Reliance and Meta Forge ~$97M AI Alliance to Accelerate India’s Enterprise Intelligence

In a bold move to reshape India’s AI landscape, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has announced a ₹855 crore ( about $96.96 million USD) joint venture with Meta Platforms Inc., aimed at delivering scalable, enterprise-grade artificial intelligence solutions across sectors.

The announcement was made during the 48th Annual General Meeting of Reliance, where Chairman Mukesh Ambani unveiled a suite of AI initiatives designed to democratize intelligence for every Indian business.

Strategic Partnership: Meta’s Llama Meets Reliance’s Scale

The joint venture will leverage Meta’s open-source Llama models and combine them with Reliance’s deep domain expertise in telecom, retail, energy, and manufacturing.

• Full-stack Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) for Indian enterprises
• Pre-configured AI tools for sales, customer engagement, IT operations, and finance
• Sector-specific solutions for retail, telecom, energy, and manufacturing

“We will democratize AI for every Indian organization — from ambitious SMBs to corporates.”
— Mukesh Ambani

“With Reliance’s reach and scale, we can bring AI to every corner of India.”
— Mark Zuckerberg

Investment & Ownership

• Total Investment: ₹855 crore (~$100 million)
• Ownership Split:
  • Reliance: 70%
  • Meta: 30%
• Independent operation with a mandate to build sovereign AI infrastructure

AI Infrastructure: Jamnagar Cloud Region

The JV complements Reliance’s newly announced Google Cloud region in Jamnagar:

• Hosts Google’s AI hypercomputer
• Runs entirely on Reliance’s green energy
• Provides secure, scalable environments for generative AI development

National Impact

This partnership aligns with India’s broader AI ambitions, including the ₹10,370 crore IndiaAI Mission:

• Empowers startups, SMBs, and corporates with affordable AI tools
• Accelerates digital transformation across key industries
• Supports India’s push for sovereign, ethical AI infrastructure

What’s Next

• First suite of AI services expected by early 2026
• Pilot programs underway in retail and telecom
• Analysts see this as a pivotal moment in India’s tech evolution

Meta Recruits Four More OpenAI Researchers to Boost Superintelligence Team

Meta has reportedly hired four more researchers from OpenAI, reported The Information. This intensifies the ongoing talent war in the AI industry. The new hires are:

• Shengjia Zhao
• Jiahui Yu
• Shuchao Bi
• Hongyu Ren

These researchers are joining Meta’s ambitious Superintelligence team, which is being led by Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of Scale AI.

Why This Matters

• Strategic Timing: The hires come shortly after the underwhelming launch of Meta’s Llama 4 AI models, which reportedly didn’t meet CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s expectations.
• High-Stakes Recruitment: Reports suggest Meta has been offering compensation packages worth up to $100 million, with some rumors even citing figures as high as $300 million over four years for top-tier talent.
• OpenAI’s Response: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has downplayed the impact, stating that “none of our best people” have left, though internal concerns have reportedly been raised about the aggressive poaching.

This move is part of Meta’s broader push to dominate the next wave of artificial general intelligence (AGI). The company has already brought in other OpenAI researchers from its Zurich office and is reportedly coordinating recruitment through a private WhatsApp group dubbed “Recruiting Party”.

Meta is reportedly offering staggering compensation packages to lure top AI researchers from OpenAI, with figures reaching up to $300 million over four years for select hires.

Compensation Details

• Total Package: Up to $300 million over four years for top-tier researchers.
• First-Year Payout: Over $100 million in some cases, primarily through stock grants that vest immediately.
• Structure: Not a simple cash signing bonus—packages include a mix of salary, equity, and early vesting stock options.
• Eligibility: These offers are reportedly limited to a small number of leadership roles within Meta’s new Superintelligence team.
• Meta’s Pitch: In addition to money, Meta is promising unlimited compute resources, including access to high-demand GPUs, which are critical for cutting-edge AI research.

Industry Impact

• OpenAI’s Response: CEO Sam Altman confirmed the $100M+ offers but claimed Meta didn’t get their “top people.” OpenAI is now recalibrating its own compensation to retain talent.
• Meta’s Strategy: CEO Mark Zuckerberg is personally leading the recruitment drive, aiming to build a team that can deliver on AGI ambitions after Llama 4’s underwhelming performance.

Meta Invests $14.3 Bn in Scale AI, Taps Alexandr Wang for ‘Superintelligence’ Unit

Meta Platforms has finalized a massive $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, acquiring a 49% stake in the data-labeling startup. This deal values Scale AI at $29 billion, making it one of Meta’s largest investments, second only to its WhatsApp acquisition.

