Under the plan Meta will give users a choice between consenting to share all of their data to enable personalised advertising, or opting to share less and limit the volume of targeted advertising.

“The European Commission acknowledges Meta’s undertaking to offer users in the EU an alternative choice of Facebook and Instagram services that would show them less personalised ads, to comply with the Digital Markets Act,” the EC stated.

The two options will be available to users in the European Union from January 2026. After implementation, the EC will collect feedback and evidence from Meta and other stakeholders to assess the impact and adoption of the new model.

In April 2025 Meta came under fire for its consent-or-pay model rolled out in November 2023 across Facebook and Instagram, which forced users to choose between consenting to personal data usage or paying for an ad-free experience.

The set-up failed to offer an alternative that used less personal data, a measure required by the DMA. As a result, the EC slapped a €228 million fine on the social media giant.

Reuters reported the DMA violation applied to Facebook and Instagram from November 2023 to November 2024.

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The social media giant is partnering with major news outlets including CNN, Fox News, Fox Sports, Le Monde Group, People, The Washington Examiner, and USA Today to provide global breaking news, entertainment and lifestyle stories on its Meta AI chatbot.

Meta Platforms plans to add news partnerships and features in the future.

The company stated in a blog when users ask Meta AI questions, they receive direct links to partner articles “to help you discover timely and relevant content tailored to your interests”.

“We’re committed to making Meta AI more responsive, accurate and balanced.”

“Real-time events can be challenging for current AI systems to keep up with, but by integrating more and different types of news sources, our aim is to improve Meta AI’s ability to deliver timely and relevant content and information with a wide variety of viewpoints and content types.”

During the company’s Q3 earnings call in October, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the chatbot had more than 1 billion active monthly users and he expects usage to increase as it improves its AI models.

Rival OpenAI has also struck various content deals to train ChatGPT to answer questions and provide summaries of news articles.

The post Meta signs chatbot news publisher deals appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Bloomberg reported Meta Platforms executives are mulling a 30 per cent budget cut for the metaverse sector in 2026 across Meta Horizon Worlds and its Quest VR division.

The news site noted those reductions will most likely include layoffs as early as next month, although a final decision is still pending.

During Meta Platforms’ annual budget meeting last month, Zuckerberg tasked executives to make 10 per cent reductions across the company, but Bloomberg reported it is a similar ask from previous budget cycles the last few years.

The news site’s sources stated the company is making deeper cuts to the metaverse sector because Meta Platforms has not faced the level of competition it previously expected.

Bloomberg reported the bulk of the proposed cuts are mostly likely to take place across its VR group, which accounts for most of the metaverse related expenditures.

Zuckerberg has been a big proponent of creating the metaverse, which is why he changed the company’s name from Facebook to Meta Platforms in 2021.

The company’s Reality Labs is home to its AR and VR technologies, but it has continued to lose billions of dollars.

A representative for Meta Platforms told Mobile World Live the company is shifting some of its investment from the metaverse toward AI glasses and wearables “given the momentum there”.

“We aren’t planning any broader changes than that,” the representative stated.

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The EC stated the policy announced in October prohibits providers from using a tool allowing businesses to communicate on WhatsApp when AI “is the primary service offered”.

Set to roll-out widely in 2026, the policy would allow businesses to use AI tools for ancillary or support functions including automated customer support through WhatsApp.

However, the EC explained its concerns centre on the fact the new policy may prevent AI providers from offering their service through WhatsApp.

“As a result of the new policy, competing AI providers may be blocked from reaching their customers through WhatsApp,” the EC stated.

“On the other hand, Meta’s own AI service Meta AI would remain accessible to users on the platform.”

The watchdog pointed out WhatsApp currently allows businesses to communicate with their customers through the platform, while several AI providers offer access to their assistants through the service.

Meta Platforms plans to implement the policy through an update to its WhatsApp terms and conditions for business users, applying to AI providers already present on messaging service as of 15 January 2026.

AI providers new to WhatsApp have been subject to the policy since 15 October.

A thorough formal investigation will cover the European Economic Area except for Italy, avoiding potential overlap with a separate case brought forward by Italian regulators against the Facebook owner.

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Bloomberg reported Dye is being replaced by Stephen Lemay, who lists his title on LinkedIn as UI designer.

Prior to leaving, Dye was VP of human design at Apple. Dye took over Apple’s user interface design team in 2015 after former designer Jony Ive was named chief design officer.

Ive left Apple in 2019 before selling his AI-device company to OpenAI in May for $6.4 billion.

Dye worked on projects such as iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, TV, Vision Pro, and the recently introduced Liquid Glass, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Bloomberg stated Dye has also been helping Apple develop a range of smart home devices.

The news agency reported Meta Platforms is building a new studio with Dye in charge of design for hardware, software and AI integration of its interfaces.

Dye reports to CTO Andrew Bosworth, who leads Meta’s beleaguered Reality Labs division which develops wearables such as virtual reality headsets and smart glasses.

