Meta Platforms News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

In the last few months, Meta Platforms has been adding more and more artificial intelligence (AI) features to its suite of apps including Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, perhaps to keep up in the AI race against its competitors. Its latest foray into AI comes in the form of Meta AI, an AI-powered chatbot that users can not only converse with but also accomplish tasks such as generating AI images.

AI roundup, April 25: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the expansion in AI investment to stay ahead of competitors such as Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants. The company also assured investors of monetisation opportunities. In other news, Duolingo highlighted that one of the reasons for their layoffs was AI adoption. Know more about what happened in the world of AI.

iPhone maker Apple denied violating a court order governing its App Store and urged a California federal judge to reject a request by “Fortnite” developer Epic Games to hold it in contempt.

Over the past few years, the Meta platform was bashed by many concerned parents about child safety. Now, to take action and protect its teenage user base, Meta is testing a nudity protection feature for Instagram's messages which detects and blurs the nude images which are being shared by other users. This feature will keep users safe from potential scams and harmful content which appears on Instagram. This move came after serious pressure from the US and European governments. Know more about how the nudity protection feature on Instagram will work. 

Meta Platforms Inc. is under immense pressure to ensure that social media content created by artificial intelligence doesn't cause havoc with elections this year. The company's top leaders say they haven't seen that happen yet on their services.

Apple has made a significant change to its App Store regulations, allowing retro game emulators globally. Now, developers can create emulator apps for classic console games, with an option for users to download titles. However, Apple emphasizes that developers must ensure compliance with copyright rules.

Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Elon Musk's X and Match Group on Wednesday joined "Fortnite" video game maker Epic Games' protest that Apple has failed to honor a court-ordered injunction governing payments in its lucrative App Store.

Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp., X Corp. and Match Group Inc. asked a federal judge to reject Apple Inc.'s plan for opening its App Store to outside payment options.

In the coming weeks or months, Meta Platforms could announce a new but more affordable version of its Quest 3 headset, and it is being dubbed the Meta Quest 3 Lite. While official details are scarce, rumours and leaks have given us a glimpse of what the Meta Quest 3 Lite could offer. In a new development, screenshots from a Meta User Research Zoom meeting have been leaked, providing details about the Meta's rumoured affordable VR headset including its name - the Meta Quest 3s. Know all about it.

Apple made a major concession in its battle to protect the dominance of its App Store on iPhones and other devices in Europe on Tuesday, saying developers will be free to distribute their apps directly to consumers.

(Reuters) - Google is restricting AI chatbot Gemini from answering questions about the global elections set to happen this year, the Alphabet-owned firm said on Tuesday, as it looks to avoid potential missteps in the deployment of the technology.

Forty U.S. states and Washington, D.C. called on Meta Platforms to crack down on scammers who hijack Facebook and Instagram accounts, to address a "dramatic" surge in account takeovers.

Meta Platforms, the maker of the Oculus Quest and its successors, has added a new feature to its Meta Quest+ subscription service: a rotating games catalog like Xbox Game Pass. The company formerly known as Facebook introduced its first generation of VR headsets back in 2019 and, since then, it's sought to build on the technology. The Oculus Quest was followed by the Meta Quest 2 and then the Meta Quest 3, and the library for all the headsets has grown over time.

Meta Platforms is planning to release the newest version of its artificial-intelligence large language model Llama 3 in July which would give better responses to contentious questions posed by users, The Information reported on Wednesday.

Meta's WhatsApp has announced a collaboration with the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) to take on the sharp rise of fake news and deepfakes in India, especially as the country moves closer to its election dates.

 The Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) and Meta have announced that a dedicated fact-checking helpline on WhatsApp - aimed at combating deepfakes and deceptive AI-generated content - will be available for the public in March 2024.

 Meta Platforms Inc. released new guidelines for small businesses that advertise on Facebook and Instagram, aiming to help them get around fees imposed by Apple Inc. 

