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It looks like Meta’s Vibes feed is just the start of the company’s pivot toward AI slop. In an earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that “we’re going to add yet another huge corpus of content” to Meta’s recommendation system, via AI’s ability to create and remix content — so you’re likely to see even more AI generated posts on Facebook and Instagram. 

“Social media has gone through two eras so far. First was when all content was from friends, family, and accounts that you followed directly. The second was when we added all the creator content,” he said, seemingly suggesting that AI content will be the third era.  

Zuckerberg added that recommendation systems that “deeply” understand AI content are “increasingly valuable” since they can “help you achieve your goals.” 

He then nodded to Vibes, calling it an example of a new type of content enabled by AI. Retention on the feed “is looking good so far, and its usage keeps growing quickly week over week,” he proclaimed. Furthermore, there are more opportunities to build “many more novel types of content aheads, as our new models become ready,” Zuckerberg added. To put some numbers to Vibes takeup, Meta CFO Susan Li said that users have generated over 20 billion images in the feed to date. 

Meta has already introduced a number of AI features across its social media platforms. Those include in-app photo and video editing via text prompts directly in Instagram Stories, AI chatbots across WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, and a standalone Meta AI app that includes an AI assistant and discovery feed. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-add-a-huge-corpus-of-ai-content-into-its-recommendation-system-113027353.html?src=rss 

Black Friday (which is now basically all of November) is one of the best times of the year to pick up things for yourself and for other people. But to say money is tight is an understatement this year. If Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days was any indicator, folks are spending more on essentials than anything else during these big sales. That, combined with the rising trend of holding on to big tech purchases for longer means that you may not have gadgets at the top of your to-buy list this year.

Even if that’s the case, I’d recommend not overlooking tech entirely this Black Friday. After all, all of us have essential tech that we use every day, and more often than not, you can avoid paying full price for most of those gadgets (and all of the rest of the best tech of the year) if you’re looking to add to your repertoire or you need a replacement. Personally, I’m not eyeing a new smartphone or laptop this holiday shopping season, but there are a few tech purchases I’d like to make if the prices are right. This is the tech I’m hoping to save on this year during Black Friday.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/these-are-the-black-friday-deals-on-tech-im-hoping-to-see-for-2025-100014802.html?src=rss 

It hasn’t been a good year for Xbox so far. Microsoft has released its earnings report for the quarter ending on September 30, and it has revealed that its revenue from the Xbox hardware fell by 30 percent year-over-year. Take note that the revenue decline doesn’t reflect any dip in sales caused by the console’s $20-to-$70 price hike, since that took effect on October 3. Similarly, Microsoft only raised the price for its Game Pass Ultimate subscription from $20 to $30 in October. 

Meanwhile, revenue from Xbox content and services remained relatively unchanged from the same period last year. Microsoft says it saw growth from Xbox subscriptions and third-party content, but it was “partially offset” by the decline in first-party gaming content. 

The Xbox division was one of the most affected teams when Microsoft started cutting down its global workforce earlier this year, with the company cancelling games that were being developed for the console. Microsoft scrapped the modern reimagining of Perfect Dark, a first-person shooter from the year 2000, and even closed down the Xbox studio working on it. The company also cancelled Everwild, a project that had long been in development by Xbox studio Rare, also in the midst of its mass layoffs. 

Overall, Microsoft’s $77.7 billion revenue was 17 percent higher compared to the same period last year, and its operating income was up by 22 percent. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella posted a few highlights about the company’s earnings call on X, mostly focusing on its AI efforts. He said that the company will increase its AI capacity by 80 percent this year and will double its data center footprint over the next two. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-console-revenue-fell-30-percent-year-over-year-this-summer-012245146.html?src=rss 

Threads has grown to 150 million daily active users. Mark Zuckerberg shared the latest milestone for the company’s text-based app during Meta’s third-quarter earnings call. The company previously reported in August that Threads had reached more than 400 million monthly users.

Zuckerberg, who has mused that Threads could become Meta’s next billion-person app, said that it was “on track to become the leader in its category.” He also said that time spent in the app had increased by 10 percent, which he credited to improvements to the company’s AI recommendation systems. 

On Wednesday, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said that Meta was also “exploring” algorithm personalization controls for Threads. The company is currently testing the ability to “tune” Instagram’s algorithmic recommendations. 

As Threads has grown, Meta also confirmed that ads are ramping up on the platform. During the call with analysts, Meta CFO Susan Li said that “ads are now running globally” in the Threads feed. The company had previously brought ads to Threads users in 30 countries following a small test earlier this year. This week, the company also announced that it would expand the type of ad formats on Threads, including video ads. “We’re following our typical monetization playbook of optimizing the ads formats and performance,” Li said. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-reaches-150-million-daily-users-and-is-ramping-up-ads-214259945.html?src=rss 

General Motors announced that it will cut more than 1,700 manufacturing jobs in reaction to changes in the electric vehicle market. “In response to slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment, General Motors is realigning EV capacity,” the company said in a statement reported by CNBC. “Despite these changes, GM remains committed to our US manufacturing footprint, and we believe our investments and dedication to flexible operations will make GM more resilient and capable of leading through change.”

The layoffs are primarily happening at a Michigan plant that builds GM’s EVs and at an Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Ohio. The company is also “temporarily” laying off 700 at an Ultium Cells plant in Tennessee.

The regulatory issues in question are likely the $7,500 federal tax rebate that had previously been granted to EV purchases, which expired earlier this year under the “Big Beautiful Bill” that made things a lot less pretty for many environmentally-focused programs and industries. But GM had also said earlier this month that it would sunset much of its hydrogen fuel cell R&D in order to place more focus on batteries, charging tech and EVs, so announcing layoffs in those very areas is a rough move.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gm-will-cut-more-than-1700-jobs-in-ev-and-battery-manufacturing-200814378.html?src=rss