Dye will start his job as chief design officer on 31 December.

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A US district judge in the state of Washington stated in his opinion “Meta holds no monopoly in the relevant market”.

“With apps surging and receding, chasing one craze and moving on from others, and adding new features with each passing year, the FTC has understandably struggled to fix the boundaries of Meta’s product market,” the judge wrote. “Even so, it continues to insist that Meta competes with the same old rivals it has for the last decade, that the company holds a monopoly among that small set, and that it maintained that monopoly through anticompetitive acquisitions.”

The judge continued: “Whether or not Meta enjoyed monopoly power in the past, though, the agency must show that it continues to hold such power now. The court’s verdict today determines that the FTC has not done so.”

While the apps landscape has shifted since the FTC first filed its lawsuit, the judge stated the social media giant is facing competition today from companies such as TikTok and YouTube.

The antitrust lawsuit was filed by the FTC five years ago during President Donald Trump’s first administration and before Facebook’s name was changed to Meta Platforms.

At the time, state attorney generals and the FTC cited Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 as prime examples of its predatory approach of buying social media companies rather than competing against them.

A Meta representative told Mobile World Live the court’s decision recognises the company faces fierce competition.

“Our products are beneficial for people and businesses and exemplify American innovation and economic growth. We look forward to continuing to partner with the administration and to invest in America.”

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The company revealed emerging European messaging players BirdyChat and Haiket will be the first to plug into WhatsApp under the new regulatory framework, which aims to curb the market dominance of big tech players.

WhatsApp’s third-party chats follow “successful small scale tests” and will go live in the coming months on iOS and Android devices across Europe. Users in the region will see an opt-in prompt in the app’s settings menu. If enabled, they will be able to share messages, images, voice notes, videos and files with users on the two partner apps, with group chat support slated to follow.

Meta stressed the rollout follows a “privacy first approach”, explaining that the third-party messaging platforms “must use the same level of end-to-end encryption as WhatsApp” and that the feature can be switched off at any time.

The Facebook-owner said the update reflects “more than three years” of work with European messaging services and the European Commission (EC) to develop a compliant technical framework without compromising user protections.

Meta hailed the launch as a “significant milestone” in meeting DMA obligations and said it expects to expand interoperability to more partners over time.

In April, the EC fined Meta €200 million for breaching provisions of the DMA related to its consent or pay advertising model.

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By constructing the data centres, Meta stated it aims to advance AI technology, create jobs, support local economies, and reinforce the US’ technological leadership.

Since 2010, the Facebook-parent’s data centre projects have supported over 30,000 skilled trade jobs and 5,000 operational jobs. Meta also stated it is a large customer for US contractors and manufacturers, bringing $20 billion in business to subcontractors while supporting various skilled trades.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has put AI at the front of the company’s agenda this year as it hired new employees and raised its capex guidance.

On last month’s Q3 earnings call CFO Susan Li said capital spending “will be notably larger” in 2026 than 2025, as it looks to build out more computing infrastructure for AI.

Superintelligence
Zuckerberg is a big proponent of developing superintelligence, a theoretical form of AI which would not just match but vastly exceed human intelligence across every domain of cognitive ability. 

Zuckerberg stated on the Q3 call Meta is building up its compute capabilities because “it’s the right strategy to aggressively front-load building capacity so that way we’re prepared for the most optimistic cases”.

“That way, if superintelligence arrives sooner, we will be ideally positioned for a generational paradigm shift and many large opportunities.”

In September, Meta Platforms struck a deal worth up to $14.2 billion with technology company Coreweave to bolster its computing power resources.

Zuckerberg stated in July the company planned to invest hundreds of billions of dollars on AI compute infrastructure, which includes building colossal data centre clusters.

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Excluding the one-time tax charge, net income would have increased to $18.6 billion instead of the $2.7 billion booked.

“We expect a significant reduction in our US federal cash tax payments for the remainder of 2025 and future years due to the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Meta Platforms stated.

Daily active users of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads were 3.5 billion, up 8 per cent.

The company’s Reality Labs segment, which includes the Quest headset and its other VR and AR businesses, continued to bleed billions with an operating loss of $4.4 billion on revenue of $470 million.

No new VR headset
On an earnings call, CFO Susan Li told analysts Meta Platforms anticipates Reality Labs’ revenue for Q4 to be below the figure in Q4 2024, partly due to it not introducing a new VR headset this year.

“We’re still expecting significant year-over-year growth in AI glasses revenue in Q4 as we benefit from strong demand for the recent products that we’ve introduced, but that is more than offset by the headwinds to the Quest headsets.”

Meta Platforms ended the quarter with $44.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, while its headcount of 78,450 employees was up 8 per cent due in part to a hiring spree for its Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) team.

The company forecast Q4 revenue to be in the $56 billion to $59 billion range.