A key aspect of this move is the recruitment of Scale AI’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, who will join Meta’s newly established "superintelligence" unit. This lab is focused on advancing artificial general intelligence (AGI) and positioning Meta as a leader in AI development. Wang will remain on Scale’s board while Jason Droege steps in as interim CEO.

Scale Al is a data-labeling and Al infrastructure company founded in 2016 by MIT-dropout Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo. Based in San Francisco, it specializes in annotating and curating datasets for Al model training, serving clients like OpenAl, Google, Microsoft, and the U.S. government. Scale AI also operates subsidiaries like Remotasks and Outlier, which recruit gig workers to manually label data for Al applications, including self-driving cars, large language models, and military projects. 

Scale Al has also developed SEAL (Safety, Evaluations, and Alignment Lab) to assess Al model capabilities and alignment.
Meta’s decision to invest in Scale AI comes at a time when it seeks to refine its AI model strategy, particularly following the lukewarm reception of Llama 4. By partnering with Scale AI, Meta gains access to high-quality labeled data crucial for AI model training. Scale AI has been a key player in providing labeled datasets to major tech firms, including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, as well as government agencies like the U.S. Department of Defense.

Interestingly, Meta opted for non-voting shares in Scale AI, likely to avoid antitrust scrutiny. As regulatory pressures mount against major tech companies, this approach allows Meta to benefit from Scale’s expertise without triggering further investigations.

This move mirrors strategies adopted by Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, who have strategically invested in AI startups to accelerate their own development while bringing in top talent. Meta’s entry into the AI investment space signals a renewed push toward achieving superintelligence and enhancing its AI capabilities.

The investment raises significant questions about Meta’s long-term AI strategy. Will this push towards AGI place it ahead of competitors? And how will Scale AI’s capabilities reshape the future of AI innovation?.

Meta & Cerebras Unleash AI Speed—18x Faster Than GPU-based Solutions

Meta has officially teamed up with Cerebras Systems to supercharge its Llama API, delivering inference speeds up to 18 times faster than traditional GPU-based solutions. This move positions Meta to compete directly with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google in the AI inference market, where developers purchase tokens to power their applications.

Cerebras Systems is a cutting-edge Al hardware company specializing in wafer-scale computing, designed to accelerate deep learning and Al inference. Their Wafer-Scale Engine (WSE) is the largest semiconductor chip ever built, offering unprecedented speed and efficiency compared to traditional GPUs.

The Cerebras system enables over 2,600 tokens per second for Llama 4 Scout, compared to 130 tokens per second for ChatGPT and 25 tokens per second for DeepSeek. This speed boost unlocks real-time AI applications, including low-latency voice systems, interactive code generation, and instant multi-step reasoning.

This collaboration positions Cerebras as a major player in Al infrastructure, challenging Nvidia's dominance in Al hardware.

Meta’s shift from just providing open-source models to offering a full-service AI infrastructure marks a significant strategic evolution.

Meta’s partnership with Cerebras Systems could significantly reshape AI development. For an instance, with over 2,600 tokens per second, this collaboration enables real-time AI applications that were previously impractical. Developers can now build low-latency voice assistants, interactive code generation tools, and instant multi-step reasoning systems.

Traditional AI inference relies heavily on GPUs, but Cerebras’ Wafer-Scale Engine offers an alternative that could challenge Nvidia’s dominance in AI hardware. This shift might encourage more companies to explore custom AI chips for efficiency gains.

For an uninitiated, AI inference is the process where a trained AI model applies its learned knowledge to make predictions or decisions on new data. It’s essentially the "thinking" phase of AI—where it takes what it learned during training and uses it in real-world applications.

By integrating Cerebras’ speed into the Llama API, Meta is making high-performance AI more accessible to developers worldwide. This could accelerate innovation across industries, from quick commerce automation to climate modeling—areas you’ve explored extensively.

Andrew Feldman, CEO and co-founder of Cerebras, said, “Cerebras is proud to make Llama API the fastest inference API in the world. Developers building agentic and real-time apps need speed. With Cerebras on Llama API, they can build AI systems that are fundamentally out of reach for leading GPU-based inference clouds.”

Cerebras is the fastest AI inference solution as measured by third party benchmarking site Artificial Analysis, reaching over 2,600 token/s for Llama 4 Scout compared to ChatGPT at ~130 tokens/sec and DeepSeek at ~25 tokens/sec.

OpenAI, Meta Reportedly in Discussions With Reliance to Expand AI Presence in India

OpenAI and Meta are reportedly in discussions with Reliance Industries to expand their AI presence in India. These talks include potential collaborations with Reliance Jio to distribute AI services like ChatGPT, aiming to make them more accessible and affordable for Indian users. OpenAI is also considering reducing its ChatGPT subscription fee significantly, potentially to just a few dollars per month.

