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☆ Meta's first-quarter win shows Zuckerberg is serious about cutting costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Meta Platforms (META) reported stellar first-quarter results on Wednesday, in the latest sign CEO Mark Zuckerberg's "year of efficiency" is translating into tangible financial progress for the Club name. Meta stock soared in afterhours trading by more than 11.5%, to around $233.70 a share. As a result, we are raising our price target on Meta stock to $250 per share, from $220. Outlook Meta said it expects second-quarter 2023 revenues to be in the range of $29.5 billion to $32 billion. First-quarter commentary Over 3 billion people now use one of the company's apps every day, Zuckerberg said at the start of Meta's post-earnings conference call Wednesday.

☆ Meta's Reality Labs records $3.99 billion quarterly loss as Zuckerberg pumps more cash into metaverse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg keeps racking up losses from his metaverse investments while downsizing his social media company through cost cuts. In its first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, Meta said its Reality Labs unit, which is tasked with building the virtual reality and augmented reality technologies for the futuristic metaverse, recorded a $3.99 billion operating loss. The numbers show a slowdown from last quarter, when Reality Labs lost $4.28 billion on $727 million of revenue. For all of last year, Reality Labs recorded an operating loss of $13.72 billion on $2.16 billion in sales, underscoring how VR and AR technologies have yet to reach the mainstream. In March, Meta cut the price of its Quest 2 VR headset as well as the high-end Quest Pro.

☆ Meta is younger dog learning newer new tricks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is a full generation younger than its Big Tech peers, and it’s looking pretty fresh, too. The company's first-quarter profit announced on Wednesday beat analysts’ expectations, sending shares of the $530 billion company up 12% in after-market trading. A 3% year-over-year boost in revenue, the first such increase the company has had in a while, was a pleasant surprise. In order to grow ads 26%, the company had to slice the average price per ad by 17%. Operating expenses jumped 10% from the same period last year, giving the company a 25% operating margin for the quarter.

☆ Meta is one of the most brutal tech job-choppers so far, axing about a quarter of employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The major tech firms are conducting ongoing, brutal layoffs. We crunched the numbers to see which major tech firms have reduced their headcount the most. According to Insider analysis, Meta follows after announcing cuts that amount to almost a quarter of its workforce, which was around 87,000 staff in 2022. Our analysis doesn't include the third round of Meta job cuts which began this week, reportedly numbering in the thousands. A recent Insider analysis shows that revenue per employee dropped at many of the major tech firms now chopping jobs.

☆ Artificial intelligence will make Big Tech even bigger. Something needs to be done about the power imbalance, researchers warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

She asked if the company was selling unregistered securities (which is typically illegal, by the way — here's what it means). Big Tech + AI = even bigger tech. So Big Tech companies are best-positioned to gain even more power as artificial intelligence technology — like ChatGPT — gets further developed. Something needs to be done about this power imbalance, researchers warn. My teammate Emilia David breaks down the AI power imbalance and highlights some proposed solutions in her latest story.

☆ Meta and Disney begin cutting jobs. Here's a rundown of all Club names planning major layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

The list includes Meta Platforms (META) and Walt Disney (DIS). META YTD mountain Meta's stock performance year to date. The March layoff plan was in addition to the 11,000 job cuts disclosed in November. As part of this effort, Disney announced in February it was planning roughly 7,000 total job cuts in a series of three rounds. Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy announced 18,000 job cuts in early January impacting retail and recruiting operations .

As part of Meta's latest round of job cuts announced in March, the company on Wednesday started laying off employees in technical roles. A Meta spokesperson confirmed to CNBC the cuts had started. Gameplay engineers work on virtual and augmented reality products, according to a Meta job listing. With ad revenue slumping last year and its stock price in free-fall, Facebook's parent announced its first round of layoffs in November, affecting some 11,000 workers. As Zuckerberg said at the time, the new round of April layoffs targets technical workers.

☆ Meta’s latest round of layoffs is underway
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday began its latest round of layoffs focusing on technical workers, who are often thought of as more immune to job cuts in Silicon Valley. Zuckerberg’s notice said that restructurings and layoffs in Meta’s tech groups would take place in April. Members of Meta’s recruiting team were notified of additional layoffs last month, and cuts to the company’s business groups are expected to take place in late May. The 10,000 job reductions mark the second recent round of significant job cuts at Meta. With 11,000 job cuts announced in November and the 10,000 announced last month, Meta’s headcount will fall to around 66,000 — a total reduction of about 25%.

☆ Facebook’s parent company Meta is doing layoffs again. But there’s one ‘safe’ team that could actually benefit from the job cuts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Netflix is ending its DVD-rental service that started the company over two decades ago. Gaming is 'safe' at Facebook's parent company Meta. But multiple people told my colleague Kali Hays that gaming within Meta's Reality Labs division will likely remain immune — and perhaps actually benefit — from the job cuts. One person told Kali that after the layoffs are done, the team will be able to start hiring again. The hit Netflix reality show captivated US audiences.

☆ Meta's latest layoffs: Here are more than a dozen jobs and teams hit most by this week's cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kali Hays | Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

On Wednesday, thousands of Meta workers received early morning emails on if they still had jobs. Meta began another round of layoffs on Wednesday, and employees were again left to figure out for themselves which jobs, levels, and teams were impacted by the cuts. How the layoffs happenedThousands of tech and engineering workers received emails over the course of about two hours on Wednesday morning. Laid off workers generally received 16 weeks of severance and benefits coverage for a year, as those laid off in November received. Impacted jobsHere is a running list of what types of jobs and certain teams at Meta were impacted by this round of layoffs.