Li stated capital spending “will be notably larger” in 2026 than 2025, as it looks to build out more computing infrastructure for AI.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated the MSL team is off to a strong start, but the company needs to add more capacity as it works towards AI superintelligence.

“I think that it’s the right strategy to aggressively front-load building capacity so that way we’re prepared for the most optimistic cases,” he said.

“That way, if superintelligence arrives sooner, we will be ideally positioned for a generational paradigm shift and many large opportunities.”

“And in the worst case, we would just slow building new infrastructure for some period while we grow into what we build.”

Good Vibes
The social media giant launched Vibes within its Meta AI app in Q3, which Zuckerberg described as the company’s next generation of AI creation tools and content experiences.

“Retention is looking good so far and its usage keeps growing quickly week-over-week.”

“I’m looking forward to ramping up the growth of Vibes over the coming months.”

“More broadly, I think that Vibes is an example of a new content type enabled by AI and I think that there are more opportunities to build many more novel types of content ahead as well.”

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The Amsterdam Court of Appeal accepted Meta’s argument that the ordered algorithmic overhaul involves “complex interventions” at the heart of its systems, requiring approvals from third parties including Apple and Google.

Earlier this month, the District Court of Amsterdam found some of Meta’s policies went against the principles of the European Union’s Digital Services Act.

It ordered the company to provide users with a “direct and easily accessible” way to opt out of algorithmic timelines on Facebook and Instagram, with the choice to access chronological or other non-personalised feeds.

The court initially gave Meta just two weeks to rework its algorithmic timelines.

Although Meta appealed the initial verdict, it remains obligated to make the changes while the appeal proceeds. A full appeal hearing is set for 26 January 2026, when judges will assess whether Meta’s updated design meets the DSA’s strict transparency and user control standards.

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The EC also accused Meta failing to provide users with straightforward mechanisms to report illegal content and challenge content moderation decisions.

The DSA complements the EC’s Digital Markets Act and focuses primarily on content moderation, user privacy and transparency.

Ensuring researchers have access to platform data is a key transparency requirement under the DSA. The regulation also grants European Union users the right to challenge content moderation decisions, such as content removal or account suspension.

“We are making sure platforms are accountable for their services, as ensured by EU law, towards users and society,” stated EU tech policy lead Henna Virkkunen.

The EC stated in its preliminary findings Facebook, Instagram and TikTok “may have put in place burdensome procedures and tools for researchers to request access to public data. This often leaves them with partial or unreliable data, impacting their ability to conduct research, such as whether users, including minors, are exposed to illegal or harmful content”.

Meta was found to lack user-friendly and easily accessible notices and action tools for reporting illegal content on its platforms.

A representative for Meta told Mobile World Live the company disagrees with any suggestion it may have breached the DSA, and it continues to engage with the EC.

“In the European Union, we have introduced changes to our content reporting options, appeals process, and data access tools since the DSA came into force and are confident that these solutions match what is required under the law in the EU,” according to a statement from Meta.

The EC stated current appeal mechanisms on Facebook and Instagram do not allow users to submit explanations or supporting evidence, limiting their ability to effectively contest moderation decisions.

Meta, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram can review the EC’s files and respond in writing

If the EC’s preliminary findings are upheld, it has the power to issue a non-compliance decision which includes a fine of up to 6 per cent of a company’s total worldwide annual turnover.

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Bloomberg reported AI chief Alexandr Wang notified employees yesterday about the job cuts in an internal memo. Axios noted Meta will continue to hire new employees for its TBD Lab team which is under the umbrella of Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL).

The cuts are across the social media giant’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team and product-related AI and AI infrastructure units, added Axios.

Wang stated in his memo reducing the team’s size will allow for faster decision-making and give remaining employees greater responsibility and influence, according to both news agencies.

Bloomberg explained the TBD Lab team is home to recently hired, highly-paid AI staff members, some of whom Meta poached from rival companies such as OpenAI.

Meta is encouraging those laid off to apply for other roles within the company and has indicated that hiring for its AI teams will continue, according to Bloomberg.

In August, the company carved up its MSL division into four separate teams as part of a plan to leverage recent hires from competing players. The move marked Meta’s fourth AI restructuring over the past six months.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated in July the company planned to invest hundreds of billions of dollars on AI compute infrastructure, which includes building colossal data centre clusters.

In April, Meta increased its projected capital expenditure for 2025 to $64 billion to $72 billion after previously stating in January it planned capex of $60 billion to $65 billion.

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According to Reuters, the court ruled Meta Platforms must offer simpler options on user timelines that do not focus on making profit for the company, mainly ensuring the platforms’ do not rely on algorithms.

It further argued that the design of both platforms go against the principles of the European Union Digital Services Act (DSA), and it has been given two weeks to offer users a direct and simple way to opt out of timelines that offer recommended content.

A chronological based timeline must be offered, added the court.

In its decision, the court explained “people in the Netherlands are not sufficiently able to make free and autonomous choices about the use of profiled recommendation systems”.

