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Tech community stands by Dreamers after Trump ends protections
As expected, President Trump announced today via Jeff Sessions that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program would be dissolved. In six months, the government will begin phasing out protections for undocumented immigrants that came to the US as children and many members of the tech community are voicing their dissent over the decision.
Zuckerberg hires Clinton pollster, totally not running for president
There have been rumors circulating about whether Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, is planning a presidential run in 2020. After all, he decided he wanted to "personally hear more of [the] voices" that use Facebook and embarked on a 50-state tour of the US for 2017. Now, news that Zuckerberg has hired Joel Benenson, a Democratic pollster who served as a top adviser to President Obama and chief strategist during Hillary Clinton's campaign, has reinvigorated those rumors.
Facebook has 2 billion monthly users
Every month, 2 billion users post messages, share photos, disseminate links and argue with estranged family members on Facebook. Founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the milestone today in a quick post (on Facebook, of course) saying, "We're making progress connecting the world, and now let's bring the world closer together." That sounds a lot like he wants to do more of the same -- but you know what they say about things that ain't broke.
Facebook, not presidential ambition, is why Zuckerberg’s on tour
There's been a lot of speculation around whether Mark Zuckerberg is or is not planning to run for office. From his nationwide tour to his rejection of atheism, there have been quite a few moments that could be interpreted as a lead-up to a presidential bid, but I don't think that's what is happening with Zuckerberg and neither does Nathan Hubbard, former Ticketmaster CEO and Twitter VP.
Facebook seeks to foster community with more group admin tools
At Facebook's first Communities Summit, co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new direction for Community pages. Specifically how to run them effectively. The new direction mainly includes mod tools like insights into how and when members are active. There are also features en route for approving and rejecting member requests, scheduled posts and group-to-group linking so similar groups can see one another. When Zuckerberg mentioned that Facebook was making it easier to remove bad actors in groups, removing everything they've posted at the same time the member is kicked out, he was met with rapturous applause.
Recommended Reading: A second act for 'Guardians of the Galaxy'
'Guardians of the Galaxy 2:' Twice Is (Still) the Charm Christopher Orr, The Atlantic Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters this weekend, the sequel to the 2014 film that introduced us to Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot, Grax and Rocket on the big screen. While the new installment appears to be just as entertaining, the plot suffers where the original shined. The Atlantic has a full review of the film if you want to read up before, or after, you go see it. And yes, there are spoilers. When you do decide to head to the theater though, don't forget to sneak in your Doritos.
Facebook's plans for Oculus are finally taking shape
When Facebook bought Oculus VR for $2 billion in early 2014, it wasn't entirely clear what Mark Zuckerberg planned to do with all of the virtual reality hardware suddenly at his fingertips. Hell, it wasn't even clear that VR was going to be a legitimate industry: Sony hadn't revealed the PlayStation VR yet, Google Cardboard didn't exist, and Valve was a year away from announcing the HTC Vive headset. VR was truly in its infancy when the world's largest social networking site strode in, promising to deliver video games and "many other experiences" on the Oculus Rift.
Zuckerberg's vague new mission for Facebook
Facebook had already run into rocky territory over the past year, stumbling over censoring historically-significant content and wrestling with its own role in the election, before Trump came to office. Amid an 'America First' administration raising uncertainty about how the US fits in with the rest of the world, the social network's CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote an extensive letter to the public outlining his company's next direction -- which isn't to say it's a new direction. In a sprawling 5,700-word essay, he rallies for globalization and using Facebook to build a massive, integrated community beyond the US. In other words: To keep growing the network and making it more essential for users.
Mark Zuckerberg demos finger-tracking Oculus gloves
In a bid to keep folks excited about its Oculus virtual reality products, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off a bunch of new tech at the Oculus Research facility in Redmond, Washington. The most interesting prototype was a new set of gloves (above) that can "bring your hands into virtual and augmented reality," he wrote on a Facebook post. They could address one of the biggest user complaints about the Rift VR headset: the inability to easily interact with objects in virtual reality.
Recommended Reading: Is Mark Zuckerberg going to run for president?
Zuckerberg 2020? Adrienne LaFrance, The Atlantic Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making his way around the US after promising to meet with people in each state before the end of the year. This nationwide tour has a very similar feel to that of someone who's running for office. So, is Zuck going to throw his hat in the ring for 2020? Maybe not, but there are some interesting signs he might make a run.
Mark Zuckerberg lightly criticizes Trump order on immigration
Tonight President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States" that suspends refugee admissions for 120 days and suspends admissions from Syria and several other mostly-Muslim nations (Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen) indefinitely -- among many other things (PDF). One of the voices criticizing this move is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who posted tonight that "We need to keep this country safe, but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat."
