Meta AI unit turmoil
Meta's new AI unit is described as a soul-crushing gulag by engineers, with employees hating Zuckerberg's hackathon plan.
MetaMeta Employees Absolutely Hate Mark Zuckerberg’s Plan for a Companywide AI Hackathon
“I’m not sure that this company supports a hackathon culture anymore,” one employee posted in a forum open to the entire staff.
Meta’s months-old AI unit is a soul-crushing gulag, say the engineers stuck inside it
A new report suggests the unit, which employs 6,500 people, is on the verge of revolt.
‘Tell Him He’s a Piece of Shit’: Meta’s New AI Unit Is a Total Mess
Executives and employees alike are struggling with Meta’s chaotic AI strategy, according to sources and internal discussions reviewed by WIRED.
SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI’s hot IPO summer
The IPO market is back, and it’s not the same companies leading the charge. FAANG had a good run, but a new acronym is taking over: MANGOS — Meta (or Microsoft, depending on who you ask), Anthropic, Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, and SpaceX. Half of that bunch is heading to public markets in the same window, and it’s a stress test for investors, for valuations, and for […]
It’s hot IPO summer, and the MANGOS are ripe
The IPO market is back, and it’s not the same companies leading the charge. FAANG had a good run, but a new acronym is taking over: MANGOS — Meta (or Microsoft, depending on who you ask), Anthropic, Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, and SpaceX. Half of that bunch is heading to public markets in the same window, and it’s a stress test for investors, for valuations, and for […]
Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp hit by a major Meta outage
Meta had a bad Friday morning. A major Meta outage knocked out Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger for users around the world, starting shortly before 10am ET. By midday it was recovering, unevenly, region by region. The trouble appeared to begin on WhatsApp, then spread. Facebook users were abruptly logged out, met with a “Query […] This story continues at The Next Web
Meta is giving free AI glasses to every blind veteran in America
Meta is giving free Meta AI glasses to every blind veteran in America. Mark Zuckerberg announced the programme on Friday, offering a pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses, at no cost, to all legally blind US veterans. “Meta AI on these glasses can describe what’s around you, read documents, and help you navigate daily life more […] This story continues at The Next Web
Is Facebook down? Users reporting disruption across Meta platforms like Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram — here's everything we know
It looks like Meta is having a rough Friday morning. Starting shortly before 10 AM ET, reports began to spike from users unable to access both Facebook and WhatsApp, with the number of complaints continuing to climb.
Equal AI raised $30M to screen phone calls for Indians who get 20 spam calls a week
Equal AI, an Indian startup that built an AI assistant to answer phone calls on your behalf, has raised $30 million in a Series B led by Prosus Ventures and Tomales Bay Capital. Think Investments and Valiant Fund also participated, alongside individual investors including PhonePe founder Sameer Nigam and Meta’s India and Southeast Asia VP […] This story continues at The Next Web
Quote of the day by Mark Zuckerberg: 'Metaverse isn't a thing a company builds. It's the next chapter of the internet overall' — a prediction that hit wide of the mark
The Meta CEO's pandemic-era predictions on the future of technology failed to materilaize
Meta adds an AI assistant and desktop version to its CapCut rival Edits
Meta is adding an AI assistant and a desktop version to Edits, its video-editing app built to compete with ByteDance’s CapCut. The company previewed the features at an invite-only creator event in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The AI assistant is currently in testing with event attendees. The desktop version is “coming soon.” The AI assistant […] This story continues at The Next Web
Meta’s Edits app is getting an AI assistant and a desktop version
By integrating an AI assistant directly into Edits, Meta is aiming to keep creators engaged on Instagram as it continues to compete with TikTok and YouTube for creators' attention.
The Social Reckoning trailer dubbed 'SNL sketch' divides fan opinion — but it's not the Meta whistleblowing scandal we should be paying attention to
The trailer for The Social Reckoning has now been released — and it's at almost exactly the same time as another Facebook whistleblower controversy is being 'silenced'.
Meta has cut Manus off from its internal systems and told staff to sunset the AI platform
Meta has erected a data firewall between itself and Manus, the Chinese-founded agentic AI service it acquired for $2 billion in December 2025. Since the start of June, Manus and its staff have been barred from accessing Meta’s internal data systems, and Meta employees can no longer use Manus tools for internal projects, according to Bloomberg. […] This story continues at The Next Web
Meta Starts Unwinding Manus Deal by Splitting Operations, Data
Meta Platforms Inc. has completed an operational split from Manus and halted data sharing between the two companies, taking a pivotal step toward unwinding a $2 billion acquisition opposed by Beijing.