The case was launched by digital rights group Bits of Freedom. Spokesperson for the group Maartje Knaap said it was “unacceptable a few American tech billionaires can determine how we view the world”.

Meta Platforms, which has stated it will appeal the decision, faces a fine of up to $5.8 million if it does not comply.

The case in the Netherlands is the company’s latest row in Europe. It is also facing heat from the European Commission over failing to remove illegal content on Facebook and Instagram.

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US-based Coreweave confirmed the news in an SEC filing, with the deal running through to 2031 with an option to extend by another year.

Describing itself as an AI hyperscaler, the tie-up with Meta follows a $6.5 billion expansion of a deal with OpenAI announced just days ago, bringing its total contract with the ChatGPT operator to $22.4 billion. Coreweave also recently signed a £1.5 billion deal with the UK government.

Its business centres on renting out access to leading AI chips and it competes with players including Nebius Group and Nscale. The latter last week secured $1.1 billion in funding, with backers including Nvidia and Nokia.

Hundreds of billions
Speaking to Bloomberg in an interview after news of the Meta Platforms deal broke, Coreweave CEO Michael Intrator said it would supply the social media company with Nvidia’s latest GB300 systems as part of the agreement.

“They loved our infrastructure in earlier contracts and came back for more,” he said.

For Meta Platforms, the deal underlines the massive cost involved in building out AI infrastructure.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated in July the company planned to invest hundreds of billions of dollars on AI compute infrastructure, which includes building colossal data centre clusters.

The post Meta Platforms continues AI splurge with $14B contract appeared first on Mobile World Live.

In addition to his stint at Meta, which ended earlier this year, Clegg is also a former UK politician who served as deputy prime minister of the country.

“As the only ex-politician in an executive position in that company, in Silicon Valley, I was always advocating that it’s good for these companies to keep a certain distance from politics,” Clegg said during a TV interview today on CNBC. “I generally don’t think that politics and tech innovation mixes very well.

“I think it’s quite good when they keep each other at a certain respectful distance.”

US President Donald Trump has mixed politics with the technology sector by taking a 10 per cent equity stake in Intel last month.

In addition, Trump also brokered an agreement with China to carve out TikTok from parent company ByteDance by signing an executive order to create a new entity majority-controlled by US investors but his administration provided scant details.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported the Trump administration will collect a multibillion-dollar fee from investors for brokering the agreement.

Bloomberg reported yesterday (26 September) ByteDance is expected to receive licencing revenue from making its algorithm available to TikTok US, along with a share of the profit in proportion to its 19.9 per cent equity stake.

Jury is out
Clegg said the jury is still out on the TikTok arrangement because details have not been released by the Trump administration or Chinese officials.

He said there are several areas of concern. The first is whether data generated by TikTok users in the US is kept safe and not subject to surveillance in China.

“And leasing an algorithm, which is what I read is the idea,” he said. “I genuinely just don’t know what leasing an algorithm means.”

Under the proposed framework, Oracle, in addition to being a stakeholder, will oversee retraining ByteDance’s algorithm on US data.

“It’s quite difficult to sort of share an algorithm,” Clegg said. “The engineering that goes behind TikTok’s algorithm, all invented and designed in China, is a highly sophisticated thing to do.”

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Over the coming weeks, users aged 18 and over will be notified of the choice to either continue using the platforms for free with personalised advertising or pay a monthly fee to remove ads.

The move follows regulatory guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ordering “consent or pay” business models for online services using tracking technologies, stating that paid alternatives must be reasonably priced.

The subscription will cost £2.99 per month on web browsers or £3.99 on iOS and Android devices for the first account, with discounted rates available for each additional account linked through Meta’s account centre. The company explained that the differential pricing reflects platform fees charged by Apple and Google.

Personal data will not be used for ad targeting if a user subscribes, with the company reiterating that it does not sell personal data to advertisers.

Meta stated it remains committed to an ad-supported internet but sees subscriptions as a viable alternative where regulation demands greater user choice. The company argued that personalised ads deliver strong returns for businesses, with every £1 spent generating an average of £3.82 in revenue.

The tech giant stated the UK’s regulatory environment was “pro-growth and pro-innovation”, marking a contrast to what it described as regulatory “overreach” by European Union regulators, whom it criticised for imposing unnecessarily strict rules that it claims diminish user experiences.

The Facebook owner pointed to the broader economic impact of its advertising tools in the country, claiming that in 2024 alone, they drove £65 billion in economic activity and supported more than 357,000 jobs.

According to Reuters, advertising accounted for roughly 98 per cent of Meta’s $164.5 billion revenue last year, making compliance with privacy rules a critical balancing act for its long-term growth.

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According to Bloomberg, the EC is preparing a charge sheet accusing Meta of failing to provide adequate tools on Facebook and Instagram for users to flag and remove illegal content. The move follows an investigation launched in April, and if confirmed, the Facebook owner could face fines of up to 6 per cent of its global annual sales.

