The Indian Panorama

Tag: Meta

  • Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund

    Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, a spokesperson for the social media giant confirmed Wednesday, December 11 night. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

    The move comes two weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg traveled to Florida and dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

    At the time, Trump adviser Stephen Miller told Fox News that Zuckerberg had “made clear that he wants to support the national renewal of America under Trump’s leadership.”

    Trump was removed from Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol when it determined that his posts had potentially encouraged the violence that occurred that day.

    The company restored his account in early 2023, but with certain “guardrails.” In July, those restrictions were lifted by Meta. Trump has a combined 65 million followers on Facebook and Instagram.

    In August, Zuckerberg submitted a letter to Congress claiming that the Biden administration in 2021 “repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire.” He called “the government pressure wrong” and said he would push back against any similar efforts in the future.

    Silicon Valley has been uneasy about the kind of the treatment it may get from a second Trump administration, and the donation may signal an attempt by Zuckerberg to thaw those tensions. Trump’s choice of Brendan Carr, a prominent critic of big tech, to lead the Federal Communications Commission has potentially heightened those concerns.

  • Meta teams up with crypto currency companies to fight online scams

    Meta teams up with crypto currency companies to fight online scams

    Meta, in collaboration with major cryptocurrency companies, has announced a new online safety initiative aimed at combating the rising cases of online scams, including romance scams and financial fraud schemes known as pig butchering. The coalition, named Tech Against Scams, has joined the ongoing battle against cybercriminals who exploit social media and dating platforms to deceive unsuspecting victims.
    According to Meta, the increasing use of social media, online dating platforms, and cryptocurrencies is also harbouring a space for online predators to use sophisticated tools to plan scams on an unprecedented scale. They try to connect with innocent users online and defraud them by tricking them, leveraging their emotional and financial vulnerabilities. These online scam cases have especially seen a rise in the last few years across the globe, specifically the cases of romance scam and pig butchering scam.
    For the unaware in romance scam, fraudsters create fake identities on social media sites like Tinder or Hinge and establish intimate relationships with unsuspecting victims, typically through online dating platforms or social media. These scammers often employ flattery, affectionate messages, and promises of love and companionship to gain the trust and affection of their targets. However, once they manage to bond with the victim, they manipulate their victims into providing money or valuable information under false pretences, exploiting their emotions for financial gain.
    On the other hand, in the cases of pig butchering scam, scammers build trust with victims over time before tricking them into investing money in fake or non-existent opportunities. Originating from China, the term “pig butchering” refers to the gradual process of gaining someone’s trust, akin to slowly cutting up a pig. Scammers often use lucrative offers and false promises of high returns to lure victims into investing large sums of money. However, once the victim has handed over their funds, the scammers disappear, leaving them with significant financial losses.

  • Facebook parent Meta makes public its ChatGPT rival LLaMA

    Facebook parent Meta makes public its ChatGPT rival LLaMA

    Facebook parent company Meta Platforms has built an artificial intelligence system that rivals the likes of ChatGPT and Google’s Bard but it’s taking a different approach: releasing it for free.
    Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday, July 18, that the company is partnering with Microsoft to introduce the next generation of its AI large language model and making the technology, known as LLaMA 2, free for research and commercial use.
    Much like tech peers Google and Microsoft, the social media company has long had a big research team of computer scientists devoted to advancing AI technology. But it’s been overshadowed as the release of ChatGPT sparked a rush to profit off of “generative AI” tools that can create new prose, images and other media.
    Meta has also tried to distinguish itself by being more open than some of its Big Tech rivals about offering a peek at the data and code it uses to build AI systems. It has argued that such openness makes it easier for outside researchers to help identify and mitigate the bias and toxicity that AI systems pick up by ingesting how real people write and communicate.
    “Open source drives innovation because it enables many more developers to build with new technology,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post Tuesday. “It also improves safety and security because when software is open, more people can scrutinize it to identify and fix potential issues. I believe it would unlock more progress if the ecosystem were more open, which is why we’re open sourcing Llama 2.” Source: AP

  • Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs: report

    Google, Meta, Amazon hiring low-paid H1B workers after US layoffs: report

    According to a report, Google swiftly filed H1B visa applications for international H1B hires, including software engineers, consultants, researchers, and various other roles, just a month after Sundar Pichai’s announcement of the company’s plan to cut 12,000 jobs.

    SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): Even as global tech giants are carrying out mass layoffs, several top Silicon Valley companies are reportedly looking to hire lower-paid tech workers from foreign countries. Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Zoom, Salesforce and Palantir have applied for thousands of H1B worker visas this year, according to a US Department of Labor data, reported independent investigative journalist Lee Fang.

    Ironically, thousands of workers on H1B visa, including Indians, have been affected by the layoffs in the United States, with many taking to social media to share the news and seek new opportunities.

    Just a month after Sundar Pichai announced Google’s plan to cut 12,000 jobs around the world in January, the company filed applications for H1B visas to hire software engineers, analytical consultants, user experience researchers and other roles from outside the United States, with several requests aimed for new Google employees to join in August, the report states. Google parent Alphabet owned Waymo too has reportedly filed similar H1B applications to hire engineers. Meta has laid off nearly 25 per cent of its estimated workforce in just a few months in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called the company’s “year of efficiency” as the US tech sector continues to downsize. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in March laid out a plan to cut 9,000 more jobs from the online retail giant’s workforce, following the 18,000 that were axed in January.

    The layoffs account for a smaller percentage of Amazon’s total workforce, which ran up to 1.5 million people in December 2022, than the cuts seen at some other tech giants.
    Jassy told workers that the extra layoffs were necessary as the company seeks to downsize after years of hiring, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic when people turned to the internet for shopping.

    In January, Microsoft said it would eliminate 10,000 jobs, almost 5 per cent of the global workforce, as it braces for a potential recession. In an email to employees, CEO Satya Nadella said, “While we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas.

    (Source: Money Control)

  • Meta purges over 43 million bad pieces of content on Facebook, Instagram in India

    Meta purges over 43 million bad pieces of content on Facebook, Instagram in India

    Meta said that it took down over 38.4 million pieces of content across 13 policies for Facebook and over 4.61 million pieces of content across 12 policies for Instagram in March in India.
    Between March 1-31, Facebook received 7,193 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism, and said that it provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 1,903 cases.
    These include pre-established channels to report content for specific violations, self-remediation flows where they can download their data, avenues to address account hacked issues etc, said Meta in its monthly report in compliance with the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
    “Of the other 5,290 reports where specialised review was needed, we reviewed content as per our policies, and we took action on 1,300 reports in total. The remaining 3,990 reports were reviewed but may not have been actioned,” Meta added.
    On Instagram, the company received 9,226 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism.
    “Of these, we provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 4,280 cases,” it informed.
    Of the other 4,946 reports where specialised review was needed, Meta reviewed content and took action on 1,656 reports in total. The remaining 3,290 reports on Instagram were reviewed but may not have been auctioned. Source: IANS

  • WhatsApp brings ‘Voice Status’, ‘Status Reactions’ features

    WhatsApp brings ‘Voice Status’, ‘Status Reactions’ features

    Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp on Tuesday announced new features coming to its status, including ‘Voice Status’, ‘Status Reactions’ and much more. The new features have started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement. The ‘Voice Status’ feature allows users to record and share voice messages for up to 30 seconds on WhatsApp status.

    On the other hand, ‘Status Reactions’ allows users to give a quick and easy way to respond to status updates from their friends and close contacts.

    “This was the #1 feature users wanted, following the launch of Reactions last year. You can now quickly reply to any status by swiping up and tapping on one of eight emojis. You can of course still reply to a status with text, voice message, stickers and more,” the platform said.

    The company also introduced other features including ‘Private Audience Selector’, ‘Status Profile Rings for New Updates’ and ‘Link Previews on Status’.

