Tag: meta

Meta buys into 6 GW of nuclear to power its Prometheus data center

Meta is betting on nuclear for its AI power needs in Ohio, US. (Picture: Adobe)
Three nuclear power companies have been selected by Meta to supply its «supercluster» being built in New Albany, Ohio.

Together, they are offering up to six gigawatts of power from established nuclear reactors to more experimental small modular reactors.

The deals are a result of a request for proposals from Meta in December 2024, TechCrunch writes, and they have now selected Vistra (2.1 GW) for their existing nuclear plants, and Oklo (1.2 GW) and TerraPower (up to 2.1 GW) for their modular reactors.

TerraPower was co-founded by Bill Gates, while Sam Altman is the biggest investor in Oklo.

TerraPower and Oklo are still in the startup phase, with capacity for TerraPower expected to come online in 2032, while Oklo’s «nuclear technology campus» won’t be coming online until 2030, CNBC writes.

No financial details of the deals have been made public, but Meta has committed to spending $600 billion on infrastructure over the next three years.

Read more: Writeups on TechCrunch, CNBC.

Meta buys Manus, producer of autonomous agents, for $2 billion

Meta plans to integrate Manus’s agents across both professional and consumer products. (Picture: Manus)
Manus was originally a Chinese company, but moved to Singapore to avoid tariffs, and will now close all its investor ties and business in the country.

The Wall Street Journal cites sources placing the deal at $2 billion.

Their main product is an agent capable of functioning as a digital employee, that can complete tasks in research, coding and data analysis with minimal supervision, Reuters writes.

Continue reading “Meta buys Manus, producer of autonomous agents, for $2 billion”

Meta is eyeing early 2026 for «Avocado» model, and it might be proprietary

The billion dollar crew at the Superintelligence Labs at Meta are readying their first release.
Meta’s next frontier model might not be open source, rumours say. (Picture: generated)
CNBC reports today that Meta is coming closer to a release of their next frontier model — four months after forming their Superintelligence Labs.

The model is rumored to not be in the Llama family of open source models, as The Zuck himself opined in July that «We’ll need to be rigorous about mitigating these risks and careful about what we choose to open source.»

Therefore, the «Avacado» family of models might well be proprietary, also after Meta saw lots of components of its Open Source models getting incorporated in other advanced models.

Little is known about the upcoming model, apart from the fact that it will be «frontier,» and there has apparently been discussions on releasing it this year — but the official plan is that is scheduled for Q1 2026, according to CNBC.

Read more: Full scoop at CNBC.

Apple’s interface chief leaves for new Meta AI design studio

Alan Dye, the Liquid Glass chief is leaving Apple for greener pastures at Meta.
Alan Dye introducing the Liquid Glass design he oversaw at Apple, in June, 2025. (Picture: Apple)
Alan Dye, who has been heading up user interface design for Apple for the last ten years, is officially leaving to lead AI design for Meta, reports Bloomberg.

He brings with him his deputy at Apple, Billy Sorrentino, and will oversee a new studio that encompasses hardware, software and AI integration across all of Meta’s products — including future AI devices.

— Our idea is to treat intelligence as a new design material and imagine what becomes possible when it is abundant, capable, and human-centered, writes Mark Zuckerberg on Threads, not being short of ambition.

He goes on to say that Meta will «elevate design,» and put together people with talents in «craft, creative vision, systems thinking, and deep experience building iconic products that bridge hardware and software»

The potential is «enormous,» Zuck says, for AI glasses and «other devices» to change how we connect with «technology and each other.»

Read more: Scoop by Bloomberg, writeups by The Verge and 9to5Mac.

Nvidia responds to report that Meta might use Google’s TPU chips

A deal between Meta and Google might see custom TPU chips installed on Meta's data centers, as the industry looks for Nvidia alternatives.
Talks between Meta and Google on custom chips has Nvidia slightly worried, but not much. (Picture: generated)
News on the talks was posted by The Information on tuesday, and caused Nvidia to drop 3% and Google to tease a $4 billion valuation in the markets.

