In the past year, Meta has undergone significant transformations, particularly in its approach to workforce management. Meta’s decisions regarding layoffs have not only attracted attention but have had a substantial impact on the company’s financial performance. Meta incurred staggering losses totaling $16 billion, primarily attributed to its Metaverse endeavors, mainly its Reality Labs division responsible for Oculus goggles. This marked a significant increase from the previous year’s loss of $13.7 billion, with Meta reporting a loss of $4.6 billion in the final quarter of 2023. Meta’s Stock Surge And Improved Margins Despite these substantial deficits, Meta’s stock surged by 12% following recent updates, largely due to the company’s improved margins. Meta’s revenue increased by 16%, while operating income and profits surged by 62% and 69%, respectively. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has assured investors of further losses in the future due to ongoing investments in augmented reality/...

Meta is facing the infamous situation of “It be your own people.” Well, rather in this case your own technology. BBC reports that BlenderBot 3 — the company’s prototype chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to speak on most topics — said what it had to say about CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg. “He did a terrible job at testifying before congress. It makes me concerned about our country,” the chatbot said, according to the outlet. It added: “Our country is divided and he didn’t help at all. I’m concerned for us all.” The chatbot was referring to Zuckerberg’s multiple appearances since 2018 before Congress stemming from Facebook’s involvement with Cambridge Analytica during the 2016 election cycle. “Mark Zuckerberg ought to be looking at himself in the mirror today, and yet, rather than taking responsibility and showing leadership, Mr. Zuckerberg is going sailing,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chair of the subcommittee, during a hearing with Facebook whistleblower...

TikToker Khaby Lame has now taken his talents to the metaverse — specifically Facebook’s metaverse. Insider reports that the second-most-popular TikToker in the world collaborated with CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a new promotional video for Meta. Lame is widely known for making things look easy and in the video, he teleports to various locations by touching his forehead. In just 21 seconds, he travels to a game of chess, a house, a cycling room and a beach. “Your home is your personal space, from which you can teleport to anywhere you want,” Zuckerberg said in the promotional video. “Teleporting around the metaverse is going to be like clicking a link on the internet.” The video went live on Oct. 30 on both Lame’s Instagram and Meta’s official Twitter account, with the caption: “No one makes jumping around the metaverse look easier than Khaby Lame.” No one makes jumping around the metaverse look easier than @KhabyLame https://t.co/Mw9iYqmeJg pic.twitter.com/vN7iWPGoZf — Meta (@Meta)...

Facebook just may be getting a facelift …literally. As the social media network looks to focus on building the metaverse, there’s speculation that the company will change its name as early as next week, The Verge reports. The name change is said to be announced during next Thursday’s annual Connect conference, but sources say that it could be unveiled sooner to signal the tech giant’s desire to go beyond just the social media ills that it is known for. “We will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg during an interview with The Verge back in July. Per reports, the rebrand will position the blue Facebook app at the forefront of the products that work under the parent company overseeing various groups which include Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and more. Facebook has also done the work to launch its greater focus on the next generation of technology. Over the summer, the company set...

Imagining a day without social media seemed like a crazy thought in the digital age — until today. The social-sphere has been in a frenzy ever since Facebook, along with its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms, went down for users on Monday. Even internal systems operated by employees were inoperable. Facebook noted that it was fully aware that “some people are having trouble accessing (the) Facebook app,” AP News reports. The social media platform also announced that it was hard at work to restore access. According to the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, the internal outages feel like a “snow day” per his Twitter account. Users have flocked to Twitter to share both their frustrations and speculations as to why the social media giant has gone dark. AfroTech is here to help you understand just exactly what’s happening in the world of social media.

In 2016, when FBI Director James Comey conducted a question-and-answer session on privacy at Kenyon College , one of his revelations baffled the audience. Comey admitted to covering his laptop’s webcam to ensure privacy, and encouraged others to do the same. Some thought it ironic, coming from a federal agent whose work involved the very infiltration of privacy. In the three years since Comey’s initial warning, the information security landscape has changed dramatically. Not only did a presidential election make Americans think twice about online security threats and the ramifications of hacking in politics, but major breaches at well-respected companies such as Target, Equifax, and Facebook also revealed the impact on our wallets and on our identity. While many can imagine what hackers could want with your personal and account information, it may be harder to discern how your webcam video feeds and sound bites could prove valuable. Hackers can actually use a Remote Access Tool to...

People tend to trust videos, assuming that they’re harder to doctor than photographs. However, deepfake technology has proven that to be untrue, and social media platforms now have to wrestle with it. Recently, a deepfake video of Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was uploaded to Instagram. The caption read, “Mark Zuckerberg reveals the truth about Facebook and who really owns the future…” People began to wonder if Facebook would elect to remove the video. However, the company has decided that it will remain on Instagram, as reported by The Verge . “We will treat this content the same way we treat all misinformation on Instagram. If third-party fact-checkers mark it as false, we will filter it from Instagram’s recommendation surfaces like Explore and hashtag pages,” a company spokesperson told The Verge. The Zuckerberg deepfake’s face is slightly muddled, but it does play on some common fears around him and data. “Imagine this for a second: One man, with total control of billions of...