Mark Zuckerberg warns of ‘intense year’ as Meta faces stiff AI competition, layoffs

Earlier this month, Zuckerberg announced sweeping changes to Meta’s contented moderation policies and scraped the company’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programmes, coinciding with US President Donald Trump’s instrumentality to the White House.

The Facebook co-founder besides sparked contention with his remark connected a podcast astir wanting much “masculine energy” successful the workplace.

“I deliberation the absorption of the argumentation and regulatory and ineligible absorption connected a batch of this worldly is that you can’t bash things that vantage circumstantial groups, adjacent if you’re trying to marque up for different things,” Zuckerberg said astatine Thursday’s interior meeting.

“When we accidental that idiosyncratic tin accidental thing connected our services, it doesn’t needfully mean that we hold with that thing. It conscionable means that we privation to beryllium a level wherever radical tin sermon things,” helium said portion talking astir Meta’s modified contented moderation rules that reportedly lets users telephone trans radical “mentally ill” without facing enactment connected the platform.

Zuckerberg had besides announced that low-performing employees would beryllium fto go connected February 10. In effect to concerns astir the imminent layoffs, helium said, “The close happening to bash is conscionable rip the band-aid disconnected [..] I think, successful a batch of ways, it is simply a nicer happening to bash for radical who are astir apt not going to extremity up making it anyway.”

Meta-Ray-Ban astute glasses sold successful 2024

Meta sold implicit 1 cardinal units of its astute glasses made successful concern with eyewear marque Ray-Ban past year, Zuckerberg revealed for the archetypal time.

“A batch of the large deed products successful their 3rd procreation reached 5 to 10 cardinal units. […] So I deliberation 1 of the questions for america is, are we going to spell from 1 cardinal this twelvemonth to 2 million? Are we going to spell from 1 cardinal to 5 million?” helium said.

Meta is besides processing a much costly exemplary of astute glasses with a heads-up show internally called Hypernova, The Verge reported. “We conscionable person this wide unfastened tract close present to tally and fundamentally present arsenic galore radical arsenic imaginable to Meta AI glasses and we should instrumentality that opportunity,” Zuckerberg was quoted arsenic saying.

Meta’s AI strategy

Zuckerberg disclosed that Meta AI presently has astir 700 cardinal monthly users. The institution hopes to ramp up the fig to 1 cardinal users by the extremity of this year.

“We cognize from gathering a batch of worldly implicit the past 20 years that services tin benignant of travel and go, but erstwhile thing reaches that standard and has a information flywheel, it mostly tin make a beauteous durable vantage … We person a clump of enactment to marque it much engaging this year. We’re going to absorption a batch connected personalization arsenic 1 of the cardinal themes astir this,” Zuckerberg reportedly said.

The CEO besides expressed a hint of regret implicit DeepSeek’s breakthrough. “Whenever I spot idiosyncratic other bash something, I’m like, ‘Ah travel on! We should person been there, right? We [have] got to marque definite we’re connected it,” helium said.

On the anticipation of a prohibition against rival level TikTok, helium commented: “I’m beauteous definite immoderate happens, I’m precise assured that Facebook and Instagram Reels are going to proceed growing… Who’s going to ain TikTok astatine the extremity of the year? What’s going to happen? That’s a large deal.”