meta

Meta has quietly released a new iPhone app that uses AI to create personalized children’s stories, complete with illustrations, narration, and original music.

Ray-Ban Meta Glasses and the latest cheaper non-designer option are sold on the basis of the built-in AI features, but in early July the company announced a “ridiculous” limit on the free usage you can make of an accessibility feature.

Effectively, Meta has retroactively applied a paywall to a hardware product it already sold to customers. Update: The social network has now said it is “pausing” plans to paywall the feature – see the end of the piece.

Hackers managed to trick Meta’s AI-powered support bot into allowing them to take over a number of Instagram accounts, including some high-profile ones. This included accounts belonging to the White House, US Space Force, and security researcher Jane Wong.

Update: Meta has now revealed that around 20,000 accounts were compromised and has explained the steps it has taken in response …

Meta just launched a brand new iPhone app called Instants. Built around ephemeral photo sharing, the new social media app is also the latest Instagram feature. Here’s what it does.

Last month, Meta relaunched its AI efforts with Muse Spark, replacing its Llama models. As of today, Muse Spark is powering new experiences inside the Meta AI app.

Meta’s latest attempt to comply with age verification requirements in Europe, Brazil and the US is to roll out AI-powered tech to analyse the faces of teenage users of Facebook and Instagram.

The company says AI analysis will be used to estimate the ages of faces but that it does not amount to face recognition. Update: It doesn’t appear to be working too well – a 12yo kid fooled it by using an eyebrow pencil to draw a fake mustache …

Llama is out; Muse Spark is in. Meta has unveiled its rebooted AI efforts with a new model it calls Muse Spark.

Unlike Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview announcement yesterday, Muse Spark is actually available publicly today.

Meta is also taking on the top Gemini and ChatGPT models with a new Contemplating mode that it says will roll out gradually.

Meta revealed in January that it plans to test paid versions of Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook. Now, in select markets, the first of those premium services is available.

A VPN company has put together AI chatbot privacy ratings based on the data collection practices of the ten most popular AI chatbots in the App Store.

The iPhone chatbots are ranked worst to best, and there are no prizes for guessing which of the competing apps collects the most personal data …

If Dystopia Daily were a newspaper, this story would lead…

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified this week in what’s viewed as a landmark court case around the mental health impact of social media. As part of that testimony, Zuckerberg revealed that he reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook to talk about the “wellbeing of teens and kids.”

Meta has revealed that it plans to test paid subscriptions to Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook – with multiple options apparently on the cards.

The company has so far only provided specifics on the paywalled features for Instagram, with no details yet available about its other services …

Today isn’t a great day for users of Meta apps. Mark Zuckerberg has told us to expect a “huge corpus” of AI content in Facebook and Instagram, while the company’s CFO Susan Li has said that ads in Threads are now running globally and that video ads are on the way …

One of the downsides of tech giants creating Silicon Valley was the affordable housing crisis it spurred. That has made it next to impossible for those on typical salaries to rent or buy in the area.

Apple was one of a number of tech companies which pledged to help out back in 2019, and so far has delivered more than most …

Meta is apparently experiencing some capacity of server issues today.

Apple at one time considered adding a camera to the Apple Watch, but it looks like Meta may get there first. A new report suggests the company may unveil the upcoming wearable at its September event.

A Meta smartwatch with a camera was spotted in development back in 2021, but was said to have been put on pause the following year. However, a new supply-chain report says the project was revived and is now close to launch …

Update: Business Insider notes that Meta has now added a warning message when users share chat queries.

The Meta AI app has been described as “a privacy disaster,” as users unknowingly make their embarrassing questions public.

One tech writer described it as like discovering your web browser history has been public all along without you knowing it …