Bluesky CEO, Jay Graber, has announced the imminent introduction of comprehensive hashtag support on the emerging platform, signalling the next evolution in user engagement that has boosted its profile as one of the strongest emerging rivals to billionaire Elon Musk's X. In a recent interview on the Techmeme Ride Home Podcast, Graber emphasised the logical progression of "linkifying" hashtags to enhance the user experience.

In 2023, Apple announced its first-ever venture in the world of AR/VR, taking on heavyweights such as Meta. The iPhone maker's first spatial computer, which it calls the Vision Pro, finally went on sale last month and it has divided opinions ever since. Some say it is the tech of the future, while others call it incredibly isolating. But with an ever-growing library of apps, Apple is seriously looking to trump Meta in the world of mixed reality, even though its headset costs as much as 7 times more. In a new video, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his thoughts on Apple's new headset and compared it to his company's Quest headset.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been in the news virtually throughout the whole of the last year and 2024 has started with a bang too. This is courtesy of the major strides the company has taken in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) where its big bet on Sam Altman-led OpenAI has meant that Microsoft is virtually leading the race against rival tech titans with Google, Meta Platforms, and Amazon playing catch up. And the biggest rival of them all, Apple, is yet to start the race. With AI set to transform the world in every way imaginable and some ways that are still to be thought-up, the leadership in this space would itself have ensured Nadella's place at the top of the best tech CEOs ever list after Apple founder Steve Jobs.

The other day I did something I haven't done for years. I browsed Facebook. By which I mean: I really took a look around. Good grief, what a mess! It's like walking round an abandoned amusement park of badly executed ideas. Can you name a single person who's found love through Facebook Dating, which was meant to challenge Tinder? Is anyone viewing Facebook Watch, a supposed rival to Netflix? How about the Facebook Gaming portal, once billed as its foray into cloud gaming and an effort to take on streamer platforms Twitch and YouTube? Today it's littered with low-rent titles offering little more to the player than your typical fruit machine. Even some of the more popular ideas must be shared with warning labels — scammers are everywhere on Facebook Marketplace. 

Have you suffered an “involuntary career event” recently? Perhaps you were a casualty of “corporate outplacing,” the unfortunate, yet ostensibly necessary result of your company “rightsizing.” Managers are running out of ways to say you no longer have a job. Layoffs in the first month of 2024 have left tens of thousands without jobs, with the tech industry alone cutting 32,000 roles. The way the bad news is delivered is more important than ever, as companies fear being canceled on social media after a poorly executed final conversation. Executives are using all kinds of euphemisms to avoid being straightforward with their employees.

A recent report has revealed a potential hardware-related collaboration between Nvidia and Nintendo for the next generation of Nintendo consoles. The Switch 2, the successor to the popular Switch handheld, is rumored to be revealed as early as next month, with developers already believed to be preparing for games for the new console.

GTA 6 release date: 2023 was a great year for Grand Theft Auto (GTA) fans as the Rockstar Games finally showed the first glimpse at GTA 6, the highly anticipated sequel to GTA 5. But even before the launch, the game has already started shattering records. The GTA 6 trailer broke the record for most views in the initial 24-hour period for a non-music video, overtaking the previous record of YouTuber Mr Beast. It has only added fuel to the fire and speculations about the various elements of the game are surfacing rapidly. In the midst of all this, a report suggests that GTA 6 could arrive in early 2025! Know all about the GTA 6 release date.

 Meta Platforms Inc. is tightening default direct message settings for teens on Instagram and Facebook, building on efforts to enhance safety as lawmakers and parents concerned about harmful content continue to pressure social media platforms.

Sheryl Sandberg, who helped to transform Facebook from a tech startup into a digital advertising empire, will step down from the board of Meta, Facebook's parent company.

Over the last year, artificial intelligence (AI) space has been humming with activity and new innovations. Revelations have been coming at a fast and furious pace and the latest one is by Meta Platforms chief Mark Zuckerberg. While every tech giant is bringing new AI tools and experimenting with large Language Models (LMMs), Meta has been developing its own AI capabilities without really looking to steal the spotlight away from the likes of OpenAI, Google or for that matter Microsoft. Now, in the latest announcement, Zuckerberg revealed Meta's AI efforts being directed towards bringing advanced and easily accessible technologies for users to benefit from. Highlighting Meta's upcoming plans to expand its AI efforts, he said the company will be exploring the capabilities of artificial general intelligence (AGI) and probably, and the technology will probably be open-sourced. The AI race is all about creating technology that can be super-intelligent on its own.  