The company will initially have an opportunity to respond to the allegations or propose corrective measures. Spokesperson Ben Walters, EMEA policy communications manager at Meta, denied the claims, stating the company opposes “any suggestion we have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA)” and is engaging with European Union officials.

Under the DSA, large digital platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU are required to deploy effective moderation systems to counter illegal and harmful content. Meta is currently also the subject of two separate DSA probes for disinformation and child protection, with players such as TikTok, X and AliExpress also facing EU scrutiny.

Vibes
Seperately, Meta launched a new feature within its Meta AI app, dubbed Vibes, focused on short-form, AI-generated videos. The tool allows users to create videos from scratch, remix existing clips, add music and cross-post to Instagram and Facebook Stories.

Videos seen on Meta’s Instagram platform can also be tapped and remixed in the Meta AI app. The company noted that more advanced creation tools and collaborations with artists and creators are in store for future upgrades to the feature.

The post Meta faces EU crackdown; debuts AI tool appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Llama’s availability will be extended to France, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea as well as key institutions NATO and the European Union, building on existing access for the US and its existing intelligence-sharing partners Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

In a blog post, the company revealed partnerships with a slew of technology and defence players including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google Cloud, IBM, Oracle, Palantir, Accenture and Anduril to support deployments in the selected countries.

The Facebook owner emphasised that the open-source nature of Llama, its proprietary large language model (LLM), allows governments to deploy models locally in secure environments, fine-tuned with sensitive data, and without routing information through third-party AI providers.

Meta Platforms positioned the move as part of a broader strategy to maintain US and allied nations’ AI leadership in support of US President Donald Trump’s AI Action Plan. “In a world where geopolitical power and national security are deeply intertwined with economic output, innovation, and growth, the widespread adoption of open-source models like Llama will be essential,” noted Joel Kaplan, Meta Platforms’ chief global affairs officer.

The move comes a day after the US General Services Administration added Llama to its list of approved AI tools for federal agencies. The LLM is already being used within the US government and military for national security and defence applications.

Meta Platforms indicated that additional allies may be granted access to the model, pending consultation with the US government.

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In a blog post yesterday (23 September), WhatsApp stated translations will initially be available in six languages on Android devices and 19 languages on iPhones, with more to follow.

When users see a message in a different language, they can long-press and tap “translate” to select the language they want the message to be converted either from or to.

The feature is available across one-on-one chats, groups and Channel updates.

Android users will be able to turn on automatic translation for an entire chat to see future messages in their preferred language.

To alleviate privacy concerns, the company stated the translations occur on users’ devices where WhatsApp cannot see them.

“We hope this feature helps break down language barriers and allows users to connect more deeply with loved ones and communities around the globe,” it added.

The post WhatsApp launches real-time translation appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The Meta Ray-Ban Display are being packaged with the namesake Neural Band, a wrist-worn device offering control functions for the wearable.

Battery life when in use is up to six-hours or 30-hours using a portable charging case.

Neural Bands will run for up to 18-hours and feature an IPX7 water resistance rating.

Meta Platforms stated the on-lens display of the latest Ray-Ban spectacles is intended to be unobstructive, “designed for short interactions” instead of “strapping a phone to your face”. It incorporates microphones, speakers, cameras and a full-colour display.

The Neural Band uses sensors to replace touchscreen navigation buttons, initially providing scrolling controls and ultimately intended to offer message-writing capabilities.

Meta Platforms explained the wrist band is the culmination of several years of research into electromyography technology with close to 200,000 participants, groundwork it believes means the device will work “for nearly anyone”, “a huge technical feat because of the level of variance in people’s muscles”.

Sporty credentials
The Oakley Meta Vanguard spectacles target sportspeople and expand an existing line-up from the pair.

Here the focus is on camera and fitness functions.

A 12MP camera in the middle of the spectacles features a 122-degree wide-angle lens and is capable of shooting video of up to 3K resolution.

Meta Platforms stated there is a six decibel increase in speaker output over a previous Oakley wearable, along with a five-microphone array.

The in-use battery life matches the Ray-Ban model, with a maximum of up to 36-hours using the charging case.

There is integration with Garmin and Strava apps, with graphic overlays for the latter available.

Availability
Several US retailers are due to put the Meta Ray-Ban Display and Neural band on sale on 30 September priced at $799, with Verizon due to stock it “soon after”.

Meta Platforms is eyeing expansion to Canada, France, Italy and UK in early 2026.

Oakley Meta Vanguard is due to go on sale on 21 October in the US, Canada, UK and a host of European nations. Orders are being taken now, priced at $499.

The post Meta dons next-gen Ray-Ban, Oakley wearables appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the FTC is evaluating whether chatbots including OpenAI’s ChatGPT are impacting children’s mental health.

In addition to Meta Platforms and OpenAI, the news publication stated correspondence was also sent to Character.AI.

WSJ stated the administration of US President Donald Trump approved of the plan.