ZeniMax now wants $4 billion from Oculus as case goes to jury
VR pioneer Oculus has been on trial for several weeks now, defending itself against claims it stole crucial code from ZeniMax. But the ultimate judgement is now in the hands of a jury. As reported by Polygon, closing arguments have concluded and the jury now has to decided if Oculus chief technology officer John Carmack stole ZeniMax IP and brought it to Oculus when he joined the company in 2013. At the same time as it wrapped up closing arguments, ZeniMax doubled the damages it is asking for. The company now wants a grand total of $4 billion -- $2 billion in compensation and $2 billion in punitive damages.
Hugo Barra's next job: Head of Oculus VR
Mark Zuckerberg just revealed the next landing spot for former Google and Xiaomi executive Hugo Barra: Facebook. As Barra revealed a couple of days ago, he's coming back to Silicon Valley and will "lead all of our virtual reality efforts, including our Oculus team." This fills the hole left when former Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe stepped down to focus on the company's PC efforts in December, as Barra becomes the VP of VR at Facebook. The announcement came along with a pic of Zuckerberg and Barra hanging out virtually, since the new VR exec is still in China. In a comment on the post, Barra said "It's been a dream of mine to work in virtual reality even back when AR/VR were just figments of science fiction; now we're taking selfies in virtual worlds," and stated his plan is to take the technology mainstream.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative acquires Meta's scientific search engine
In September, Facebook CEO and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan promised to spend a whopping $3 billion of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's extensive capital over the next 10 years, as it works towards its lofty goal of curing, preventing or managing all diseases by the end of the century. To get a little bit closer to that goal, the Initiative announced Monday that it will acquire the AI-powered research paper search engine Meta and make the service free for anyone to use.
Palmer Luckey insists he didn't steal VR code for Oculus
Yesterday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand to testify in a lawsuit against Oculus, and today it was Palmer Luckey's turn. The founder of Oculus VR -- who has remained out of sight since his role in funding political trolls came to light -- sold his startup to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014, but ZeniMax (parent company of iD Software) claims its tech is based on code Oculus CTO John Carmack wrote while still an employee. According to Bloomberg, Luckey testified that while the company's software ran in a demonstration for investors, he also said "I didn't take confidential code...I ran it and demonstrated it through the headset. It is not true I took the code."
Mark Zuckerberg defends Oculus in court against VR rival
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was grilled in court this morning over the creation of the Oculus Rift VR headset, as part of a $2 billion lawsuit brought by ZeniMax Media. ZeniMax -- the owner of Bethesda Softworks, id Software and other video game studios -- says Oculus chief technology officer John Carmack stole ZeniMax's intellectual property when he left the company in 2013. Essentially, ZeniMax argues that it owns the technological foundation behind the Oculus Rift VR headset. Zuckerberg purchased Oculus in 2014 in a deal estimated to be worth $2.3 billion -- and as he made clear on the stand this morning, he disagrees entirely with ZeniMax's claims.
Mark Zuckerberg will testify in Oculus VR lawsuit this week (update)
Mark Zuckerberg is heading to a Dallas court to testify in an ongoing lawsuit filed against Oculus, the VR company Facebook purchased for $2.3 billion. ZeniMax, the parent company of Doom developer id Software, claims that Oculus CTO John Carmack took its intellectual property when he left the company in 2013. Zuckerberg will testify in the suit tomorrow (January 17th), and Oculus co-founder (and noted recluse) Palmer Luckey is also set to testify later in the week.
Zuckerberg plans to tour all 50 states to meet Facebook users
Given how often Facebook was in the news last year (and very rarely for anything positive), its commander in chief Mark Zuckerberg has a pledge for 2017: Mix it up with commoners. In a post on the social network, Zuckerberg says that his personal goal for 2017 is to "have visited and met people in every state in the US" by year's end. By his count, he has 30 states left. Man, he travels fast.
Mark Zuckerberg explains how he wrote his home AI
Ever since Mark Zuckerberg revealed his intention to create his own AI helper, some questions have loomed large: just how would he go about it? And can one man write an effective artificial intelligence when it frequently requires whole teams? At last, the Facebook CEO has provided some answers. The Zuckerberg has written a lengthy piece explaining not only how he created the Jarvis AI that's running his home, but the inherent challenges in making an assistant that works the way you'd expect.
Breakthrough Prize awards $25 million to science luminaries
In a ceremony dubbed the "Oscars of Science," the Breakthrough Foundation handed out over $25 million in prizes to physicists, life sciences researchers and mathematicians. Hosted by Morgan Freeman, the event featured Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin and other Silicon Valley notables, a performance by Alicia Keys, actors Vin Diesel and Sienna Miller, astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly and (yep) Will.i.am. The $3 million Breakthrough Prize awards are "the largest individual monetary prize[s] in science," the foundation says, and obviously life-changing. "I was totally stunned," says Lebanese-born Baylor scientist Huda Zoghbi.