OpenAI is internally discussing reducing the ChatGPT subscription fee from $20 per month to just a few dollars, though it's unclear if this has been finalized with Reliance.

Reliance has proposed hosting and running OpenAI and Meta's AI models locally in India, ensuring data localization and compliance with privacy regulations. This could involve utilizing a massive data center Reliance plans to build in Jamnagar, Gujarat, which would be one of the largest in the world.

These partnerships could leverage Reliance's extensive distribution network, enabling AI services to reach a broader audience in India. It's an exciting development for the AI landscape in the region.

Reliance plans to build a three-gigawatt data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat, which could host these AI models. If completed, it would be one of the largest data centers globally.

Meta (Facebook) too is reportedly in discussions with Reliance Industries to explore AI partnerships. This could involve leveraging Reliance's infrastructure to host and distribute Meta's AI models, ensuring data localization and compliance with Indian regulations

Reliance is also engaging with government officials to address data localization and privacy concerns, which are critical for foreign AI firms operating in India.

Potential Impact

This potential partnership between OpenAI, Meta, and Reliance could have far-reaching implications for the AI landscape in India.

Reliance Jio's extensive network could bring AI tools like ChatGPT to a larger population, including rural and underserved areas. Lowering subscription costs may democratize access to AI-powered solutions, potentially fostering a digitally inclusive society.

Hosting AI models within India addresses regulatory concerns around data privacy and security. It strengthens India’s stance on data sovereignty and could set a precedent for other technology companies operating in the region.

Reliance’s investment in massive data center infrastructure may attract global AI companies to innovate locally, encouraging collaborative research and development. This could lead to the development of AI solutions tailored specifically for Indian contexts, such as languages, education, agriculture, and healthcare.

AI-driven innovations and infrastructure projects, such as Reliance’s data center in Jamnagar, could create jobs and stimulate economic activity. It could position India as a global AI hub, attracting further investments and partnerships.

Notably, with this collaboration Mukesh Ambani promoted Reliance will definitely have competitive advantage as Reliance's partnerships might enable it to compete with international tech giants like Google and Microsoft in the AI services space, strengthening India’s role in the global AI ecosystem.

As far as Ethical and Regulatory Framework is concerned, with AI models being hosted locally, it becomes easier to enforce compliance with India’s evolving AI and data protection laws. This move might inspire other nations to demand similar localization commitments, influencing global regulatory trends.

Increased access to AI services may drive up demand for AI education and skills development in India. This could lead to the creation of a more AI-literate workforce, supporting long-term economic and social transformation.

The collaboration could act as a catalyst for India to take a more prominent role in shaping the global AI narrative. By integrating world-class AI technology with local insights and infrastructure, India might emerge as a key player in advancing AI for social good and economic development.

Meta Planning New $200 Bn+ Data Center Campus for Its AI

Meta Platforms is reportedly in discussions to construct a new data center campus for its artificial intelligence projects, with potential costs exceeding $200 billion. The company is considering locations in Louisiana, Wyoming, or Texas, and senior leaders have already visited potential sites.

However, a Meta spokesperson has denied the report, stating that the company's data center plans and capital expenditures have already been disclosed and that anything beyond that is "pure speculation".

Last month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to spend up to $65 billion this year to expand the company's AI infrastructure. In comparison, Microsoft plans to invest about $80 billion in fiscal 2025 to develop data centers, while Amazon's 2025 spending is expected to be higher than the $75 billion estimated for 2024.

This potential investment by Meta is part of a larger trend where tech giants are making significant investments in data centers to meet future AI demands.

Meta is involved in various AI research projects, including advancements in machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing.

Meta's Data Centre in Louisiana (Richland Parish) is of $10 billion+ investment

Meta has a global network of data centers that support its technologies and services. Meta's data centers are located in various regions, including the United States, Europe, and Asia. Some notable locations include Prineville, Oregon, USA; Forest City, North Carolina, USA; Luleå, Sweden; Clonee, Ireland, and Singapore.

Meta has been developing state-of-the-art AI models for various applications, including natural language processing, computer vision, and recommendation systems. These models enhance user experiences across their platforms, like Facebook and Instagram.

Meta's AI Research (FAIR) lab is at the forefront of AI research, working on groundbreaking projects that push the boundaries of what's possible with AI. This includes advancements in machine learning algorithms, robotics, and ethical AI.