Under the deal being discussed, Meta would start renting compute on Google’s Tensor Processing Units as early as next year, Reuters reports.

Continue reading “Nvidia responds to report that Meta might use Google’s TPU chips”

Meta commits to «at least» $600 billion spend on AI infrastructure

Meta commits to spending big its AI infrastructure investments in the next three years.
Meta will be a big AI infrastructure player if their investments pan out. (Picture: Adobe)
The outlay is only for next three years, according to Reuters, who says Meta has been doubling down on AI recently, with massive outlays for their Superintelligence Lab and data center buildouts.

They are building out data centers because «it’s the right strategy to aggressively front-load capacity so we’re prepared for the most optimistic cases,» according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Meta saw an 83% drop in its operating income the last quarter, and plans for capital expenditures of $70 billion just this year, but will have increase it threefold to reach their target by 2028.

Read more: Reuters, The Register and Business Insider.

Big Tech doubles down on even bigger AI spend

Big tech will spend about a quarter of a trillion dollars on "capital expenditures" this year, according to quarterly reports.
Data center deals are flourishing and none of the big tech spenders feel they can afford not be in the race. (Picture: Adobe)
Quarterly results are in for Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta — and while the numbers are mixed, they all agree on big capital expenditures — needed for building data centers — for fiscal year 2025.

The coming AI wars will be fought with data centers and gigawatts, and nobody wants to lose out.

Continue reading “Big Tech doubles down on even bigger AI spend”

Weekend roundup: Resurrected Clippy, ChatGPT Business and AI Oreo ads

Microsoft wants to put up a nice face for you to talk to with Copilot.

Clippy much? Microsoft launches visualization of Copilot
If you ever use voice mode in Copilot, which Microsoft hopes to expand, you might see a new, expressive animation on your screen. That would be the newly announced «Mico.» Unlike the much maligned Clippy, Mico will use facial expressions that change as you talk. It’s only available in the US, and will work with an upcoming memory feature for Copilot to better respond to requests.
More at: Microsoft’s launch, The Verge and Ars Technica.

OpenAI announces ChatGPT Business
ChatGPT will now combine all the context of your businesses’ connected apps, like Slack, Sharepoint, Github and Google Drive. This makes it possible to ask pretty detailed questions about your business and have comprehensive answers delivered in one place — without the need to go searching through lots of different repositories. The feature is available tor Business, Enterprise and Education customers starting last Thursday.
More at: OpenAI’s launch page, The Verge and The Register.

Read on for more!

Continue reading “Weekend roundup: Resurrected Clippy, ChatGPT Business and AI Oreo ads”

Meta to use AI chats to «personalize» ads and recommendations

While they have no idea yet about how to do it, Meta will use AI chats to "personalize" your ads on December 16.
The free ride is over; Meta AI is getting monetized (Picture: Adobe)
Starting December 16, 2025, all of your Meta AI interactions will influence what ads you see across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

There is no way to opt out, according to The Wall Street Journal, but they won’t be targeting topics like «religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership.»

Continue reading “Meta to use AI chats to «personalize» ads and recommendations”

Zuckerberg would rather «misspend a couple of hundred billion» than lose out on AI race

Zuckerberg would rather misplace hundreds of billions of dollars than lose out in the AI race.
The Meta CEO is more worried about losing out than some failed investments, even in the billions. (Picture: screenshot, Access podcast)
Mark Zuckerberg made the statement on the Access podcast, claiming the risk was «probably in not being aggressive enough.»

— That’s going to be very unfortunate obviously. But I would say the risk is higher on the other side, he said.

A $600 billion bet
Getting it right on «superintelligence,» or artificial general intelligence, is a clear priority for the Meta CEO, and he has already promised $600 billion of total investment in the technology until 2028.

