Standalone Image Generator Is Among New AI Tools by Meta

Meta Platforms is moving Imagine with Meta from its test bed as a generative AI experience in chats to a standalone experience on the Web that allows users to create high-resolution images using natural language text prompts. That is one of more than 20 generative AI features Meta is deploying to create new business opportunities globally leveraging AI across search, ads, business messaging and more. While most will wind up on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, some say Meta’s popular Facebook and Instagram platforms have plateaued at 2 to 3 billion users per month, circumscribing ad growth. Continue reading Standalone Image Generator Is Among New AI Tools by Meta

Meta Touts Its Emu Foundational Model for Video and Editing

Having made the leap from image generation to video generation over the course of a few months in 2022, Meta Platforms introduces Emu, its first visual foundational model, along with Emu Video and Emu Edit, positioned as milestones in the trek to AI moviemaking. Emu uses just two diffusion models to generate 512×512 four-second long videos at 16 frames per second, Meta said, comparing that to 2022’s Make-A-Video, which requires a “cascade” of five models. Internal research found Emu video generations were “strongly preferred” over the Make-A-Video model based on quality (96 percent) and prompt fidelity (85 percent). Continue reading Meta Touts Its Emu Foundational Model for Video and Editing

Threads Lets Users Delete Accounts Separate from Instagram

Threads, the Twitter competitor launched in July by Meta Platforms to record-breaking numbers, has added features that make it easier for users to separate their Threads feeds from Instagram and Facebook. Users can now delete their Threads accounts separate from Instagram, something that previously confounded users. Because those signing up for Threads were required to do so either from their existing or a new Instagram account, the two were entwined. Instagram/Threads CEO Adam Mosseri also announced that propagation of Threads posts to Instagram and Facebook can now be turned off, to keep discussions separate. Continue reading Threads Lets Users Delete Accounts Separate from Instagram

Meta Shows Off Quest 3 and Smart Glasses at Connect 2023

Key highlights from this week’s two-day Meta Connect virtual event include details about the Quest 3 mixed reality headset, the latest smart glasses from its Ray-Ban collaboration, and an announcement that AI stickers are rolling out across the Meta Platforms apps. Starting at $500, the Meta Quest 3 will add Microsoft 365 apps integration by the end of the year, for those who want to use the gaming headset for productivity. Available for preorder now, the Quest 3 ships October 10. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses start at $299 and ship October 17. Continue reading Meta Shows Off Quest 3 and Smart Glasses at Connect 2023

Meta Plans Personality-Driven Chatbots to Boost Engagement

Meta Platforms is amping up its AI play, with plans to launch a suite of personality-driven chatbots as soon as next month. The company has been developing the series of artificially intelligent character bots with a goal of using them to boost engagement with its social media brands by making them available to have “humanlike discussions” on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Internally dubbed “personas,” the chatbots simulate characters ranging from historical figures like Abraham Lincoln to a surfer dude that dispenses travel advice. Continue reading Meta Plans Personality-Driven Chatbots to Boost Engagement

Zuckerberg Shares Meta Strategy with Staff After Rocky Year

Following nine months of difficult repositioning that included layoffs and consolidation as Meta Platforms segued to its “year of efficiency,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently shared his plans for the company’s future with employees at an all-hands meeting. In a discussion that has been reported as an effort to help bolster staff morale during this challenging period, Zuckerberg explained his strategy regarding job cuts, offered insight on the tech giant’s approach to artificial intelligence, and took a swipe at Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro mixed reality headset while talking about his goals for VR and the metaverse. Continue reading Zuckerberg Shares Meta Strategy with Staff After Rocky Year

Facebook and Instagram Roll Out New Safety Tools for Teens

Meta Platforms is introducing updates to further protect teens on Facebook and Instagram. Starting this week, those under the age of 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into more stringent private settings when they join Facebook. A similar default was put into effect on Instagram last year. Meta is also restricting “potentially suspicious adults.” For example, adults will be restricted from messaging teens they aren’t connected to and from seeing teens in their People You May Know recommendations. A “suspicious adult” is one that has recently been blocked or reported by a young person. Continue reading Facebook and Instagram Roll Out New Safety Tools for Teens

AR/VR Meta Quest Pro Targets Productivity Sector for $1,500

Meta Platforms unveiled its anticipated mixed reality headset yesterday at Meta Connect. The $1,500 Quest Pro, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced as “the first in our new line of advanced headsets,” becomes the first full-color AR/VR device to hit the U.S. market on October 25. Although Meta is positioning the Quest Pro as a productivity device, the thrust was that app makers will be encouraged to develop for it. Meta also announced that NBCUniversal content and Microsoft Office, Windows, Teams and Xbox Cloud Gaming are coming to Meta Quest headsets. Continue reading AR/VR Meta Quest Pro Targets Productivity Sector for $1,500