Meta's competitors including Apple and Microsoft is also planning to invest heavily in AI infrastructure. While, Microsoft is planning to invest around $80 billion in data centers for fiscal 2025, Apple announced a $500 billion investment in the United States over the next 4 years, with a primary focus on expanding its manufacturing footprint and improving research and development.

Amazon has stated that it has invested over $75 billion in 2024. It would be interesting to see if Meta will set up the AI data center in the US or these are only speculations.

Meta in Talks to Buy S.Korean AI Chip Startup FuriosaAI

Meta Platforms is reportedly in discussions to acquire FuriosaAI, a South Korean AI chip startup. The deal could potentially be finalized as early as this month.

Meta has been heavily investing in AI infrastructure, including developing its own AI chips like the Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) and the latest Next Gen MTIA.

FuriosaAI specializes in developing AI inference chips for data centers and has created its own AI chip, RNGD, which offers three times the performance per watt compared to Nvidia’s advanced AI chip, the H100. The acquisition could help Meta reduce its dependence on Nvidia and enhance its custom chip development efforts.

FuriosaAI RNGD chip

This acquisition could significantly boost Meta's custom chip development efforts, especially amid the ongoing Nvidia chip shortage and increasing demand for alternative solutions.

Founded by June Paik, a former engineer at Samsung Electronics and AMD, FuriosaAI benefits from the expertise and experience of its leadership. FuriosaAI specializes in developing AI inference chips for data centers, and their chips are known for their high performance and energy efficiency.

Compared to other AI chip companies like Nvidia, Cerebras Systems, and Intel, FuriosaAI's focus on efficiency and inference, along with its strategic partnerships and strong backing, positions it as a competitive player in the AI chip market.

The South Korean startup has raised significant funding from notable investors like Naver, Korea Development Bank, and DSC Investment. This financial backing supports its research and development efforts.

FuriosaAI has also collaborated with Taiwanese custom chip maker Global Unichip Corp. and SK Hynix for high-performance memory chips.

Meta aims to develop custom AI chips, like the Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA), to efficiently handle AI workloads, particularly for ranking and recommendation systems. These chips are designed to improve performance and energy efficiency. These chips are designed to improve performance and energy efficiency.

Meta's investment in AI technology is a strategic move to stay ahead of competitors, anticipate market trends, and deliver more personalized and engaging experiences to users.

Meta's investment in AI technology is a strategic move to stay ahead of competitors, anticipate market trends, and deliver more personalized and engaging experiences to users.

In the last two years, Meta Platforms has made several acquisitions to bolster its AI and virtual reality capabilities.

Within Unlimited was Acquired by Meta in February, 2023, Within Unlimited specializes in virtual reality content, including the popular fitness app Supernatural. In 2022, Meta acquired Luminous to enhance Meta's AI capabilities, particularly in computer vision and augmented reality.

Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Cisco to Challenge Modi Govt's Decision to Auction Lower 6GHz Spectrum Band in Court

Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Cisco are considering legal action against the Indian government's decision to auction the lower 6GHz spectrum band for telecom services instead of delicensing it for broader WiFi and AI applications.

Key Points:

1. Auction Decision: The Indian government recently approved the auction of the lower 6GHz spectrum band for use by telecom operators to offer wireless telephony services using technologies like 5G and 6G.
2. Tech Companies' Stance: The tech giants argue that this decision could hinder India's technological growth and economic benefits, as the global trend is to delicense these airwaves for broader applications.
3. Broadband India Forum (BIF): The BIF, representing major tech firms, has been advocating for the delicensing of the 6GHz band, highlighting its importance for data-intensive applications such as AR/VR, gaming streaming, and artificial intelligence.
4. Global Practices: In many countries, including the US, the 6GHz spectrum has been delicensed, allowing non-telecom companies to operate in this band and offer services like WiFi-6.

The tech companies believe that the combined economic benefit of delicensing the 6GHz spectrum and the innovation it would foster would be much higher than the one-off revenue from an auction.

India's CCI Slaps META with Penalty of $25.4 Mn Over WhatsApp

India's chief competition regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 213.14 crore (approx US$ 25.4 Mn) on Meta (formerly Facebook) for anti-competitive practices related to its 2021 privacy policy update for WhatsApp.

The CCI found that Meta holds a dominant position in both the OTT messaging apps and online display advertising markets in India.

The 2021 privacy policy update forced users to accept expanded data collection and sharing terms without an opt-out option, which the CCI deemed as imposing unfair conditions.

Meta is prohibited from sharing user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies for advertising purposes for the next five years. WhatsApp must provide users with an opt-out option for data sharing and ensure that future policy updates comply with these requirements.

