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☆ Inside Mark Zuckerberg's new ambitions for metaverse gaming, an area likely 'safe' from layoffs coming this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Gaming in Reality Labs is now seen as "safe" for workers as new layoffs begin. Gaming within Meta's Reality Labs division is getting more attention and resources as the company continues to reorganize during what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg dubbed the "Year of Efficiency." Increased focus on gaming from Reality Labs is a shift for Zuckerberg. Besides gaming, Zuckerberg and Bosworth have publicly commented on the importance of AI at the company, with the metaverse taking a backseat. Meta now recognizes internally that traditional gaming is the most likely path to gaining financial ground with Reality Labs, one of the people familiar noted.

☆ Fake images of Donald Trump and Pope Francis caused a stir. Here's 4 ways to tell if an image is AI-generated.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Fake images of Donald Trump's arrest and Pope Francis in a coat recently fooled the internet. AI experts shared four tips to identify deepfakes including reverse image search and fact-checking. The more subtle ones like Pope Francis can "slowly just chip away at our trust in visual media and make it harder to navigate the truth." Try a reverse image searchIf all else fails, Ajder suggested using a reverse image search tool to find the context of an image. Ajder recommended Google Lens or Yandex's visual search function for reverse image search capabilities.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg is spending most of his time on A.I., says Meta CTO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Zuckerberg told the world in Oct. 2021 that he was rebranding Facebook to Meta as the company pushes toward the metaverse. Meta has its own large language model called LLaMa that it said in February it would release to researchers. Large language models power applications like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing AI, and Google's Bard. Bosworth told Nikkei that he expects the company will debut some commercial applications using AI this year, and it could help the company's profit-driving ad business. Still, Bosworth told Nikkei that Meta could also use AI in the metaverse.

☆ An AI researcher who has been warning about the technology for over 20 years says we should 'shut it all down,' and issue an 'indefinite and worldwide' ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

One AI researcher who has been warning about the tech for over 20 years said to "shut it all down." Eliezer Yudkowsky said the open letter calling for a pause on AI development doesn't go far enough. Yudkowsky, who has been described as an "AI doomer," suggested an "indefinite and worldwide" ban. The letter, signed by 1,125 people including Elon Musk and Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak, requested a pause on training AI tech more powerful than OpenAI's recently launched GPT-4. Yudkowsky instead suggested a ban that is "indefinite and worldwide" with no exceptions for governments or militaries.

☆ A viral image of Pope Francis dressed in a stylish white puffer coat that fooled social media users was actually generated by AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An image of Pope Francis wearing a stylish white puffer jacket was actually generated by AI. The image went viral on social media with many people not recognizing that it was actually fake. It was then circulated on platforms like Twitter with posts receiving hundreds of thousands of likes and many believing it's real, including a number of celebrities and high-profile social media personalities. It has taken social media by storm as users generate fake images of former president Donald Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and President Vladimir Putin. Ajder said he's worked with Partnership in AI — a non-profit organization promoting responsible AI use — to set out guidelines for people using AI tools as well as creators of the tool.

☆ Meta's big job cuts aren't about the tricky economy or rising inflation. They're about Mark Zuckerberg's mistakes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it was economic changes that led to over 21,000 in total being laid off. Investors have long said that Zuckerberg's own decisions and mistakes led to this point. Zuckerberg has bet his company's future on the metaverse, including its expensive bets on virtual reality goggles via its Reality Labs unit. Meta's stock has moved up after every layoff announcement, a sign that investors liked the announcements. Investors had a positive response on Wednesday as Meta's stock rose 6% again off the news of more layoffs.

☆ Meta is slashing up to $500 off the price of its VR headsets after 'underwhelming' sales and mixed reviews
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta is cutting the price of its VR headsets, which are a big part of its metaverse ambitions. The high-end Meta Quest Pro will be reduced from $1,500 to $1,000. The headset has had mixed reviews and suffered "underwhelming sales," The Verge reported. The price of the 256GB Meta Quest 2 will drop from $500 to $430, while the higher-end Meta Quest Pro will get a $500 haircut to $1,000. They've been matched by "underwhelming sales," Alex Heath of The Verge reported in his Command Line newsletter on Friday.