Continue reading “Zuckerberg would rather «misspend a couple of hundred billion» than lose out on AI race”

Weekend roundup; Chrome gets Gemini, Microsoft goes Claude and Veo comes to Youtube

Google is letting Gemini loose on the world's most popular browser.
While others are still struggling with the AI-based browser, Google is going all-in with Chrome. (Picture: Google)

Google goes nuclear; brings Gemini to Chrome
While OpenAI is still working on a browser and others are cautious or have failed to take off, Google is done waiting. They are now building the Gemini assistant directly into the world’s most popular browser. «Gemini with Chrome» will navigate and summarize your tabs for you, offer helpful suggestions in the URL bar, and should soon help you order stuff online. It can even find your closed tabs and search for references inside Youtube videos. It’s rolling out to Mac and Windows users with language set to English as of this writing. They call it «a new era of browsing.»
More at Google’s launch page, Google’s overview and launch thread.

Hands-on with Meta’s new Ray-Bans
Has Meta found the Goldilocks zone of smart glasses? Their recently launched Ray-Bans with an internal screen seems to have hit the sweet spot with reviewers. The Verge calls them the best smart glasses out there, Tom’s Hardware says it «feels like the future,» and Gizmodo writes that you’re going to want a pair. The consensus seems to be that the in-lens screen is quite useful, just about bright enough and it hits the sweet spot with the new wristband.
More at Mashable’s roundup.

Read on for more!

Continue reading “Weekend roundup; Chrome gets Gemini, Microsoft goes Claude and Veo comes to Youtube”

Meta AI created unauthorized raunchy bots of celebrities, complete with intimate images

Unauthorized avatars of flirty and raunchy celebrties have been popping up all over Facebook recently.
Taylor Swift performing recently, not a Facebook avatar made without permission. (Picture Paolo V, CC BY 2.0)
Seen on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp by millions, the bots impersonating Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson and others were flirty, intimate and often suggested meet-ups, a Reuters scoop has found.

Most of the bots were created by users, but some high profile ones, garnering more than 10 million views, came from a Meta employee.

Meta admits fault
This is a failure of Meta’s policy enforcement, spokesman Andy Stone tells Reuters — and says there are guidelines in place against intimate celebrity pictures.

Meta has since deleted many of the bots in question, but some still remain, Reuters found.

While there are individual state laws protecting the likeness and appearance of celebrities, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland of SAG-AFTRA — the actors union — says they are pushing for federal laws against AI imitation.

Go read the full story on Reuters. See also: Grok undresses Taylor Swift.

Meta partners with Midjourney, licensing their «aesthetic technology»

Little is known about the deal outside a few posts on x.com.
Midjourney licensing its technology to Meta might be the first of many. (Picture: screenshot)
Meta’s head of the Superintelligence Lab, Alexandr Wang, announced today a «technical collaboration between our research teams» as Midjourney has expertise that «complements our own.»

Little is known about the actual details of the collaboration, and Meta’s spokesperson, when asked by The Verge, simply defers to Wang’s x.com post:

Continue reading “Meta partners with Midjourney, licensing their «aesthetic technology»”

Friday roundup: Grok spills shares, Meta freezes hiring and AI Mode expands

Be careful what you share in Grok, or you might be spilling secrets to Google.
Grok lists shared chats on Google
If you want to share a chat with friends on Grok, you might get more than you bargained for. According to Forbes, the share-button generates a unique URL that is also shared with search engines, and they found more than 370K stored Grok conversations on Google. OpenAI had a similar problem a few weeks back, and disabled the option. No news yet on mitigation from x.ai.
More at Forbes.

Meta AI enacts hiring freeze as part of reorg
The Wall Street Journal reports that it is part of a wider reorganization of the «Superintelligence» unit, and CNBC reports that it is about «creating a solid structure» for the lab. Apparently, investors have been spooked by the massive expenditures on the unit, after spending big this summer to secure talent. Alexandr Wang, head of the Superintelligence Lab, denies the reports.
More at the WSJ and CNBC.

Continue reading “Friday roundup: Grok spills shares, Meta freezes hiring and AI Mode expands”