Threats Against Politicians Tripled After Meta Changed Its Speech Rules
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Last year, Meta radically overhauled the rules around what content it would allow on its platforms. The company claimed that its own efforts policing speech had gone too far and that it would relax the rules around what speech was allowed. "We have been over-enforcing our rules, limiting legitimate political debate and censoring too much trivial content and subjecting too many people to frustrating enforcement actions," Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief gl
A Meta Employee Who Just Lost Their Job Was Detained by Immigration Agents
Colleagues discussed the incident on internal message boards, according to documents seen by WIRED.
Racist comments targeting politicians tripled since Meta relaxed its rules
Violent threats against lawmakers have also surged on Facebook.
EU orders Meta to stop blocking rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp
Meta has to open up WhatsApp to third-party AI chatbots again, the European Commission says.
Meta signs its first India data-centre deal, leasing a 168MW AI facility from Reliance
Meta has agreed to lease a 168-megawatt, AI-ready data centre in India from Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, its first such facility in the country. Reliance will build the site in Jamnagar, Gujarat, and Meta will lease it with an option to scale, the companies said on Tuesday. “This world-class facility in Jamnagar will help us […] This story continues at The Next Web
Meta signs first AI data center deal in India with Reliance
The 168-megawatt facility will support Meta's global AI computing needs and can be expanded over time.
Meta Partners With Reliance on First India AI Data Center
Meta Platforms Inc. is partnering with Reliance Industries Ltd. to build its first AI data center in India, adding to a wave of investment in tech infrastructure globally.
EU Orders Meta To Open WhatsApp To Rival AI Chatbots
The European Commission has ordered Meta to temporarily restore free WhatsApp Business API access for rival AI chatbots while it investigates whether Meta's ban on third-party assistants abuses its dominant position. Meta says it will appeal, calling the move "regulatory overreach" that would let major AI companies use a paid WhatsApp product for free. The BBC reports: The EU said it began its investigation, in December 2025, after Meta banned third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the W
Meta A.I. Bug Allowed Hackers to Take Over Instagram Accounts
The flaw, which Meta said it had fixed, allowed anyone to take over Instagram accounts using a bug in the company’s new artificial intelligence software.
Meta pulled facial recognition code from its smart glasses app one day after WIRED found it, then denied the timing was related
Meta removed nearly all traces of an unreleased facial recognition system from its smart glasses companion app on Friday, one day after WIRED reported that the software had been quietly embedded in an app installed on more than 50 million phones. The feature, which Meta internally called NameTag, was designed to convert faces captured by […] This story continues at The Next Web
Meta Will Use Your Activity On Other Websites To Personalize Your Feeds
Meta says it will expand how it uses off-platform activity shared by other businesses to personalize Facebook and Instagram feeds as well as AI responses, not just ads. The change starts in July and can be disabled through the "Activity from other businesses" setting, though Meta says it is not collecting new data as part of the update. The Verge reports: For example, Meta says if you bought a tent online recently, you might see camping-related videos in your Reels feed. "We aren't collecting an
One day after discovery, Meta pulls facial recognition code from its smart glasses
Meta won't say why or whether it's coming back.
Meta Ordered by EU to Halt WhatsApp Curbs on AI Rivals
Meta Platforms Inc. has been ordered by the European Union to temporarily halt policies that allegedly block rival AI firms from operating on its WhatsApp messaging service for businesses.
Meta wants to train Americans to build its data centers — and is offering a free 5-week program to teach you everything
Meta commits $115m funding to upskill American citizens in data center construction roles, promises long-term consideration to broader AI impacts.
Meta will use your activity on other websites to personalize your feeds
Meta is planning to use the data shared by other businesses to personalize your feed and its AI responses. In a blog post on Tuesday, Meta explains that it already uses your off-platform activity, like the games you play or your purchases on other websites, to serve you ads. But now it's expanding the scope […]
NordVPN lands on Meta Horizon — and VR privacy just got a whole lot easier
NordVPN is the third VPN to enter the metaverse, letting Quest users install a full VPN directly on their headset to encrypt traffic and mask their IP in VR.
Threats Against Politicians Skyrocketed After Meta Changed Its Speech Rules
New research finds that in the six months after Meta relaxed rules in the name of free speech, violent threats against lawmakers—including President Donald Trump—surged on Facebook.
Meta quietly removes face-recognition code from its smart glasses app
The 'disappearing into the bushes like Homer Simpson' strategy is a bold choice.
Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System From Its Smart Glasses App
Last Thursday, Wired reported that Meta had quietly embedded an unreleased facial recognition system called NameTag into software installed on millions of phones. In a follow-up report, Wired says the tech giant has now removed the face-recognition-related code, while saying "no final decision" has been made about whether the feature will launch. From the report: On Thursday, WIRED reported that Meta had quietly integrated substantial portions of the NameTag system into the Meta AI app. Though n
Apple’s new parental controls are for keeping Apple out of trouble
When Apple put child safety front and center at WWDC on Monday, its stated goal was helping parents fine-tune their kids' online experiences and avoid excessive screen time. But amid a global debate over internet regulation, its latest updates also looked like a defensive move in a brewing fight against Meta and other app developers. […]
Meta alleges NSO violated spyware injunction with new WhatsApp attacks
WhatsApp disrupted spear phishing attempts, asks court to hold NSO in contempt.
WhatsApp Catches Spyware Firm NSO Defying No-Hacking Court Order
wiredmikey shares a report from SecurityWeek: Meta-owned communications app WhatsApp says it recently detected and disrupted a spear-phishing attempt linked to spyware company NSO Group. The attack is allegedly in defiance of a court order that bars the spyware maker from targeting WhatsApp. WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against NSO in 2019, after it came to light that a zero-day vulnerability had been exploited to deliver spyware to users. [...] NSO has been seeking to overturn the order blocking it
Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System From Its Smart Glasses App After WIRED Report
The code WIRED identified is gone from the latest version of Meta AI, the companion app for the company’s smart glasses. Meta won’t say why or whether it’s coming back.
Meta is dragging NSO back to court, saying the spyware firm never stopped targeting WhatsApp
Meta thought it had stopped NSO Group. It says the spyware firm did not get the message. The company is filing a federal court contempt order against NSO, the Israeli maker of the Pegasus hacking tool, accusing it of violating a permanent injunction that barred it from ever targeting WhatsApp or its users. Meta says […] This story continues at The Next Web
Hackers likely hijacked over 20,000 Instagram accounts with Meta’s AI chatbot
Hackers likely took over 20,225 Instagram accounts using Meta's AI support chatbot, the company confirmed in a notice filed with the state of Maine. In the notice, spotted earlier by Bleeping Computer, Meta blames a "bug" for the exploit that allowed attackers to hijack accounts without two-factor authentication simply by asking the chatbot for a […]
WhatsApp says spyware maker NSO Group is still targeting its users
NSO Group is still targeting WhatsApp users, according to Meta.
Meta reveals over 20,000 Instagram accounts hacked and stolen using AI support bot
We now know the scale of last week's incident as Meta reports it to the Maine AG.
Black Market Tinkerers on Facebook Marketplace Offer to Hide 'Recording Lights' on Meta Smartglasses
People are disabling the "recording light" on Meta's Ray-Ban smartglasses — "by my count, thousands of people," says tech journalist Joanna Stern in a new video report: STERN: "They're hiring people on Facebook Marketplace to drill out the light for as much as $100. According to our reporting, folks are offering this service in at least 30 states — despite Meta's attempts to stop it... In most states, we found multiple listings. In the New York and New Jersey area alone there were 23 listings."
Meta confirms 1000s of Instagram accounts were hacked by abusing its AI chatbot
Article URL: https://this.weekinsecurity.com/meta-confirms-thousands-of-instagram-accounts-were-hacked-by-abusing-its-ai-chatbot/ Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48427643 Points: 109 # Comments: 37
Meta made its own AI-generated clickbait news feed
Facebook has long been filled with feeds of clickbait articles. Now, Meta is making its own clickbait articles with AI. The standalone Meta AI app now has a "For You" section that populates a list of clickbait-style stories for you to read. But the topics, images, and text are all AI-generated - and as questionable […]
Do Women's Mate Preferences Change Across the Ovulatory Cycle? A Meta-Analysis [pdf]
Article URL: https://www.martiehaselton.com/_files/ugd/3ae410_aeb76edab75f457aae0c14c4c68d93c0.pdf Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48423541 Points: 25 # Comments: 18
Crypto-Funded Chinese Peptide Labs Are Booming
Plus: Hackers use Meta’s AI bots to hack Instagram accounts, Anthropic helps NSA hackers, a decades-long GPS satellite mystery may have been solved, and more.
The $200 Billion Data Center Transforming Louisiana
Meta's Mark Zuckerberg wanted to build a massive data center. And Louisiana leaders wanted Meta to choose their state as its home. But making that happen took a lot of negotiation — and secrecy. Bloomberg reporter Riley Griffin takes host Sarah Holder inside the deal. (Source: Bloomberg)
Meta’s smart glasses might soon sport facial recognition — and the code to power this dystopian feature is already present in the Meta AI app on your phone
The Meta AI app has quietly had facial recognition code added to it, which could one day allow the company's smart glasses to identify people.
Meta Considers Raising Billions in Share Sale, FT Reports
Meta Platforms Inc. is considering raising equity after Alphabet Inc.’s successful $85 billion sale, according to the Financial Times. Meta shares fell on the report.