AI Roundup: Several notable developments took place in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) today, January 18. At the Microsoft forum, startup founders have shared their views on AI opportunities in India. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum's AI Governance Alliance highlighted the need for global efforts to make access to AI equitable at Davos.

Meta Platforms, the tech giant, has been working on various updates to make its instant messaging app even more user-friendly. And now, WhatsApp users on iOS are in for a treat due to the latest update - a custom sticker maker that adds a fun twist to chats. You can say goodbye to the hassle of exiting the app, as now you can create, edit, and share personalised stickers seamlessly within WhatsApp. While the WhatsApp sticker maker feature has been in-the-works for a while, iOS users will be the first to experience it, while Android users will have to wait for a while before they get their hands on it.

Teens and their consumption trends on social media has always been controversial. In effect, they have been able to access almost any content that there is, even those ones that are clearly inappropriate for their age and experience. While big platforms such as Meta do not share the actual data on how the different kinds of content affect the teen mind, governments across the world are concerned about how youngsters perceive the same. Therefore, to take a step forward to solve this problem, Meta Platforms has announced it will ban teens from accessing harmful content such as self-harm, nudity, suicide, eating disorders, and others. Know what Meta said about the new move.

Alphabet's Google went before a federal jury in Boston on Tuesday to argue against a computer scientist's claims that it should pay his company $1.67 billion for infringing patents that allegedly cover the processors used to power artificial intelligence technology in Google products.

 A trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies sued Ohio over a pending law that requires children to get parental consent to use social media apps. The law was part of an Ohio's law — which requires social media companies to obtain a parent's permission for children under 16 to sign up for social media and gaming apps — unconstitutionally impedes free speech and is overbroad and vague. The law also requires social media companies to provide parents with their privacy guidelines, so that families can know what content will be censored or moderated on their child's profile.

The largest technology stocks that lifted the broader market last year are having a less-rosy start to 2024. 

Earlier this year, my left ear, previously every bit as capable as my right, started letting me down. I at first had many explanations for this — a buildup of ear wax, some side effect of a sinus infection or a prolonged reaction to a lot of flying recently. It took a specialist to break it to me that I had joined the ranks of 1.25 billion people in the world who suffer from mild to moderate hearing loss.

Rashmika Mandanna deepfake video: Four suspects involved in uploading a deepfake video of actor Rashmika Mandana online have been tracked and the hunt is on to nab the main conspirator, police said on Wednesday. However, the four suspects turned out to be uploaders, not creators, the police said, adding that they were looking for the key conspirator in the case. Out of the four suspects, three have been tracked based on the details provided by Meta, the company that owns and operates social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

It didn't receive much fanfare outside of tech circles, but Meta Platforms Inc. took a pretty monumental step last week. For the first time, it allowed content posted on one of its apps to be interoperable with a social network it didn't own or control. After two decades of running a strictly walled garden, Meta was starting to open up.

Facebook-owner Meta and China's TikTok restricted a record number of social media posts and accounts in Malaysia in the first six months of 2023, data published by the firms showed, amid a jump in government requests to remove content.

Ottawa will keep pushing Meta to comply with a new law requiring large internet companies to pay Canadian news publishers for their content, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, but the Facebook parent stood by its decision to block news sharing rather than pay. The government on Friday published final regulations for the Online News Act before enforcement starts Dec. 19. The law requires technology companies with 20 million unique monthly users and annual revenues of C$1 billion ($748 million) or more to compensate Canadian news outlets for publishing links to their pages.