☆ Meta VP tells staff to make the metaverse 'so obviously successful' that his dad stops calling every week to ask about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Meta VP told staff to "buckle down" and "build great products" for the metaverse, per The Verge. Only one in 10 users reportedly come back to its Horizon metaverse platform after a month. The VP reportedly said he wants the metaverse and VR to be "so obviously successful that my dad stops calling me every week to ask" about it. "And please, let's make the metaverse and VR so obviously successful that my dad stops calling me every week to ask me about it," he reportedly added. But only time will tell if Meta's products will keep users active in the metaverse.

☆ After losing billions of dollars on the metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg's launching a 'top-level' team at Meta to develop AI products for WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta's foraying into generative AI amid a rush into the technology following ChatGPT's popularity. Mark Zuckerberg said Meta will be creating a new "top-level product group" focused on generative AI. But Meta lost nearly $14 billion in 2022 amid its relentless pursuit of the metaverse. Meta's foray into generative AI follows a big rush into the technology after chatbot ChatGPT went viral. His relentless pursuit into the metaverse cost Meta $13.7 billion in 2022.

☆ Meta shares rocket 25%, on pace for the best day in a decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta shares jumped 25% Thursday morning, on pace for the best day in nearly a decade, with a slew of analyst upgrades coming off the back of a fourth-quarter revenue beat and optimistic prognostications from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Meta shares sit at their highest point since September 2022, weeks before a disastrous third-quarter earnings report that prompted analysts across Wall Street to openly question Zuckerberg's leadership. posited Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney. He cited "materially reduced expense projections" and a larger-than-anticipated share buyback, upping his price target to $275 and reiterating an outperform rating. At Guggenheim, Michael Morris revised his price target to $210, maintaining a buy rating, citing in part lowered costs and a belief in management messaging on "momentum."

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse just keeps losing money, as Meta's Reality Labs division posts a loss of $13.7 billion for the year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reality Labs is the business and research unit of Meta that focuses on the metaverse. It reported a loss of $4.28 billion for the fourth quarter, wider than $3.3 billion in the quarter prior. The company posted its fourth-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, with Reality Labs showing an operating loss of $4.28 billion for the fourth quarter, wider than $3.3 billion in the previous quarter. In the past 12 months, Reality Labs has sucked up more than $13.7 billion. However, in an internal email sent in late December, Bosworth reportedly told the 18,000 members of Reality Labs that the company has solved too many problems simply "by adding headcount."

☆ Meta set to report fourth-quarter earnings after the bell
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., left, arrives at federal court in San Jose, California, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Meta reports fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday as the company tries to reverse a slide that pushed the stock down by 64% last year. The company also said its "internal forecast" assumes a revenue drop in the first quarter of between 2% and 10%. Alphabet and Amazon will wrap up earnings reports from the major online ad platforms on Thursday, followed by Pinterest next week. Meta said last quarter that "Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year."

☆ Meta and Apple are no longer among the best places to work, according to a new Glassdoor ranking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Grace Kay | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta and Apple fell off Glassdoor's list of best places to work for the first time in over a decade. Other tech companies like Google, LinkedIn, and Microsoft made the top 20 of this year's list. While Meta and Apple fell off the list, tech companies still dominated the US rankings, accounting for 40% of the organizations on the list. Top tech companies like Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Google made the top 20. There are some tech companies that entered the list," Zhao said.

☆ JPMorgan upgrades Meta to buy, saying top and bottom-line pressures will ease in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"Heading into 2023, Meta should be comping peak TikTok impact early in the year, and we believe overall Meta engagement remains solid, with time spent per user stabilizing," said Anmuth. Reels, Meta's TikTok competitor, should be revenue neutral next year, according to JPMorgan. Of course, JPMorgan still sees major losses ahead for Meta's reality labs division. "Reality Labs losses increasingly weigh on Meta's GAAP earnings & we project RL losses doubling from $6.6B in 2020 to $13.7B in 2022," Anmuth wrote. JPMorgan projects reality labs losses reaching $17 billion in 2023 and $19 billion in 2024.

