Metaverse

SC defers Meta-WhatsApp privacy policy case hearing to February 23

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred to February 23 pleas of Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp against a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over privacy policy. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria was told that senior advocate Kapil Sibal was unwell and hence the hearing should be adjourned. The bench said it would take up the pleas for passing an interim order on February 23. It permitted a litigant represented by senior advocate Arvind Datar to be made a party to the case. On February 3, the bench made strong observations against Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp, saying they could not "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing" and alleged that they were creating a monopoly in the market and committing theft of private information of customers. Decrying WhatsApp's privacy policy, the bench referred to "silent customers" who were unorganised

Opt out of India, you are creating monopoly, SC tells Meta, WhatsApp

Supreme Court warns Meta and WhatsApp that they cannot operate in India without complying with Indian law, flags risks to users' data and market competition

SC to pass interim order on Feb 9 in WhatsApp, Meta privacy policy case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp while hearing their appeals against a Competition Commission of India order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over the privacy policy, saying tech giants cannot "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing". A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said that it will pass an interim order on February 9. The top court ordered that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology be made a party to the petitions. It was hearing appeals filed by Meta and WhatsApp against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment that upheld the CCI's findings of abuse of dominance, while granting limited relief on advertising-related data sharing. "You can't play with the right of privacy of this country in the name of data sharing. We will not allow you to share a single word of the data, either you give an ...

Meta, TikTok and YouTube to go on trial as parents allege harm to children

The trial against the social media tech giants is expected to include testimony from senior executives, including Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg

Meta inks $6 bn deal with Corning for AI data center fiber cables: Report

Corning's optical connectivity products are among key components required to support the massive computing and data transmission demands at data centers

Flipkart taps former Tyson Foods executive Jane Duke for ethics role

Veteran compliance leader joins e-commerce giant amid efforts to strengthen oversight and institutional leadership ahead of an IPO

Meta seeks to ramp up Ray-Ban smart glasses output to meet demand

The partners have also discussed going further to establish the capability of producing more than 30 million units, should demand justify such a move

Meta, WhatsApp move Supreme Court against NCLAT's ₹213 crore penalty order

The regulator had concluded that this "take-it-or-leave-it" approach related to WhatsApp's privacy policy of 2021 amounted to an abuse of dominance in the market for over-the-top messaging services

Meta names former Trump adviser Dina Powell McCormick as president

Facebook owner Meta has named Dina Powell McCormick, a former Trump administration adviser and longtime finance executive, as president and vice chairman of the tech giant. Powell McCormick previously served on Meta's board of directors where, the company notes, she was deeply engaged in accelerating its artificial intelligence push across platforms. In her new management role, Meta says Powell McCormick will help guide its overall strategy, including the execution of multi-billion-dollar investments. The news, announced Monday, quickly gained the applause of US President Donald Trump. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, the Republican president said the move was a great choice by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and noted that Powell McCormick had served the Trump Administration with strength and distinction. Zuckerberg said in a statement that Powell McCormick's experience in global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, made her uniquely suited

China to probe Meta's acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus

China said on Thursday it would assess and investigate Meta's acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus, in a move highlighting its technology rivalry with the US. Meta announced last week it was buying Manus, which is Singapore-based with Chinese roots, as the California tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram expands its AI offerings across its platforms. It is a rare acquisition by a US tech group of an AI company with Chinese roots, at a time of heightened frictions between Washington and Beijing. On Thursday, China's Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong told reporters that it would work with relevant departments to assess and investigate whether Meta's acquisition of Manus is consistent with Chinese laws and regulations. Any enterprises engaging in outward investment, technology export, data transfer and cross-border mergers and acquisitions must comply with Chinese laws, He said. Meta and Manus did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Security has

Zuckerberg's $14 bn AI hire Alexandr Wang makes Forbes 40 Under 40 list

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appointed Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang to head Meta Superintelligence Labs following a $14 billion investment, as the 28-year-old enters Forbes' 40 Under 40 list

Meta India names ex-Amazon executive Aman Jain as new Public Policy head

Meta India on Friday named Aman Jain as the new head of Public Policy, to lead the social media company's policy strategy and engagements in India. Jain will also be a member of the India leadership team. He will join the company early next year and will report to Simon Milner, Vice President of Policy, Asia Pacific (APAC) at Meta. "Aman brings over 20 years of public policy and business strategy experience, with a proven track record at Amazon, Google, the Government of India, and international organisations," Meta said in a release announcing the appointment. He has held senior roles at Google India, including country head for government affairs and public policy. Most recently, he served as Director of Public Policy at Amazon, leading policy strategy across marketplace, operations, competition, and technology. India is a strategic market for Meta. As the country's digital economy accelerates across areas such as AI, emerging tech and the creator economy, Meta aims to help buil

Meta to cut 30% of Metaverse budget as layoffs loom in 2026: Report

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has heavily bet on the augmented-reality unit, with the company changing its name to Meta from Facebook in 2021. The unit has burned more than $60 billion since 2020

India crucial to how we see future of AI on Meta platforms: Arun Srinivas

Arun Srinivas reveals 92% of businesses on Meta are SMBs, details AI-driven features for creators, and a strategic rethink for WhatsApp Pay

Best of BS Opinion: Gautam Gambhir and India's selectors must go

Today's columnists write about long-term oil forecasts and wartime 'jugaad' to India's cricket woes, the AI investment frenzy and a new documentary probing US secrecy on non-human intelligence

WhatsApp, Meta can redact confidential info from judgment, says NCLAT

WhatsApp, through its lawyer, had sought redaction of confidential material on pages 194 to 196 of the judgment

Meta buried 'causal' evidence of social media harm, allege US court filings

In a 2020 research project code-named Project Mercury, Meta scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta documents

Meta alerts young Australians to download data before social media ban

Technology giant Meta on Thursday began sending thousands of young Australians a two-week warning to download their digital histories and delete their accounts from Facebook, Instagram and Threads before a world-first social media ban on accounts of children younger than 16 takes effect. The Australian government announced two weeks ago that the three Meta platforms plus Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube must take reasonable steps to exclude Australian account holders younger than 16, beginning Dec. 10. California-based Meta on Thursday became the first of the targeted tech companies to outline how it will comply with the law. Meta contacted thousands of young account holders via SMS and email to warn that suspected children will start to be denied access to the platforms from Dec. 4. We will start notifying impacted teens today to give them the opportunity to save their contacts and memories, Meta said in a statement. Meta said young users could also use the notice period to update

Meta's chief AI scientist Yann LeCun to leave, start new AI research firm

Artificial intelligence pioneer Yann LeCun said Wednesday he will be leaving his job as Meta's chief AI scientist at the end of the year. LeCun said he will be forming a startup company to pursue research on advanced forms of AI that can understand the physical world, have persistent memory, can reason, and can plan complex action sequences. He said Meta will partner with the new startup and that some of the research will overlap with Meta's commercial interests and some of it will not. LeCun joined Facebook in 2013 and co-founded Meta's AI research division, formerly known as Facebook AI Research. LeCun stepped down as the group's director in 2018 but has remained Meta's chief AI scientist. He's also a part-time professor at New York University, where has taught since 2003. LeCun spent his early career at the image processing department at AT&T Bell Labs in New Jersey, where he worked on developing AI systems that could read text found in digitised images. He was a winner in 201

CCI moves NCLAT seeking clarity on WhatsApp, Meta's data-sharing order

CCI has asked NCLAT to clarify whether the privacy safeguards outlined in its ruling apply to Meta's advertising-related data sharing, as the tribunal reviews challenges from Meta and WhatsApp