    With the ‘Private Audience Selector’, users can update their privacy settings per status so that they can choose who views their status each time they update it. Moreover, the most recent audience selection will be used as the default for the users’ next status. “With the new status profile ring you’ll never miss a status from a loved one. This ring will be present around your contact’s profile picture whenever they share a status update. It will be visible in the chat lists, group participant lists, and contact info,” the platform said.

    Now when users post a link on their status, they will see a visual preview of the link content, similar to when users send a message, thanks to the ‘Link Previews on Status’ feature. “Status is a popular way to share ephemeral updates with friends and close contacts on WhatsApp. They disappear in 24 hours and may include photos, videos, GIFs, text, and more,” the company said. “Just like your personal chats and calls, your WhatsApp status is protected by end-to-end encryption so you can share privately and securely,” it added.

    WhatsApp rolling out feature to let users share up to 100 media on Android beta

    WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out a new feature which will allow users to share up to 100 media within the chats, on Android beta.

    With the new feature, beta users can now select up to 100 media in the media picker within the application, which was earlier limited to only 30, reports WABetaInfo.

    This feature is useful as users will finally be able to share entire albums, making it easier to share memories and moments. Moreover, it will help users to avoid selecting the same photo or video more than once when they have to send a lot of media files.

    The ability to share up to 100 media within the chats is available for some beta testers and is expected to roll out to more people over the coming days, the report said.

    Last week, it was reported that the messaging platform was rolling out longer group subjects and descriptions on Android beta.

    While the characters of the group subject have been increased from 25 to 100 to provide group admins more freedom when naming their groups, the group description increased from 512 characters to 2048 characters.        Source: IANS

  • WhatsApp rolls out new shortcuts for group admins on iOS San

    WhatsApp rolls out new shortcuts for group admins on iOS San

    Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has reportedly rolled out some new shortcuts for group admins to quickly and easily perform actions for a certain group participant, on iOS.

    The new shortcuts simplify interactions with group members as now the platform supports large groups of up to 1024 participants, reports WABetainfo.

    The new update will help group admins to quickly manage and communicate with such a large number of participants in private.

    The feature is available for all users that install the latest update of WhatsApp for iOS from the App Store.

    With the new update, the phone numbers are now highlighted in group events when group participants join or leave a group and group admins can easily interact with them.

    If admins tap and hold a phone number, they can use new shortcuts that include the ability to quickly call and chat with participants in private and they can also add group participants to their contacts book and copy their phone numbers.

    “This feature can save group admins a significant amount of time as they no longer need to navigate through the group info screen to find contact information,” the report said.

    Meanwhile, last week, it was reported that the messaging platform was rolling out a new ‘voice status updates’ feature on iOS beta, which will allow users to share voice notes via status updates.

    Microsoft shutting down VR platform AltspaceVR

    Microsoft has announced plans to shut down its social virtual reality platform AltspaceVR, which offered immersive social spaces for people to interact with friends and colleagues as 3D avatars.

    In 2017, Microsoft stepped in and acquired the platform after AltspaceVR decided to shut it down, and now the company said it will shut down the service on March 10, 2023.

    The tech giant will shift its focus to support immersive experiences powered by Microsoft Mesh (a platform which enables presence and shared experiences from anywhere — on any device — through mixed reality applications.

    “With Mesh, we aspire to build a platform that offers the widest opportunity to all involved, including creators, partners and customers,” Microsoft said in a blogpost.

    “We look forward to what is to come, including our launch of Microsoft Mesh, a new platform for connection and collaboration, starting by enabling workplaces around the world,” it added.

    Moreover, the company mentioned, in the near term, it will be focusing its VR efforts on workplace experiences, learning from and alongside its early customers and partners, and ensuring that it delivers a foundation that enables security, trust and compliance.

    The news of the shutdown comes after Microsoft confirmed it would lay off 10,000 employees through the end of March.

    Higher priced subscription for ad-free Twitter

    Twitter Boss Elon Musk has announced that a higher-priced subscription to the microblogging platform with no ads will be available in the coming weeks.

    “Ads are too frequent on Twitter and too big. Taking steps to address both in coming weeks,” Musk tweeted.

