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Dame Judi Dench could be your next AI voice assistant

Sep 25, 2024
Dame Judi Dench and comedians Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key have signed deals with Meta to humanize chatbots.
Judi Dench is among the celebrities who have signed multimillion-dollar contracts with Meta to create AI assistants based on their voices.
Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for BFI

Here's why the debate over open source AI matters for us humans

Aug 20, 2024
Meta has staked its entire AI strategy upon the open source route, allowing pretty much anyone access to its powerful large language models. Meanwhile, Google and OpenAI are keeping everything walled off.
Meta is planning to spend tens of billions on developing its AI — only to make it open source.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Tech and media companies are ditching user totals from their growth reports. Why now?

Jul 23, 2024
Instead, companies are opting to report other metrics of growth.
Some experts believe media companies are no longer reporting user totals to avoid potential doubt for future company growth.
Anna Barclay/Getty Images

Just what is the 'Magnificent Seven' and why is everyone talking about them?

Jul 23, 2024
These seven tech companies have an outsize influence on the stock market.
The Magnificent Seven refers to seven tech companies that have an outsize influence on the stock market — and are named for the 1960 Western flick.
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What’s the point of class-action lawsuits?

Aug 25, 2023
Many consumers might not receive much in settlements, but the suits can be a tool for justice, experts say.
Facebook's parent company, Meta, agreed to pay $725 million to settle a class-action lawsuit.
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Meta readies new Twitter challenger

Jul 5, 2023
Threads, the new social media platform created by the owner of Instagram and Facebook, launches Thursday.
The Threads app is looking to push Twitter off its perch.
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Employers want everyone back in the office — for real this time

Apr 4, 2023
A less robust job market has made corporate leaders' preference easier to implement.
Companies like Meta are pausing the hiring of remote workers. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the data suggests that engineers who started at the company in person generally perform better than people who trained remotely.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Meta cuts 10,000 jobs in second wave of layoffs since November

Mar 14, 2023
Meta and other tech companies have been hiring aggressively in recent years but have recently begun to let some of those workers go.
Meta said Tuesday it will reduce the size of its recruiting team and make further cuts in its tech groups in late April, followed by its business groups in late May.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

As our online behavior changes, companies spend less ad money on Google and Meta

Jan 4, 2023
Part of the reason: Social media platforms like TikTok are changing the way we shop online.
While Google is still a big part of the ad business, people are turning to sites like Amazon "as a product search engine instead," said Sucharita Kodali, a retail analyst at Forrester.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Female truckers say Facebook’s algorithms may be steering job ads away from women, older workers

Dec 20, 2022
A complaint to the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission alleges that these algorithms may be recreating hiring biases — unintentionally, in some cases, but still illegally.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said it has a new system in the works to prevent ad discrimination.
Noah Berger/AFP via Getty Images