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WhatsApp to start showing ads to users in parts of messaging app

WhatsApp said Monday that users will start seeing ads in parts of the app, as owner Meta Platforms moves to cultivate a new revenue stream by tapping the billions of people that use the messaging service. Advertisements will be shown only in the app's Updates tab, which is used by as many as 1.5 billion people each day. However, they won't appear where personal chats are located, developers said. The personal messaging experience on WhatsApp isn't changing, and personal messages, calls and statuses are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be used to show ads, WhatsApp said in a blog post. It's a big change for the company, whose founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton vowed to keep the platform free of ads when they created it in 2009. Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014 and the pair left a few years later. Parent company Meta Platforms Inc. has long been trying to generate revenue from WhatsApp. WhatsApp said ads will be targeted to users based on information like their age, the country or

Meta appoints Arun Srinivas as India head, to take over from July 1

Srinivas, currently leading Meta's ads business, will take charge as Managing Director and Head for India from 1 July, reporting to Sandhya Devanathan

Meta appoints Arun Srinivas as India business head and managing director

Arun Srinivas takes charge as Meta India's new managing director and head, set to lead business strategy across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp

Nearly 80% of Indian shoppers discover new products via social media: Meta

Influencers, Reels and messaging offers are increasingly shaping buying decisions, with Meta-owned platforms playing a key role in both online and offline retail purchases

Meta hires AI talent from Google, Sesame to build superintelligence team

Meta and Zuckerberg are offering compensation packages worth tens of millions of dollars over several years, including equity, according to people familiar with the matter

Meta brings AI video editing feature to Meta AI, Edits app: What's new

Meta AI's video editing feature can stylise short-form videos based on preset text prompts. At present, it supports video clips up to 10 seconds long and is being offered for free for a limited time

Meta India's public policy head Shivnath Thukral to step down on June 30

Meta's Shivnath Thukral exits after 7.5 years as India public policy head, as leadership transitions continue under Sandhya Devanathan's expanded SEA role

Meta launches AI lab to pursue superintelligence with Scale AI founder

The new lab, set to include Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, is part of a reorganization of Meta's artificial intelligence efforts under Mark Zuckerberg

Meta eyes $10 billion investment in data labeling AI startup Scale AI

Meta Platforms is reportedly negotiating a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI, a leading data labeling firm, potentially marking its largest external AI funding to date

Meta Aria Gen 2 glasses for research hint at what's next for its wearables

Meta Aria Gen 2 smartglasses features full eye-tracking system, 3D hand-tracking system, and Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO) for enhanced spatial awareness

World Environment Day 2025: Download HD images for WhatsApp & Facebook

Every year, World Environment Day 2025 is celebrated on June 5. Here are images to share on WhatsApp, Facebook and more

Meta becomes latest big tech company turning to nuclear power for AI needs

Meta has cut a 20-year deal to secure nuclear power to help meet surging demand for artificial intelligence and other computing needs at Facebook's parent company. The investment with Meta will also expand the output of a Constellation Energy Illinois nuclear plant. The agreement announced Tuesday is just the latest in a string of tech-nuclear partnerships as the use of AI expands. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. Constellation's Clinton Clean Energy Centre was actually slated to close in 2017 after years of financial losses but was saved by legislation in Illinois establishing a zero-emission credit program to support the plant into 2027. The Meta-Constellation deal takes effect in June of 2027, when the state's taxpayer funded zero-emission credit programme expires. With the arrival of Meta, Clinton's clean energy output will expand by 30 megawatts, preserve 1,100 local jobs and bring in $13.5 million in annual tax revenue, according to the companies. Secur

Soon, Meta Quest headset users will see 2D photos in 3D on Instagram feed

Meta has been enhancing its native apps for Quest headset. The new update enables 3D photos on Instagram, navigator, moving windows, and more

WhatsApp had no plans to compete with Facebook: Co-founder Brian Acton

Meta's acquisition of WhatsApp is a key part of the case, with FTC lawyers arguing that Meta viewed the messaging app as a legitimate social networking competitor

Asia tightens curbs on TikTok, Meta even as US continues to struggle

Governments across the Asia-Pacific region are leading the global charge to protect children from online harms, presenting an unprecedented challenge to the social media apps with most of their users

Meta removes 23K Facebook pages linked to investment scams in India, Brazil

Meta, in March, removed clusters of scam activity totalling over 23,000 Facebook Pages and accounts that primarily targeted people in Brazil and India, the social media giant said on Wednesday. Explaining the modus operandi, Meta said the scammers used deepfakes, among other techniques, falsely depicting popular personal finance content creators, cricket players and business figures in Brazil and India, endorsing scam investment apps and gambling websites. The scammers redirected people to messaging apps for 'investment advice' and, in some cases, to a fake website that mimicked the Google Play store to download scam gambling apps. "In March, Meta removed multiple clusters of scam activity totalling over 23,000 Facebook Pages and accounts that primarily targeted people in Brazil and India," Meta said in a release. Under Meta's ongoing efforts to promote scam awareness, the company shared insights and handy tips to help people identify and safeguard themselves against common investm

Jio-Facebook deal: SAT nixes Reliance Industries plea against Sebi penalty

Tribunal upholds Sebi's Rs 30 lakh penalty on RIL for not disclosing the Jio-Facebook investment deal after media reports triggered stock movement in March 2020

Meta beats Q1 revenue estimates on ad strength, meets Q2 forecast

The Facebook and Instagram parent also increased planned capital expenditures this year as it speeds up construction of data centers that can support artificial intelligence

Tech Wrap April 30: Motorola Edge 60 Pro, Meta AI app, Kindle Paperwhite

Motorola launches Edge 60 Pro. Meta AI app arrives on Android and iOS. Amazon launches the new Kindle Paperwhite in India. Samsung brings flagship AI features to Galaxy A series

Meta launches AI app; Zuckerberg chats with Nadella at developer conference

Working to differentiate itself in the crowded field of artificial intelligence, Meta Platforms has launched a standalone AI app with a social media component to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Meta AI app, built with the company's Llama 4 AI system. It includes a discover feed that lets users see how others are interacting with AI. It also has a voice mode for interacting with the AI. It's smart for Meta to differentiate its ChatGPT competitor by drawing from the company's social media roots. The app's Discover feed is like a version of the OG Facebook Feed but only focused on AI use cases," said Forrester research director Mike Proulx. By letting users link their Facebook and Instagram accounts, the Meta AI app gets a leg up on instantly personalising its user experience with social media context. Meta has taken a different approach to AI than many of its rivals, releasing it for free as an open-source product. The company says more than a billion people use its AI products