Meta in September launched its new AI smart glasses in collaboration with Ray-Ban with an in-built voice assistant and cameras to capture amazing pictures and videos. During the launch Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised a new AI feature that would enable the AI tool to tell more about the surroundings, and now finally, the company has rolled out the update. However, as of now only a few users in the US will get access to the update as part of a free trial. Know more about the upcoming AI features of Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses.

Facebook owner Meta's text-based app Threads arrived in the European Union on Thursday, months after its global launch in July, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. Threads is a spin-off of the Instagram photo app and is intended to be a rival to X, formerly known as Twitter, after that platform alienated many users and advertisers following Elon Musk's purchase last year.

Meta Platforms has fulfilled a longstanding promise by introducing default end-to-end encryption for one-on-one conversations and calls on Facebook Messenger. The company asserts that with this encryption enabled, only the sender and recipient of a message can access its contents. Initially introduced as an opt-in feature in 2016, end-to-end encrypted texts and calls for individual discussions will now be the standard, marking a significant milestone after an extended development process.

Meta Platforms Inc. is betting artificial intelligence will convince people to spend more time on its social media apps next year and is using the technology to make the biggest changes across its platforms since introducing short-form video Reels in 2020.

It appears that floodgates have opened in the final month of 2023, as tech firms are launching new AI models and tools virtually left, right, and center. Yesterday, Google unveiled its largest AI model called Gemini, and shortly before, Apple also released its machine learning framework MLX. Now, Meta has also launched its AI image generator tool called Imagine with Meta AI, which was so far only available in chats as a standalone platform, allowing anyone with a Meta account to generate stunning AI art. For now, the service is only available in the US, but it is expected to be expanded to other regions soon.

Meta Platforms is quietly starting to roll back the cross-platform chats feature it added to Facebook Messenger and Instagram that allowed users to send and receive messages from their contacts on the other platform. So, how will it affect users? As per the company, the ability for users to send a message to someone on Instagram while using Messenger or vice versa will be killed off by mid-December 2023. Alongside this, users of one platform will not be able to see the activity status of the users on the other platform in the message window.

Meta Platforms was told by EU tech regulators on Friday to provide more details on measures taken to tackle child sexual abuse material on its photo and video sharing app Instagram by Dec. 22 or risk a formal investigation under new EU online content rules.

Meta Platforms Inc. executives, speaking at an event Thursday, said there's been no major drawbacks to openly sharing its AI technology, even as many peers take the opposite approach.

Someone in China created thousands of fake social media accounts designed to appear to be from Americans and used them to spread polarizing political content in an apparent effort to divide the U.S. ahead of next year's elections, Meta said Thursday.

The question of age verification on the internet has always been fraught. Every now and then, a usually well-intentioned politician sees requiring age checks as a straightforward policy victory only to realize later not nearly enough consideration had been given to how a practical system would truly work. 

Seeing the boom of artificial intelligence (AI), Meta Platforms has been making efforts to incorporate this technology into its suite of products, and its latest offerings include an AI-powered image editor, as well as a video generator. These products follow the unveiling of the multi-persona AI chatbot called AI Personas which the company debuted at its Connect 2023 event last month. The company also announced Emu, its first-ever foundational model for image generation. The new AI tools announced by Meta are based on the same model. Here's all we know about it.

The EU added Meta and Snap to a growing list of tech companies it is probing to see how they are complying with a new law meant to stop illegal content online. The European Commission said it has sent formal requests for information to Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, and Snap, which runs the Snapchat image and messaging app, on what measures they have taken to protect minors online. They have until December 1 to reply.

 Meta Platforms Inc. is close to reaching a deal that will bring its mixed reality headset to China through a partnership with Tencent Holdings Ltd.

At the end of the last month, more than 30 US States, including California, Massachusetts, Tennesse, and others, filed lawsuits against Meta Platforms over the allegations of using features on its social media platforms to lure children and teens and allegedly get them hooked on harmful content, while not doing enough to ensure their safety. The Massachusetts lawsuit was earlier updated and the submissions were made unredacted, meaning the general public can go through its content. The claims and allegations in the documents paint a grim picture of how Facebook and Instagram were run, and how Mark Zuckerberg reportedly handled situations relating to teens.