☆ Meta opens up its Horizon Worlds VR app to teens for the first time, prompting outcries from US lawmakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —Meta is forging ahead with plans to let teenagers onto its virtual reality app, Horizon Worlds, despite objections from lawmakers and civil society groups that the technology could have possible unintended consequences for mental health. On Tuesday, the social media giant said children as young as 13 in Canada and the United States will gain access to Horizon Worlds for the first time in the coming weeks. Zuckerberg has pushed to spend billions developing VR hardware and software, even as Meta has scaled back significantly in other parts of its business. “Meta is despicably attempting to lure young teens to Horizon Worlds in an attempt to boost its failing platform,” said Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who last month, along with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, urged Zuckerberg to reconsider letting teens use the app. Lawmakers have previously raised alarms about the impact of some of Meta’s other products, including Instagram, on younger users.

The tech company will begin its latest round of layoffs today, in its Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Reality Labs units, according to Vox, with up to 4,000 positions possibly set to go. Disney will cut thousands of jobs next week, as part of the C.E.O. Commentators and investors said the moves were a long-awaited recognition that Goldman should focus on its strengths. The online chatboard company told The Times that it would start making others pay to use its application programming interface, the method that allows outside entities to download its vast offering of user discussions. projects by tech giants — which must be trained on huge amounts of data — as a reason for the move.

☆ 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.

☆ Apple CEO Tim Cook explains why people might want a mixed reality headset
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple CEO Tim Cook poses for a portrait next to a line of new MacBook Airs as he enters the Steve Jobs Theater during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California on June 6, 2022 . Apple CEO Tim Cook recently explained in an interview with GQ why people might want the sort of mixed reality headset his company is expected to announce in the coming months. In short: art, communication, "creative" applications, and corporate environments, Cook told GQ. "The idea that you could overlay the physical world with things from the digital world could greatly enhance people's communication, people's connection," Cook told GQ. Meta has struggled to find success with its virtual reality business, called Reality Labs.

☆ Welcome to the era of viral AI generated 'news' images
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

None of these things actually happened, but AI-generated images depicting them did go viral online over the past week. The images ranged from obviously fake to, in some cases, compellingly real, and they fooled some social media users. There are also concerns that AI-generated images could be used for harassment, or to further drive divided internet users apart. Eliot Higgins, founder and creative director of the investigative group Bellingcat, posted fake images of former President Donald Trump to Twitter last week. Many of the recent viral AI-generated images were created by a tool called Midjourney, a less than year-old platform that allows users to create images based on short text prompts.

☆ Welcome to the era of viral AI generated ‘news’ images
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

☆ 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 says a network fee is not the fix for European telecoms firms' financial problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and other operators have lobbied for two decades for U.S. tech giants to contribute to 5G and broadband roll-out. "We recognise the financial challenges that European telecom operators now face after decades of strong performance," Kevin Salvadori, Meta's vice president for network and Bruno Cendon Martin, its director and head of reality labs wireless, wrote in a blog post. "However, proposals by some European telecom operators to impose network fees on Content Application Providers (CAPs) such as Meta are not the solution," they said. It dismissed telecoms providers' arguments that the expansion of the metaverse, shared virtual worlds accessible via the internet, would strain infrastructure capacity. The development of the metaverse will not require telecom operators to grow capital expenditures for greater network investment," Salvadori and Martin said.

☆ Facebook-parent Meta can rally more than 25% thanks to Reels and efficiency plans, Morgan Stanley says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta 's tightening its belt and has business improvements that may not be fully appreciated, Morgan Stanley said. Nowak also raised his price target by $60 to $250, implying an upside of 26.4% from Monday's close. All other Meta revenue should decline by 1% in 2023, but grow 5% in 2024. In addition to raising the price target, he also raised the 2024 expected EBITDA by 7%. The new price target implies a 9 times 2024 EBITDA multiple, which is a 20% historical discount.

☆ What metaverse? Meta says its single largest investment is now in ‘advancing AI’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“Our single largest investment is in advancing AI and building it into every one of our products,” Zuckerberg said Tuesday. And not to be left behind, Meta announced late last month that it was forming a “top-level product group” to “turbocharge” the company’s work on AI tools. “I do think it is a good thing to focus on AI,” Ali Mogharabi, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNN of Zuckerberg’s comments. In 2022, Meta lost more than $13.7 billion in its “Reality Labs” unit, which houses its metaverse efforts. After taking a beating in 2022, shares for Meta have surged more than 50% since the start of the year.

☆ Wall Street says Meta job cuts reiterate focus on efficiency, offer 'rare EPS upside story'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The latest round of job cuts at Meta Platforms is boosting Wall Street's confidence in the upside potential for earnings in the months and year ahead. It's another round of eliminations after Meta's announcement in November that it would be laying off 13% of its workforce. Despite the blow to workers, Wall Street views the latest round of layoffs as a sign that Meta Platforms is following through on these efficiency plans. Post called the company in a Tuesday note a "rare EPS upside story," saying that the cuts should set Meta up to generate higher profitability once the economy reaccelerates. Although Wall Street broadly praised the latest efficiency move from Meta, some analysts say there's more work to do.

Meta will lay off 10,000 more workers and incur restructuring costs ranging from three to five billion dollars, the company announced Tuesday, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg warning that economic instability could continue for "many years." He added that the company plans to close 5,000 additional open roles that it hasn't yet filled. The new round of layoffs follow a previous round of cuts, announced in November, that affected over 11,000 workers, which equated to roughly 13% of Meta's overall staff. Zuckerberg told analysts in February that the Meta plans "on cutting projects that aren't performing or may no longer be crucial" while simultaneously "removing layers of middle management to make decisions faster." In January, Google revealed plans to lay off more than 12,000 workers, Microsoft announced plans to cut 10,000 employees and Salesforce said it planned to cut 7,000 jobs.

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