First lady Melania Trump hosted a meeting yesterday (4 September) of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education.

WSJ explained Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella attended the event and pledged to make AI more accessible to students and workers.

President Trump signed an executive order on advancing AI education for US youth on 23 April.

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Addressing the Anti-Scam Summit Singapore, the Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family development said the notice is being issued as part of a drive in the country to address the growing problem.

The politician noted government official impersonation scams were up 200 per cent year-on-year in Singapore.

Meta Platforms is set to be told it must put measures in place to address “advertisements, accounts, profiles and business pages impersonating key government officials”.

He noted the company is being targeted because Facebook was the “top platform used” by criminals in these endeavours, with police apparently flagging “decisive action” as being required.

Goh went on to state authorities would continue to work with Meta Platforms on the issue and other related initiatives.

TikTok is also facing pressure, with Goh outlining a requirement for it to “put in place the appropriate systems, processes and measures to proactively disrupt” scam activities in line with rules in the country.

In comments made to The Straits Times following Goh’s speech, a Meta Platforms representative said it is against the company’s terms of use to impersonate or run adverts using public figures to deceive people, with specialist tools in place to detect these.

The representative told the newspaper such posts are removed once detected.

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The pair have jointly committed an initial investment of INR8.6 billion ($96.9 million) to capitalise the venture, with Reliance contributing 70 per cent and Meta Platforms the remainder.

In a joint statement, the companies noted the JV will develop vertical and sector‑specific offerings including an AI platform-as-a-service and a suite of pre-configured AI tools.

Reliance chair and MD Mukesh Ambani noted partnering with Meta Platforms “brings our vision of providing AI to every Indian and enterprise to life”, by combining the latter’s open-source Llama models with its expertise across multiple industries.

The transaction is subject to standard regulatory approvals and is expected to close in Q4.

Google Cloud
Meanwhile, Reliance expanded a partnership with Google Cloud, with plans to design and build an AI-focused cloud facility and associated network infrastructure in the city of Jamnagar, on the west coast.

In a separate statement, it explained the cloud region supported by Reliance’s infrastructure, renewable energy and nationwide network, will be fully compliant with Google Cloud’s global specifications and service-level standards.

Google Cloud will deploy its AI hyper-computer AI stack offering generative models, development platform and relevant applications.

Ambani said by bringing Google Cloud’s AI capabilities to Jamnagar, “we are laying the foundation for India to become a global leader in AI”.

The post Reliance, Meta team on AI venture appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The Information reportedly broke the news and secured confirmation from Google Cloud.

Bloomberg, Reuters and CNBC were among other outlets to flesh out the details, explaining the Meta deal covers a period of six years and is a fillip for Google Cloud as it competes with rivals Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

Meta Platforms is on an aggressive AI drive, with bigwigs committing to pump billions into expanding its data centre capacity. The various news outlets stated this is the key focus of the company’s arrangement with Google Cloud.

Bloomberg noted a previous collaboration between the companies offered access to Meta Platforms’ Llama AI model on Google Cloud developer platform Vertex AI, but all the outlets stated the latest deal is the first between the pair covering cloud computing.

Reuters highlighted Meta Platforms initiated a move to sell a fraction more than $2 billion-worth of land and property late last month to contribute to its AI-related costs.

The post Google Cloud, Meta strike $10B AI compute deal appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the recruitment drive led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg ended last week around the same time the social media giant split its newly formed AI group into four distinct teams.

WSJ’s sources stated Alexandr Wang, Meta’s chief AI officer, could grant permission for more external hires. He formerly served as CEO of Scale AI prior to Meta Platforms making a $14.3 billion investment in the company in June.

The news agency reported the length of the hiring freeze was not communicated internally to the company’s employees. It also noted the AI restructuring effort prohibits employees from moving across the various teams.

Zuckerberg made a concerted effort to woo engineers and employees from rival AI companies over the past several months by reportedly offering nine figure salaries. 

The CEO recently announced the formation of a Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) team, a move designed to boost the company’s AI efforts while competing against rivals OpenAI, Microsoft  and Google.

Earlier in August, Meta divided its AI resources into four separate teams, which are now part of MSL. WSJ reported a team called TBD Labs is devoted to Zuckerberg’s personal superintelligence effort. TBD Labs is home to many of the new hires.

The second team is dedicated to developing AI products while a third is working on infrastructure, according to WSJ. The fourth Fundamental AI Research team led by Robert Fergus remains the same. The AGI foundations group was recently disbanded.

Zuckerberg is placing big bets on AI in 2025. In April, the tech giant increased its projected capital expenditure for 2025 to $64 billion to $72 billion after previously stating in January it planned capex of $60 billion to $65 billion.

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Bloomberg reported the new teams are designed to ramp up Meta Platforms’ ambition to develop AI-based personal superintelligence for users.

The news agency cited an internal memo by chief AI officer Alexandr Wang which stated Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) now has four distinct parts.