The US Presidential elections will take place next year on November 5, meaning there is now less than one year left for a major election process. Similarly, general elections in India will take place in April-May 2024, which is roughly about six months away. So, this is definitely a time when political promotions and campaigns are going to increase in frequency, and individual political leaders as well as parties will be working to improve their exposure to the public. While a good tool for them would be AI, it may not be the best situation for the voters, who are sure to be flooded with propaganda advertising. Realizing the situation, Meta has come out to declare that no political advertisers will be able to take advantage of its AI ads creation tool.

Amazon and Facebook owner Meta have both voluntarily committed to changes to their retail platforms to help "protect fair competition", Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Friday.

Meta has announced new creator tools that can help content creators on Facebook engage with their audience in a better way. In June, the platform introduced a redesigned Reels editor, new Inspiration Hub and Templates Hub that made it easier to create reels with ideas, and inspirations presented to the content creator. It also introduced a Professional mode, including a daily checklist module with tips to help creators grow their audience. Now, Meta has announced new ways that content creators can engage audiences better with their reels. Let us take a closer look.

The European data regulator has agreed to extend a ban imposed by non-EU member Norway on "behavioural advertising" on Facebook and Instagram to cover all 30 countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area, it said on Wednesday.

Meta Platforms Inc. will offer users in Europe ad-free access to Facebook and Instagram for a subscription fee. 

 On Saturday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that the company is planning to come up with a Threads application programming interface (API).

On Tuesday, more than 30 US States filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms over the allegations of using features on Instagram and Facebook to lure children to these platforms and get them hooked on harmful content. Following closely on the heels of that, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has reacted and said that social media platforms will have to be more accountable for the content that circulates there. He also highlighted that these platforms must ensure they do not cause harm to Indian citizens.

On Tuesday, Meta was served a lawsuit by more than 30 US states, including 8 individual lawsuits from states, over the alleged use of features in Instagram and Facebook to lure children to the platform and get them hooked on harmful content. This fresh case has again opened the longstanding issue of companies exploiting children, one of the most vulnerable demographics of any digital user base in order to gain profit. However, Meta is not the only one to blame here. For years, many tech firms including Google, Microsoft, Apple, and others have faced similar lawsuits for failing to protect underage users.

In a shocking move, more than 30 US States, including California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and others, have filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms over the allegations of using features in Instagram and Facebook to lure children to the platform and get them hooked on harmful content. The lawsuit also alleges that Meta also exploited minors for its own profit. The lawsuit is the latest in the growing scrutiny of social media platforms over how they treat the youth and safeguarding measures to protect them from harmful content.

Meta and Google have pulled out of the Web Summit, one of the tech sector's biggest annual events, after the organizer criticized Israel's actions following the Hamas attacks, the companies said on Friday.

Since the day of its launch, Meta's latest addition to its social media apps i.e. Threads, is continuously in the news. First due to its amazing initial popularity and then the quickly receding user count. Worryingly, for Meta, after the grand launch and increase in the number of Threads users, the excitement quickly slowed down after some time. There was a huge reduction in the number of active users on the platform. Since then, Meta has been rolling out useful updates and now, it is looking to promote it in other ways too in order to amplify the number of active users on the platform.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Instagram, is making it easier for users to protect their online privacy. Now, Instagram users can themselves prevent the platform from tracking their online activities as they have the control over the feature. This move comes as Meta aims to address concerns about mishandling user data and misleading privacy agreements.

Andre Elijah created a virtual reality yoga app, with avatars of top instructors teaching various poses, as well as pilates and mindfulness — all of which users will never see, he alleged in a lawsuit, because Meta Platforms Inc. killed it just before launch time.