☆ Meta is promoting its VR headset with a 3D spaceman bursting out of London's most famous advertising billboard
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta unveiled a new 3D ad for its Meta Quest 2 VR headset on London's Piccadilly Circus. Meta's Reality Labs took over the Piccadilly Lights in the heart of London's West End to promote its Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset. Since 2019, the Facebook owner has pumped $36 billion into Reality Labs, according to an Insider analysis of Meta's financial filings. Reality Labs posted an operating loss of $9.4 billion in the first nine months of this year alone. The Meta Quest 2 ad will run until the end of the year and it will be rolled out across the US as well.

☆ Testing Meta’s Quest Pro VR headset with CNBC Technology Executive Council members
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Susan Caminiti | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Much of this vision hinges on Meta's $1,500 Quest Pro headset, which went on sale last month. The new virtual reality headset has some noted improvements over the mass consumer $400 Quest 2 headset model (which will remain on sale, though a Quest 3 is expected next year) — notably better sound and sensors. The Quest Pro can track your eyes and face, so your avatar can make the same faces that you do. Meta is betting that businesses, not consumers, are going to be the first big market for the Pro headset. Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., demonstrates the Meta Quest Pro during the virtual Meta Connect event in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022.

☆ ‘Sad, hurt, uncertain, disappointed, and now jobless’: Meta employees react to being laid off
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Jyoti Mann | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Meta CEO said he "got this wrong" and apologized to staff for over-investing in the company, calling the layoffs a "last resort." Much of Meta's recruiting team was impacted by the layoffs, as Zuckerberg said the company plans to freeze hiring. One former Meta recruiter, Brianna Sgro, took to LinkedIn to announce she was fired and wrote: "I'm sad, hurt, uncertain, disappointed, and now jobless." Many employees expressed their gratitude for being able to work at a company like Meta even as they faced broad layoffs. Below is a selection of LinkedIn posts and tweets from employees who were laid off from Meta:

☆ Facebook parent company Meta is now the worst performer in the S&P 500 this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A man poses in front of a sign of Meta, the new name for the company formerly known as Facebook, at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, October 28, 2021. With Meta shares sinking to new lows, the social media giant is now the worst performer in the S&P 500 this year as of Thursday. In October, for instance, Meta reported its second straight quarterly sales drop and issued weak fourth-quarter guidance that was below analyst's expectations. But building the metaverse doesn't come cheap with Meta's Reality Labs business unit, which is overseeing its VR and AR initiatives, losing $9.4 billion thus far in 2022. "Beyond 2023, we expect to pace Reality Labs investments such that we can achieve our goal of growing overall company operating income in the long run," Meta said in October.

☆ Meta shares plunge 23% on downgrades, missed earnings and big spending on metaverse
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Sofia Pitt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of Meta plunged 23% in premarket trading Thursday as investors and analysts digested the company's third-quarter earnings miss and a weak fourth-quarter outlook. The parent company of Facebook reported quarterly revenue of $27.7 billion Wednesday, a decline of more than 4% year over year and its second straight quarterly decline. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reiterated his commitment to spending billions of dollars developing the metaverse. He expects the company's issues to persist as Meta continues to increase spending to build out its AI capabilities. Since the start of the year, Meta shares are down by more than 61%.

☆ Meta plans to lose even more money building the metaverse while its ads business shrinks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., demonstrates the Meta Quest Pro during the virtual Meta Connect event in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reiterated his commitment to spending billions of dollars developing the metaverse amid investor concern about the health of his company's online advertising business. Meta's Reality Labs unit, which responsible for developing the virtual reality and related augmented reality technology that underpins the yet-to-be built metaverse, has lost $9.4 billion so far in 2022. "We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year," Meta said in a statement. "Beyond 2023, we expect to pace Reality Labs investments such that we can achieve our goal of growing overall company operating income in the long run."

☆ Mark Zuckerberg vows to spend billions more on the metaverse next year despite burning a whopping $4 billion on it this quarter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta currently faces a number of headwinds, including a potential recession and a slowdown in the advertising market. The decision comes just days after a prominent tech investor wrote an open letter urging Mark Zuckerberg to curb spending. Meta's Reality Labs unit, which is central to the company's metaverse effort, saw revenue fall 49% to $285 million. Meta's increase in spending also goes against the wishes of at least one of its prominent investors. Brad Gerstner, an investor at Altimeter Capital, wrote an open letter to the company earlier this week urging Mark Zuckerberg to cut the company's expenses.

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