“Superintelligence is coming, and in order to take it seriously, we need to organize around the key areas that will be critical to reach it — research, product and infra,” Wang wrote in the memo, according to Bloomberg.

Wang formerly served as CEO of Scale AI prior to Meta Platforms making a $14.3 billion investment in the company in June.

The Information reported the move marks Meta Platforms’ fourth AI restructuring over the past six months. Bloomberg reported there were no layoffs related to the reorganisation yesterday (19 August.)

CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently outlined the formation of the MSL team, designed to boost the company’s AI efforts while competing against rivals Microsoft, Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.

Zuckerberg made a concerted effort to poach engineers and employees from rival AI companies over the past several months. Bloomberg previously reported he is personally recruiting around 50 people for a new team to spur the company’s artificial general intelligence (AGI) scheme.

Prior to MSL, Bloomberg explained the tech giant divided AI up across three teams: Fundamental AI Research (FAIR), the AI products group and the AGI foundations team.

The news agency reported Robert Fergus will continue to lead the FAIR team after returning to Meta Platforms in May, while the AGI foundations group is being disbanded.

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Zuckerberg shares vision for personal superintelligence

What happened: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined a bold ambition to bring “personal superintelligence” to billions of users, detailing the company’s long-term AI strategy in a memo released ahead of the company’s Q2 results.

Why it matters: Zuckerberg outlined plans to use Meta’s AI infrastructure to give individuals access to advanced AI tools tailored to personal goals, an approach that contrasts with others in the industry who are focussed on centralised AI control. “We believe in putting this power in people’s hands,” he said. Although the memo stopped short of defining superintelligence, Zuckerberg stated it would be delivered through products such as AR glasses and VR headsets. The AI pitch accompanied strong Q2 earnings as Meta reported a $47.5 billion in revenue, up 22 per cent year-on-year and with a net income of $18.3 billion. “Meta’s blowout earnings and raised guidance highlight how AI is becoming a real revenue driver, not just hype,” Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com told CNN. However, Zuckerberg did flag that Meta’s new AI leap would introduce “novel safety concerns”, adding that the company will “need to be rigorous about mitigating these risks and careful about what we choose to open source”. Minda Smiley, senior analyst at eMarketer told The Guardian that Meta’s “exorbitant spending” on AI will “continue to draw questions and scrutiny from investors who are eager to see returns”.

Samsung foundry unit lines up $16.5B contract

What happened: Samsung Electronics’s foundry business landed a KRW22.8 trillion ($16.5 billion) contract with an undisclosed global client.

Why it matters: The multi-year deal, set to run through 2033, will see Samsung manufacture advanced chips using its 2nm process technology. The deal marks a win for its struggling foundry business as it accounts for approximately 7.6 per cent of the vendor’s annual revenue. Indeed, Bloomberg reported that the deal immediately buoyed investor sentiment as Samsung shares surged 10 per cent following the announcement, contributing to a more than 20 per cent jump in July, marking the vendor’s best monthly performance in more than two decades. The publication cited Citygroup analysts who viewed the contract as a pivotal shift for the foundry unit, which has been under pressure amid falling market share and calls for restructuring. However, Samsung maintained a cautious tone on its Q2 earnings call, as the Mobile eXperience (MX) unit warned of waning global demand for smartphones and tablets in H2 due to inflation and potential tariff hikes. Despite strong Galaxy S25 and A-series performance lifting mobile revenue by 7 per cent, group net profit dropped 49 per cent to KRW4.9 trillion.

India surpasses China as top US smartphone supplier

What happened: India overtook China for the first time as the largest source of smartphone shipments to the US in Q2 2025, marking a reshuffling of global supply chains, Canalys data showed.

Why it matters: India-origin smartphones accounted for 44 per cent of the 27.1 million units shipped to the US in the quarter, a marked rise from just 13 per cent in the same period last year. China’s share, meanwhile, plummeted to 25 per cent from a dominant 61 per cent a year ago. Canalys attributed the shift to Apple accelerating production in India to reduce dependency on China as the threat of US tariffs loom. Apple’s shift in manufacturing has previously drawn fire from US President Donald Trump, who warned the iPhone-maker of steep tariffs on internationally assembled devices and told CEO Tim Cook: “We are not interested in you building in India”. Canalys senior analyst Runar Bjorhovde stated that Apple front loaded inventory earlier in the year to hedge against potential disruptions, while also noting increased output from Samsung and Motorola. Despite this supply-side upheaval, overall US smartphone shipments grew by just 1 per cent in the quarter. Alongside Huawei reclaiming the top spot in its home market China last week, the shake-up across three of the largest smartphone markets spanning India, China and the US reflects geopolitical tensions and the overall climate across the sector. “Combined, these markets make up around 50 per cent of the global smartphone market, so what happens here will be the best indicator to how vendors will adjust next in other regions,” Bjorhovde said.

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The lengthy memo by Zuckerberg was issued before the company’s Q2 earnings results yesterday (30 July). He stated people should be able to use AI superintelligence to achieve their personal goals. 