The INDIA Alliance has written a scathing letter accusing the CEOs of Google and Meta Platforms, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg respectively, that their platforms YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp are “aiding communal hatred”. The letter, which was signed by leaders from different political parties under the INDIA bloc also urged that the platforms should maintain neutrality in the upcoming elections. The letter came after the Washington Post newspaper highlighted the alleged bias of Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube towards the ruling BJP party and the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Since its debut on July 6, Threads has been working hard to compete with X (formerly Twitter) in the race to become the top microblogging platform. While Threads enjoyed a burst in popularity at launch, becoming the fastest-ever platform to reach 100 million users, it has somewhat died down since then. The initial surge in traffic was attributed to glaring issues on X as well as people getting fed up with several of Elon Musk's draconian measures. However, Threads still lacks several features that have made X extremely popular over the last few years.

Google on Wednesday announced plans to add generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to its virtual assistant, and a company executive told Reuters the AI would allow the assistant to do things like help people plan a trip or catch up on emails and then ask follow-up questions.

Meta's chief technology officer is quick to push back on assertions that the company has fallen behind rivals like ChatGPT in the explosive surge across the tech industry in generative AI.

The future is here! Just imagine glasses that let you share videos on Facebook and Instagram without even touching your phone! Well, that's exactly what Meta, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has done in partnership with Ray-Ban. They've just introduced the Meta Smart Glasses, and they're like something out of a science fiction movie. These glasses are here to make your life more exciting and connected.

Though the fines levied on Meta Platforms Inc. over the past few years have reached into the billions of dollars, I've long felt the greater punishment for Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg was the paralysis his company endured. A dorky engineer at heart, Zuckerberg appeared ill equipped and disinterested in playing the diplomatic role needed to pull the social network's reputation up from the gutter.

Meta Quest 3 vs Apple Vision Pro: After being teased in June, Meta Platforms yesterday finally launched the Quest 3, its next mixed reality headset and the successor to Quest 2, at the Connect 2023. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to the stage to give us a proper look at the headset, its features, supported apps and games, and more. And yes, there were some shots at Apple too! For instance, Zuckerberg jokingly claimed that the Quest 3 requires “no wires, no battery pack”.

Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Apple Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. are on the verge of winning approval from US regulators to deploy a new set of mobile virtual and augmented reality devices, including goggles and in-car connections.

Meta Platforms Inc. introduced its latest lineup of head-worn devices, staking fresh claim to the virtual- and augmented-reality industry just ahead of Apple Inc. pushing into the market.

Meta Platforms Inc. is introducing artificial intelligence features to its apps that will give the company's 3 billion users an experience akin to OpenAI's ChatGPT.

The much-awaited Meta Connect 2023 is finally here. This two-day event is currently happening at Meta Headquarters in Menlo Park, California. The advent of ChatGPT has led many tech giants including Google and Microsoft to develop their own generative AI chatbots. And, Meta has joined the race to develop its own conversational bot. During the keynote session, hosted by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with the Meta Quest 3, the company announced its Multi-Persona AI chatbot, called “AI Personas”. As explained by Meta, this chatbot will feature multiple personas to communicate with the younger generation and thereafter, it will look to roll out products for other sections of the public. Let's take a look at what this AI chatbot offers:

Today, Meta Platforms hosted its launch event to announce the Quest 3 VR headset, AI assistant characters, Ray-Ban smart glasses and more. The new smart glasses were launched in partnership with EssilorLuxottica. The Ray-Bans comes with a next-generation feature that will stun the users. And the good news is that it is available for pre-order now. Want to know more about the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses? Check what this newly launched product has in store for users.

Today, Meta unveiled its most awaited new-generation mixed-reality headset, Quest 3 that has been introduced with some ground-breaking features. Earlier the company had teased the product and indicated that it would feature the breakthrough Meta Reality technology (mixed reality system that combines various technologies and more into a single system), and a slimmer model. This year the Meta headset comes with the next-generation Snapdragon chipset which has been developed in partnership with the industry best Qualcomm Technologies. Additionally, the new Meta Quest 3 headset is priced in an affordable range and will offer immersive VR and MR experiences to its users on a small device. Check out what Meta announced about the Quest 3 headset.

A Meta Platforms executive overseeing the company's efforts to develop its own chips for artificial intelligence work is leaving her position at the end of the month, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Meta Connect 2023: Meet Quest 3's main competitor, the Apple Vision Pro