    “Also, there will be a higher-priced subscription that allows zero ads,” he added.

    Moreover, a Twitter user known as “The Rabbit Hole” commented on Musk’s tweet, asking, “Can individual users opt to monetise accounts through ads? Currently, advertisers reach out individually to users; creating a solution integrated with the platform will let Twitter take a cut and give creators a pathway to monetising our content”.To which Musk replied: “Maybe there’s a way to do this by placing an ad below tweet details”.

    Meanwhile, fighting hard to stay afloat, Twitter offered a new incentive to skeptical advertisers where the micro-blogging platform will match advertisers’ ad spending up to $250,000.

  • Laid off Indian employees on H1B visa in the United States still struggling to find a job

    Laid off Indian employees on H1B visa in the United States still struggling to find a job

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): It has been a few months now and a new year but laid off Twitter and Meta employees are still struggling to find a new jobs given the macroeconomic conditions globally. Meta and Twitter laid off thousands globally. Many among them were Indians holding H1B visa. In 2022, employees working for tech companies were majorly impacted by layoffs. Some of the biggest layoffs that took place were at Twitter and Meta. Together, the two biggest tech companies laid off thousands of employees, many of which were Indians living in the United States with H1B visa. At the time of announcing layoffs, Meta head Mark Zuckerberg extended immigration support to foreign employees, but no such support was offered by Elon Musk-headed Twitter.

    (Source:  India Today Tech)

  • After Twitter, Meta, Amazon and Google, HP Inc to reduce global headcount by up to 6,000 employees

    PC and printer major HP Inc is joining the ongoing tech layoff season and will lay off nearly 4,000-6,000 employees. In the earnings report for its fourth quarter of 2022, the company said it expects to reduce gross global headcount by approximately 4,000-6,000 employees, which is between 7-11 per cent of its workforce.

    “These actions are expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2025,” HP said in a statement late on Tuesday.

    The company announced a ‘Future Ready Transformation Plan’, estimating annualised gross run rate cost savings of at least $1.4 billion by the end of fiscal 2025, and restructuring and other charges of approximately $1 billion.

    HP Inc and its subsidiaries announced fiscal 2022 net revenue of $63 billion, down 0.8 per cent from the prior-year period. “We had a solid end to our fiscal year despite navigating a volatile macro-environment and softening demand in the second half. In Q4, we delivered on our non-GAAP EPS target, while also completing our three-year value creation plan and exceeding our key metrics,” said Enrique Lores, HP President and CEO.

    “Looking forward, the new ‘Future Ready’ strategy we introduced this quarter will enable us to better serve our customers and drive long-term value creation by reducing our costs and reinvesting in key growth initiatives to position our business for the future,” Lores said.

    The Personal Systems net revenue was $10.3 billion, down 13 per cent year over year. The printing net revenue was $4.5 billion, down 7 per cent year over year, said the company.

    The global PC market has had a rough year following a pandemic boom.                Source: IANS

  • Meta to shut ‘Instant Articles’ format on Facebook in early 2023

    Meta will end support for its ‘Instant Articles’ format on the Facebook platform next year, as the company moves away from its news-related products and focus on TikTok-like offerings. According to Axios, the quick-loading article format, that was first launched in 2015, will shut down in April 2023. ‘Instant Articles’ was a mobile format to quickly load news articles on the Facebook app. Once the support is ended, news links on Facebook will take a user to a publisher’s mobile site. “Currently less than 3 per cent of what people around the world see in Facebook’s Feed are posts with links to news articles,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “And as we said earlier this year, as a business it doesn’t make sense to over invest in areas that don’t align with user preferences,” it added.

    The company is now giving news publishers six months to readjust their Facebook strategies.

    The company once called itself a Fifth Estate, and launched revamped News tab that included a dedicated local news section among other topics, including breaking news alerts. Earlier this month, Meta announced to shut down its newsletter product called Bulletin for creators and writers by early 2023.

