Topic: meta platforms

  • Meta Faces Its Biggest Reckoning Yet

    Meta Faces Its Biggest Reckoning Yet

    A federal trial in Oakland pits 29 state attorneys general against Meta, alleging COPPA violations by collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent and making deceptive statements about Facebook and Instagram. Meta's defense argues full COPPA compliance, denies deceptive communi...

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  • Meta smart glasses banned by cinemas, schools, and ICE

    Meta smart glasses banned by cinemas, schools, and ICE

    The UK Cinema Association is rolling out bans on Meta smart glasses in cinemas due to concerns over film piracy and patron privacy, as the devices can discreetly record high-quality footage. This move is part of a broader wave of institutional pushback, with schools updating dress codes and U.S. ...

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  • Why Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘AI for everyone’ claim rings hollow

    Why Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘AI for everyone’ claim rings hollow

    Meta released Glimmer, an open-weight AI model for local deployment, contrasting sharply with its proprietary flagship Muse Spark, and timed it with Zuckerberg's open letter advocating for democratized AI. The Equity podcast highlights that open-weight models like Glimmer don't truly democratize ...

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  • Zuckerberg: US Shouldn't Block Chinese AI Models

    Zuckerberg: US Shouldn't Block Chinese AI Models

    Mark Zuckerberg argues against banning Chinese AI models from the U.S. market, calling it ineffective and advocating for open competition instead of isolation. He warns that blocking Chinese AI could stifle American innovation and leave the U.S. isolated from global advances, urging policymakers ...

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  • Facebook pivots strategy to compete with TikTok

    Facebook pivots strategy to compete with TikTok

    Facebook will test a full-screen video format resembling TikTok's interface, starting in countries where video content is popular, with a potential U.S. expansion in 2027. The platform is adapting to competition from YouTube and TikTok, having lost 20 million users across Meta services in early 2...

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  • Meta patents AI that monitors voice all day to track mood

    Meta patents AI that monitors voice all day to track mood

    Meta has patented an AI-powered mood tracking system that continuously monitors voice, transcribes speech, and analyzes vocal patterns like sighs and tone shifts to infer emotional states in real time. The technology raises significant privacy concerns, as critics point to risks around data secur...

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  • Celebrity Backlash Against Smart Glasses Intensifies

    Celebrity Backlash Against Smart Glasses Intensifies

    Meta has sold millions of smart glasses, but celebrities like Lorde and Tyler, the Creator are publicly criticizing them, with Lorde calling them out during a festival performance sponsored by Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses. The backlash echoes the social stigma that killed Google Glass in 2013, when pe...

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  • Instagram’s algorithm now lets you tell it what you want

    Instagram’s algorithm now lets you tell it what you want

    Instagram's new "Your Algorithm" feature allows users to view and adjust the topics that appear on their main feed, giving them more control over the content they see. This update extends algorithmic control previously available for Reels and Explore to the primary feed, letting users actively sh...

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  • Meta AI launches Incognito Chat for private conversations

    Meta AI launches Incognito Chat for private conversations

    Meta AI is launching an Incognito Chat feature that offers completely private conversations with no server logs, with chats disappearing after each session, similar to end-to-end encryption. The feature raises safety concerns as it removes Meta's ability to detect and intervene in crisis situatio...

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  • Facebook and Instagram Use AI Bone Scans to ID Kids in Photos

    Facebook and Instagram Use AI Bone Scans to ID Kids in Photos

    Meta is using AI-powered bone structure analysis to identify and remove users under 13 on Facebook and Instagram. The system scans photos and videos for physical markers like height and bone structure, but Meta emphasizes it is not facial recognition. The AI also analyzes posts, comments, bios, a...

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  • Meta missed mobile, now builds OS for humanoid robots

    Meta missed mobile, now builds OS for humanoid robots

    Meta has acquired Assured Robot Intelligence, a startup co-founded by roboticists Lerrel Pinto and Xiaolong Wang, to build an operating system for humanoid robots. The acquisition gives Meta access to cutting-edge software and talent in robot learning, manipulation, and locomotion, positioning it...

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  • Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Scam Ads on Facebook, Instagram

    Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Scam Ads on Facebook, Instagram

    The Consumer Federation of America has sued Meta, alleging it deceived the public by failing to implement adequate safeguards against fraudulent ads on Facebook and Instagram. The complaint states these scam ads, which often target vulnerable users, have caused significant consumer financial harm...

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  • Instagram Adds Edit Feature for User Comments

    Instagram Adds Edit Feature for User Comments

    Instagram has introduced a comment editing feature, allowing users to correct typos or errors within a 15-minute window after posting. Users can make unlimited edits during this period via an "Edit" option, with revised comments being clearly marked as "Edited" for transparency. The update aligns...

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  • Meta, YouTube Lose Landmark Social Media Addiction Case

    Meta, YouTube Lose Landmark Social Media Addiction Case

    A California jury found Meta and Google negligent for failing to warn users about the mental health risks of their platforms, directly linking this to harm suffered by a young plaintiff. The companies were ordered to pay $3 million in compensatory damages, with Meta bearing 70% of the liability d...

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  • Confidence Drives Media Spend More Than Performance

    Confidence Drives Media Spend More Than Performance

    Marketers are now allocating budgets more based on their confidence in measuring a channel's return than on raw performance data alone, leading to concentrated spending in defensible channels. Google Search and YouTube are the top channels where marketers have high measurement confidence, while n...

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  • WhatsApp to Launch Premium Subscription Service

    WhatsApp to Launch Premium Subscription Service

    WhatsApp is developing a premium subscription service called WhatsApp Plus, marking a strategic shift for Meta to monetize the app while keeping its core version free. The premium tier will focus on personalization and utility, offering features like custom themes and a significant increase in pi...

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  • Tech Giants Sued Over Social Media Addiction and Mental Health

    Tech Giants Sued Over Social Media Addiction and Mental Health

    Landmark lawsuits against major social media companies are proceeding to trial, accusing platforms of harming teenage mental health and potentially forcing executives like Mark Zuckerberg to testify. The cases focus on product design, alleging platforms deliberately engineered addictive features ...

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  • Google Demand Gen Now Uses AI for Lookalike Audiences

    Google Demand Gen Now Uses AI for Lookalike Audiences

    Google is transforming Lookalike audiences in Demand Gen campaigns from a strict targeting constraint into an AI-powered optimization signal, starting March 2026, to broaden reach and enhance performance. Under the new model, Lookalike tiers will guide Google's AI to explore for potential convert...

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  • Urgent AI Privacy Settings You Must Update Now

    Urgent AI Privacy Settings You Must Update Now

    Using AI services like ChatGPT involves the comprehensive recording and analysis of your inputs, including questions, images, and ideas, to refine the AI and personalize its responses. This collected data serves a dual purpose: enhancing the AI's intelligence and tailoring interactions to maintai...

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  • Instagram Reels Are Coming to Your TV

    Instagram Reels Are Coming to Your TV

    Meta is launching a pilot TV app for Instagram Reels on Amazon Fire TV devices in the U.S., expanding the platform from mobile to a communal, big-screen viewing experience. The app features a lean-back interface with curated video "Channels" for simplified discovery and supports multiple accounts...

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