“Meta’s vision is to bring personal superintelligence to everyone,” he said. “We believe in putting this power in people’s hands to direct it towards what they value in their own lives.”

The CEO contrasted Meta’s approach as “distinct from others in the industry who believe superintelligence should be directed centrally towards automating all valuable work, and then humanity will live on a dole of its output”.

While he did not define what superintelligence is, or how the company will develop it, Meta’s plan to deliver it will include products such as augmented reality glasses and virtual reality headsets. 

“Meta believes strongly in building personal superintelligence that empowers everyone,” he explained. “We have the resources and the expertise to build the massive infrastructure required”.

He added it would deliver the “new technology to billions of people across our products.”

Meta has long touted its open-source Llama models as a key differentiator compared to AI rivals OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and xAI.

“We believe the benefits of superintelligence should be shared with the world as broadly as possible. That said, superintelligence will raise novel safety concerns. We’ll need to be rigorous about mitigating these risks and careful about what we choose to open source.”

Zuckerberg was asked on the Q2 earnings call whether the move to personal superintelligence means the company is no longer a big proponent of open source for its AI models.

“I don’t think that our thinking has particularly changed on this,” he said. “We’ve always open sourced some of our models and not open sourced everything that we’ve done.”

He said there are several trends playing out related to AI models, including some of them being too big to share with others.

“We kind of wrestle with whether it’s productive or helpful to share that or if that’s really just primarily helping competitors,” he said. “As you approach real superintelligence, I think there’s a whole different set of safety concerns that I think we need to take very seriously”.

“But I think the bottom line is, I would expect that we will continue open sourcing work”.

The AI superintelligence manifesto follows Zuckerberg’s formation of a Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) team in early July to boost the company’s AI efforts while competing against rivals including Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and xAI.

Q2 numbers
Meta posted revenue of $47.5 billion, up 22 percent year-on-year, and net income up 36 per cent to $18.3 billion.

The company’s Reality Labs division generated $370 million in revenue, which was less than the $386 million analysts expected, and had a $4.5 billion operating loss. Reality Labs is developing the company’s virtual reality and augmented reality technologies.

The social media giant’s advertising revenue came in at $46.5 billion, ahead of Wall Street projections of $43.9 billion. Meta is relying on advertising revenue to fund its AI ambitions.

“On advertising, the strong performance this quarter is largely thanks to AI unlocking greater efficiency and gains across our ad system,” Zuckerberg said on the earnings call.

It averaged 3.5 billion users across Facebook, Instagram and other apps. This represented an increase of 6 per cent.

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In a statement, the Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) explained Meta’s decision to install the chatbot and AI assistant service earlier this year could constitute an abuse of its dominant position in the consumer communications apps market.

It noted along with adding Meta AI to WhatsApp “without any prior request from users” it was placed in a prominent position on the screen and had been integrated into the search bar.

“By combining Meta AI with WhatsApp, Meta appears capable of channelling its customer base into the emerging market, not through merit-based competition, but by ‘imposing’ the availability of the two distinct services upon users, potentially harming competitors,” the authority stated.

It went on to cite a risk users may be locked-in or “functionally dependent” on the AI service partly because “by using the information provided over time, it appears that the responses generated by the service become increasingly useful and relevant”.

AGCM’s investigation is being conducted in cooperation with European Commission departments.

As part of the investigation, the Italian authority carried out an inspection of the offices of the company’s Italian subsidiary yesterday (29 July) alongside with a specialist department of the financial police.

The probe covers Meta Platforms and its subsidiaries in Italy and the Republic of Ireland.

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In a Facebook post, Zuckerberg outlined plans to build several multi-gigawatt super clusters with the first expected to come online next year. These facilities will be used to train and manage workloads generated by Meta’s advanced AI models.

The social media giant retooled its AI efforts last month under a newly formed division called Superintelligence Labs.

“Meta Superintelligence Labs will have industry-leading levels of compute and by far the greatest compute per researcher,” Zuckerberg stated in the post.

He added the company has the capital needed to build the data centre clusters, the first of which is called Prometheus.

The second cluster, Hyperion, is intended to be able to scale up to five gigawatts over several years.

“Just one of these covers a significant part of the footprint of Manhattan,” he said.

Earlier this month, the CEO disclosed the formation of a Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) team, a move designed to boost the company’s AI efforts while competing against rivals OpenAI and Google.

Zuckerberg selected former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to lead the MSL team. Wang, who is also chief AI officer for Meta, was CEO of Scale AI prior to Meta Platforms making a huge investment in the company last month.

The executive is making a concerted effort to woo engineers and employees from rival AI companies. Bloomberg previously reported he is personally recruiting around 50 people for a new team to spur the company’s artificial general intelligence (AGI) scheme.

In April, Meta increased its projected capital expenditure for 2025 to $64 billion to $72 billion after previously stating in January it planned capex of $60 billion to $65 billion.

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