  • Meta launches Instagram Reels APIs for developers

    Meta launches Instagram Reels APIs for developers

    Reels APIs will be made available to a number of endpoints on the Instagram Platform for developers, according to a statement from Meta. According to TechCrunch, the firm claims that after learning that Reels is a top priority from its developer community, it is providing the new Reels APIs. Reels’ assistance from Meta is now also available for posting content, insights, comment moderation, hashtag search, company discovery, mentions, and more. The APIs will allow developers to schedule Reels and obtain Reels’ social engagement stats. Using the new APIs, developers can publish Reels on Instagram Business accounts. Developers will also be able to respond to comments, delete them, hide or reveal them, and allow or deactivate comments on Reels using the APIs. Developers will also be able to locate publicly accessible Reels that have been marked with specific hashtags. The Instagram Graph API, which enables developers to connect their apps to Instagram’s features and functionalities, will be available for both the current version and all previous versions. Reels will reportedly become automatically accessible for developers who already have access to the relevant APIs, according to Meta. If an app’s permission access levels have already been authorised, developers won’t need to submit it for another round of App Review.

  • Meta, Google, Twitter pledge to better fight fake news or risk fines

    Meta, Alphabet unit Google, Twitter and Microsoft on Thursday, June 16,  agreed to take a tougher line against disinformation including deep fakes and fake accounts under an updated EU code of practice or face hefty fines. More than 30 signatories, including advertising bodies, have signed up to the updated Code of Practice on disinformation, the European Commission said. The signatories agree to do more to tackle deepfakes, fake accounts and political advertising while non-compliance can lead to fines as much as 6% of a company’s global turnover, the EU executive said, confirming a Reuters report last week. The companies have six months to comply with pledges, with a progress report due at the beginning of 2023.

    Source: Reuters

  • Meta to start testing money-making tools for its metaverse

    Meta to start testing money-making tools for its metaverse

    Facebook owner Meta Platforms is beginning to test tools for selling digital assets and experiences within its virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds, a key part of its plan for creating a metaverse, it said. The tools will be available initially to a handpicked set of users who are creating virtual classes, games and fashion accessories within the company’s immersive platform, which is accessible via VR headsets, Meta said in a statement.

    Using one tool, those select users will be able to sell their accessories or offer paid access to specialised digital spaces they have built, the company said.The social media giant is also testing out a “creator bonus” program for a small set of Horizon Worlds users in the United States, through which it will pay participants each month for using new features the company launches.

    “We want there to just be tons of awesome worlds, and in order for that to happen there needs to be a lot of creators who can support themselves and make this their job,” Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a conversation with early adopters, held inside Horizon Worlds using avatars.

    The Facebook parent company, which changed its name to Meta last year, has invested heavily in virtual and augmented reality to reflect its new bet on the metaverse, a futuristic idea of a network of virtual environments accessed via different devices where users can work, socialize and play.          Source: Reuters

  • Meta is building a digital voice assistant for Metaverse push

    Meta is building a digital voice assistant for Metaverse push

    Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc is building a digital voice assistant to help people interact hands-free with physical devices, such as the company’s Portal video-calling device and, eventually, augmented-reality glasses. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said the company is building the assistant in preparation for the so-called metaverse, a more immersive version of the internet that will let people interact online through virtual and AR glasses. Digital assistants will need to “learn the way humans do” to help users navigate this new online world, Zuckerberg said during a presentation on Wednesday, Feb 23.

    “When we have glasses on our faces, that will be the first time an AI system will be able to really see the world from our perspective — see what we see, hear what we hear and more,” Zuckerberg added, saying he hopes to eventually build AI assistants that can “move between virtual and physical worlds.” The AI assistant doesn’t have a name, but Meta is calling the effort “Project CAIRaoke.” AI technology that can learn and anticipate human behaviour will be at the centre of Zuckerberg’s proposed metaverse — in part because people will eventually access it hands-free by wearing a pair of smart glasses. While the metaverse concept is still undefined, Meta video demos show people moving around digital spaces and interacting with others as avatars.            Source: Bloomberg