Page 8 - Whatsapp

Meta blocks Apple Intelligence on WhatsApp, Instagram to boost in-house AI

Apple Intelligence-powered Writing Tools are inaccessible on Meta apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, while they remain functional in other third-party apps such as X and Reddit

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wraps up testimony in FTC antitrust trial case

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasised in federal court on Wednesday that he bought Instagram and WhatsApp because he saw value in the companies not to take out competitors, as the Federal Trade Commission alleges in a historic antitrust trial. Zuckerberg took the stand for the third day in the trial, wrapping up his testimony as the first witness Wednesday afternoon. He took questions from Meta attorney Mark Hansen, who has argued that his client hardly has a monopoly in social media, as the FTC claims, and still faces stiff global competition. Hansen focused some of his questioning on emails sent by Zuckerberg and his associates that the FTC cited in earlier testimony to illustrate the Facebook founder's alarm over the growth of Instagram and his sense that he needed to neutralise its threat. Zuckerberg said he's very focused on inventing new things, and understanding what other people are creating is a big part of the process. At any given point in his company's history, he said, .

Mark Zuckerberg mulled Instagram spin-off in 2018 amid antitrust concerns

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg once considered separating Instagram from its parent company due to worries about antitrust litigation, according to an email shown Tuesday on the second day of an antitrust trial alleging Meta illegally monopolised the social media market. In the 2018 email, Zuckerberg wrote that he was beginning to wonder if spinning Instagram out would be the only way to accomplish important goals, as big-tech companies grow. He also noted there is a non-trivial chance Meta could be forced to spin out Instagram and perhaps WhatsApp in five to 10 years anyway. He wrote that while most companies resist breakups, the corporate history is that most companies actually perform better after they've been split up. Asked Tuesday by attorney Daniel Matheson, who is leading the antitrust case for the Federal Trade Commission, which incidence in corporate history he had in mind, Zuckerberg responded: I'm not sure what I had in mind then. Zuckerberg, who was the first witness, testif

Meta's biggest antitrust trial could force Zuckerberg to sell Instagram

The FTC claims that Meta bought Instagram and WhatsApp to crush competition and establish an illegal monopoly in the social media market

WhatsApp users on Windows PCs advised caution following Cert-In warning

Cert-In stated that the vulnerability in WhatsApp for Windows PC could be exploited by bad actors that may enable them to run harmful code on the victim's device, potentially compromising the system

WhatsApp faces massive outage as users report issues in sending messages

Following the outage, many even shared memes as an expression of anger and to confirm if the message app was actually down

RBI launches verified WhatsApp channel to spread financial awareness

'Initiative will ensure that vital information reaches people in a simple, direct, and effective manner,' says central bank

Soon, WhatsApp will prevent exporting chats, saving media automatically

Reportedly, the next safety and privacy focus update for WhatsApp will help users safeguard private conversations and prevent unauthorised data transfers

WhatsApp tests new privacy features for voice, video call: Check details

Reportedly, WhatsApp is testing mute audio and disable video options for voice and video call functions. Moreover, it is evaluating more emoji reactions for enhanced calling experience

Meta releases open-weight Llama 4 AI models to rival DeepSeek, Google Gemma

Llama 4 Scout and Llama 4 Maverick are Meta's first open-weight AI models that are natively multimodal and built on a mixture-of-experts (MoE) architecture

Delhi woman loses ₹47 lakh in KYC Scam via WhatsApp call: How to stay safe?

If you ever suspect fraud, report it immediately to your bank, the Cyber Crime Helpline, or through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in)

WhatsApp bans over 9.7 mn accounts in India during Feb for safety reasons

WhatsApp on Tuesday said it banned more than 9.7 million accounts in India during February 2025, 1.4 million of which were proactively banned prior to any user reports. Releasing its monthly safety report, the Meta-owned messaging app also shared tips on using the platform responsibly. It listed out ways to do so, including respecting boundaries, avoiding spamming with bulk and auto messages, and using broadcast lists responsibly. "According to the report for the month of February 2025, WhatsApp banned over 9.7 million accounts in India for violating its Terms of Service. More than 1.4 million of these accounts were proactively banned prior to any user reports," WhatsApp said. A WhatsApp spokesperson further said the platform has consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other technology, data scientists and experts, and processes, to keep users safe on the platform. "In accordance with the IT Rules 2021, our latest published report outlines user complaints received, ...

WhatsApp now lets you add music to status: Check how-to, other updates

WhatsApp specifies that users can select a 15-second portion of a song for a photo status and up to 60 seconds for a video status

iPhone users can now make WhatsApp their default app for calls and messages

With the iOS 18.2 update, Apple introduced changes which allowed users to set third-party apps as default services for various functions

Govt blocked 781K SIMs, 3K Skype IDs, 83K WhatsApp accounts till Feb

In addition, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) has proactively identified and blocked more than 3,962 Skype IDs and 83,668 WhatsApp accounts used for digital arrest, the minister said

Tech Wrap March 25: Apple AirPods Max, Motorola Edge 60 Fusion, WhatsApp

AirPod Max to get lossless, ultra-low latency audio. Motorola Edge 60 Fusion launch on April 2. WhatsApp to get Spotify integration. Lava Shark launched, iOS 18.4 RC

WhatsApp for iOS tests Spotify integration for music sharing: How it works

WhatsApp update testing platform WABetaInfo has reported that a feature to share music from Spotify on WhatsApp statuses for iOS users is available in beta release version 25.8.10.72

Soon, WhatsApp will let you share 'motion photos' captured on Android phone

Motion photo sharing feature is already available for WhatsApp on iOS, and is expected to arrive soon for select Android devices

Tech wrap March 20: Google Pixel 9a, WhatsApp AI tools, HMD Barbie Phone

Google rivals Apple with AI-enhanced Pixel 9a. WhatsApp evaluates AI-powered features. HMD launches Barbie-themed foldable feature phone. OPPO launches F29 series. Vivo Y19e launched

WhatsApp evaluates AI-powered features for text editing, paraphrasing, more

The AI-powered feature is available with WhatsApp v2.25.8.5 version on Google Play Store. It is unclear at the moment whether iOS users will get access to this feature