Facebook, Instagram and Messenger Offering New Ad Units

Meta Platforms is expanding its advertising inventory with new units in Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. Advertisers now have a new way to feature ads on Instagram’s Explore page, which displays content based on user preferences and routines. The Profile pages for all adult Instagram users will also carry advertising and select influencers will be eligible to push ads into their feeds as a way to potentially earn revenue. Messenger is going to use machine learning to program ads to likely purchasers. And Facebook Reels are getting “post-loop ads,” which creators and brands can slot between short videos. Continue reading Facebook, Instagram and Messenger Offering New Ad Units

Meta Adding a Customer Service Unit for Content Complaints

Based on feedback from its Oversight Board, Meta Platforms is creating a customer-service division that will help users of its social networks who have experienced issues with accounts being unexpectedly locked or posts being removed. In addition to Facebook and Instagram, Meta operates WhatsApp, Messenger and Horizon Worlds, collectively serving more than 3 billion global users. The early-stage initiative has reportedly been escalated as Meta’s use of artificial intelligence for content moderation has resulted in increased customer frustration over content removal with little notice or explanation. Continue reading Meta Adding a Customer Service Unit for Content Complaints

Meta’s New Sphere AI Tool Filters Web Content for Accuracy

Meta Platforms has unveiled Sphere, an AI-powered tool designed to verify open web content. “Building on Meta AI’s research and advancements, we’ve developed the first model capable of automatically scanning hundreds of thousands of citations at once to check whether they truly support the corresponding claims,” Meta says, noting that Sphere has “a dataset of 134 million public webpages — an order of magnitude larger and significantly more intricate than ever used for this sort of research.” Sphere is open sourced, which means third parties may be able to tailor its fact-checking algorithms for specialized use, such as legal, medical and architectural. Continue reading Meta’s New Sphere AI Tool Filters Web Content for Accuracy

Facebook Adjusts Algorithms, Messenger, to Take on TikTok

Facebook is trying to make its feed operate more like TikTok’s, according to recent reports that indicate the company recently directed employees to adjust the platform’s algorithms to prioritize popular posts, regardless of their source, over its traditional approach of serving posts from friends or accounts followed. Parent company Meta Platforms is also said to be reuniting Facebook with the Messenger app in order to align its message functionality with that of TikTok. Combined with an increased emphasis on short-form video with Reels on Facebook and Instagram, the changes reflect TikTok’s threat to Meta’s social media dominance. Continue reading Facebook Adjusts Algorithms, Messenger, to Take on TikTok

WhatsApp to Introduce Admin-Controlled Community Chats

WhatsApp is adding tools so groups of users can come together en masse for private conversations. Called Communities, the feature will enable separate groups to unite under one conversational umbrella supervised by an administrator. Community members will be able to receive updates sent to the entire Community and easily organize smaller discussion groups on topics of specific interest. Rolling out in the coming weeks, Communities will contain powerful admin capabilities, including announcement messages sent to everyone as well as filtering controls that target subgroups. Communities will have the end-to-end encryption of all private WhatsApp conversations.  Continue reading WhatsApp to Introduce Admin-Controlled Community Chats

Europe’s Digital Markets Act Designed to Regulate Big Tech

The European Parliament and EU member states reached agreement Thursday on key points of the Digital Markets Act, a sweeping measure poised to reshape the technology landscape in Europe and potentially around the world. The DMA objectives are two-fold: reining in anticompetitive measures that advantage Big Tech over competitors and consumers, and putting teeth to the new rules. Considered the biggest digital regulatory expansion anywhere in decades, the proposal has been criticized for singling out U.S. firms like Amazon, Apple, Meta and Alphabet, all of which fall into the gatekeeper category targeted by the act. Continue reading Europe’s Digital Markets Act Designed to Regulate Big Tech

Big Tech Faces Global Pressure to Step Up Child Protections

UK-style child protections are coming to the U.S. if a pair of California state lawmakers have anything to say about it. Assembly members Jordan Cunningham, a Republican, and Buffy Wicks, a Democrat, last week proposed the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, a bill modeled after what is popularly known in the UK as the Children’s Code, and more formally tagged the Age Appropriate Design Code. If enacted, websites and social platforms would have to limit the collection of children’s data in California, enact safeguards protecting minors from other users, minimize addictive features and simplify privacy settings. Continue reading Big Tech Faces Global Pressure to Step Up Child Protections