privacy Framework.

☆ Meta becomes cross-border tech mascot
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is acting as a Big Tech mascot in a cross-border decision about the transfer of data. The $1.3 billion fine is a drop in the bucket for Meta, which has over $40 billion in its cash coffers. The decision, handed down from the Irish Data Protection Commission, gives Meta until October to completely cease moving data from Europe to the United States. Rather, the tension between data and the cross-border watchdogs can become more troubling for U.S.-based Big Tech. The decision gives Meta five months to stop transferring users’ data to the United States.

☆ Arsenal keeps slim Premeir League title hopes alive with crucial victory against Newcastle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Arsenal stayed in touch with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after a crucial 2-0 victory against third-place Newcastle. The result sees the Gunners move a point behind Manchester City having played one game more than the defending champion. Despite Newcastle’s bright start, Arsenal took the lead through Ødegaard’s brilliant shot from outside the box – the Norwegian’s 15th league goal of the season. Alex Dodd/CameraSport/Getty ImagesWith that own goal, Arsenal could see out the remainder of the game in a more comfortable fashion. “Today, we had to do it here and we did everything we had to do to win the game.”

☆ Fashion’s Latest Comeback? Actually Wearable Clothes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Katharine K. Zarrella | Photographs F. Martin Ramin The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Is that…leather?” Some version of this befuddled inner monologue ran through many editors’ heads as Kate Moss sauntered down Bottega Veneta’s spring 2023 runway in Milan. From a distance, they were unmistakably denim and flannel, respectively. Creative director Matthieu Blazy ’s sartorial trickery gave front-rowers a wow moment but was perhaps too subtle to dazzle those streaming the show on Instagram. That outfit (see the shirt above, and Kendall Jenner wearing a version of the look below) embodies an aesthetic shift that’s sweeping the fashion industry. Instead of buying trendy frippery to flaunt in social-media posts, stylish sorts are craving wearable clothes with subtle details like hand-stitched hems, carefully sculpted silhouettes or luxe textures—details that they, and anyone within a 5-foot radius, can appreciate in the moment.

☆ Fuddy-duddy Meta has a kid problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

His company Meta Platforms (META.O) landed in hot water with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for the third time on Wednesday over its handling of younger users’ data. Monetizing them is difficult, as other social media platforms have shown. The other is Meta hasn’t been able to reinvent itself such that it can capture new and younger users anyway. Meantime Meta’s user growth has been slowing, which has eroded its market share in social media ads. Those concerns aren’t totally unique to Zuckerberg’s company, as several state lawmakers across the United States are debating legislation that would restrict kids’ social media use.

☆ Meta has a kid problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

☆ FTC says Meta should be barred from monetizing data from younger users
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The FTC said Meta should be banned from monetizing data it collects from younger users. In a statement on Wednesday, Meta spokesman Andy Stone called the FTC proposal “a political stunt” and vowed to contest the effort. Meta had allowed personal information to leak to apps that users of the platform were no longer using, the FTC alleged. That data sharing, the FTC claimed, contrasted with Meta’s public statements about how it cuts off a third-party app’s access to Facebook users’ information if the users stop using the third-party app for 90 days. In a statement, Bedoya said he was skeptical whether there was enough of a connection between Meta’s alleged harms and the proposed remedies to legally sustain a complete ban on monetizing the data of young users.

☆ F.T.C. Seeks ‘Blanket’ Ban on Meta’s Use of Young Users’ Data
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Natasha Singer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Federal Trade Commission escalated its fight with the tech industry’s biggest companies on Wednesday as it moved to impose a “blanket prohibition” on the collection of young people’s personal data by Meta, Facebook’s parent company. The commission wants to significantly expand a record-breaking, $5 billion consent order with the company from 2020 and said that Meta had failed to fully meet the legal commitments it made to overhaul its privacy practices to better protect its users. Regulators also said Meta had misled parents about their ability to control whom their children communicated with on its Messenger Kids app and misrepresented the access it gave some app developers to users’ private data. The proposed changes mark the third time the agency has taken action against the social media giant over privacy issues.

New York CNN —Hackers have seized on worldwide interest in the artificial intelligence-powered tool ChatGPT in an effort to break into people’s devices, Facebook owner Meta revealed in a security report Wednesday, equating the phenomenon to the surge in cryptocurrency scams. Meta’s security team said it found hackers software that claimed to offer ChatGPT-based tools via browser extensions and online app stores that contained malware designed to give hackers access to people’s devices, Meta said. “From a bad actor’s perspective, ChatGPT is the new crypto,” Guy Rosen, Meta’s chief information security officer, told reporters, meaning scammers have quickly moved to exploit interest in the technology. Some of the tools include working ChatGPT features but also contain malicious code to infect users’ devices. “With an ultimate goal to trick people into clicking on malicious links or downloading malicious software, the latest wave of malware campaigns have taken notice of generative AI tools becoming popular.”

New York CNN —Facebook’s parent company Meta announced Wednesday that it has taken down a network of more than 100 China-based accounts that posed as organizations in the US and Europe and pushed pro-Beijing talking points. The network, which had more than 15,000 followers on Meta’s platforms, appears to have had some financial resources behind it. The fake accounts also posted “negative commentary about Uyghur activists and critics of the Chinese state,” it said. “We’re keeping a close eye” on the Chinese influence operations heading into the 2024 election, the official said. Ahead of the 2022 US midterm election, FBI officials expressed concern that Chinese operatives appeared to be engaging in “Russian-style influence activities” that stoke American divisions.

☆ The best of Milan Design Week 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Marianna Cerini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Milan CNN —The design world’s largest annual fair enjoyed a return to full pre-pandemic form with its 2023 showcase, transforming the city of Milan with hundreds of exhibitions, site-specific installations, pop-ups and public projects. Almost everywhere, the focus was on sustainable design, circular economy, material innovation and artistry combining craft with innovation. Some of the most interesting ideas were those that looked at waste – literally – to rethink what design can do when it uses what is already there. Shown in various stages of decomposition, the chair challenged viewers to approach products with the end of their lifecycle in mind. Top image: One of two bags design legend Gaetano Pesce created for Bottega Veneta’s Milan Design Week installation.

☆ Meta Is Mostly Back in the Facebook Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Facebook owner Meta Platforms has dubbed 2023 to be a ‘Year of Efficiency.’ Photo: john g mabanglo/ShutterstockMark Zuckerberg has been really into efficiency lately. One only hopes it isn’t a passing fad. The chief executive of Facebook-parent Meta Platforms announced the “Year of Efficiency” as his major theme for the company in its last earnings report three months ago. He has leaned in even more since, announcing plans last month to lay off 10,000 employees on top of the 11,000 job cuts announced late last year. The net result will reduce Meta’s head count by nearly a quarter—a far more aggressive reduction than those announced by other big tech companies that overhired during the pandemic.

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