Meta and WhatsApp are required to implement specific behavioral changes within a set timeframe to address the issues arising from the policy update.

Further, as regards sharing of data between Meta companies, the Commission has concluded that (a) sharing of WhatsApp users’ data between Meta companies for purposes other than providing WhatsApp Service creates an entry barrier for the rivals of Meta and thus, results in denial of market access in the display advertisement market, in contravention of the provisions of Section 4(2)(c) of the Act; and (b) Meta has engaged in leveraging its dominant position in the OTT messaging apps through smartphones to protect its position in the online display advertising market and the same is in contravention of Section 4(2)(e) of the Act.

In view of the anti-competitive harm elaborated in this order and for the purpose of addressing such harm, the OPs are further directed to implement the following directions:

• WhatsApp will not share user data collected on its platform with other Meta Companies or Meta Company Products for advertising purposes, for a period of 5 (five) years from the date of receipt of this order. After expiry of the said period, the directions at para 6.2 (except para 6.2.1) will apply mutatis mutandis in respect of such sharing of data for advertising purposes.
• With respect to sharing of WhatsApp user data for purposes other than advertising:WhatsApp’s policy should include a detailed explanation of the user data shared with other Meta Companies or Meta Company Products. This explanation should specify the purpose of data sharing, linking each type of data to its corresponding purpose.
• Sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta Companies or Meta Company Products for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp services shall not be made a condition for users to access WhatsApp Service in India.
• In respect of sharing of WhatsApp user data for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp Services, all users in India (including users who have accepted 2021 update) will be provided with:
• the choice to manage such data sharing by way of an opt-out option prominently through an in-app notification; and
• the option to review and modify their choice with respect to such sharing of data through a prominent tab in settings of WhatsApp application.
• All future policy updates shall also comply with these requirements.

This decision underscores the importance of user consent and fair competition in the digital economy. It also aligns with global trends of increasing scrutiny over data privacy and antitrust practices.

Meta Partnered Bain & Company for India-based Report on Impact of Generative Al–powered Conversational Commerce

Meta has collaborated with Bain & Company to produce the "Win With Conversations" report, which offers valuable insights into the evolving landscape of digital platform conversations. The report highlights the transformative impact of generative AI-powered conversational commerce in India.

Key findings from the report include:

• A significant growth in digitization in India, with over 650 million active social media users, yet only 30% shop online.
• Among small merchants, only 15% of the formalized small businesses are selling online.
• There's a strong user preference for conducting transactions via conversational journeys, especially for high-frequency interactions like accessing bank statements, booking travel, and paying utility bills.
• Over 60% of large enterprises plan to increase spending on conversational platforms in the next 3–4 years, and 80% are planning to invest in generative AI within the next 1–2 years.

According to the report, GenAI-powered conversational commerce is set to significantly boost business growth in India. The integration of generative AI with conversational platforms is transforming the way businesses interact with customers, offering a more personalized and efficient shopping experience. Here are some additional insights:

1. Increased Consumer Reach: GenAI-powered conversational messaging platforms could bring an additional 450 Million Indian consumers to e-commerce.

2. Investment Surge: A substantial 60% of large enterprises plan to increase their spending on conversational platforms over the next 3–4 years, with 80% planning to invest in generative AI within the next 1–2 years.

3. Enhanced Customer Engagement: About 70% of surveyed large enterprises are already engaging with half of their customer base using conversational platforms.

4. Business Messaging Growth: Business messaging is seen as a key growth driver, with 60% of WhatsApp users in India messaging a business every week.

The "Win With Conversations" report by Bain & Company and Meta underscores the potential for conversational commerce to redefine customer engagement and provide businesses with a competitive edge. As digital adoption grows, leveraging GenAI in conversational commerce will be crucial for businesses aiming to tap into the vast, untapped market of online shoppers in India.

The report underscores the potential for conversational commerce to engage the next wave of consumers and the importance for businesses to adapt to this trend for sustained growth and customer engagement. It's a clear indication that businesses are recognizing the need to leverage AI and conversational platforms to build stronger connections with their customer base.

IBM Now Offers Meta’s Llama 3 Open Models on Watsonx

IBM has expanded its portfolio by offering Meta's Llama 3 open models on its Watsonx platform. This move is aimed at fostering next-generation enterprise-ready models.

To recall, in December of last year IBM and Meta launched the AI Alliance — a group of leading organizations across industry, startup, academia, research and government and it has since grown to more than 80 members and collaborators.

The Llama 3 models, which include pretrained and instruction fine-tuned language models with 8B and 70B parameter counts, are designed to support a wide range of use cases such as summarization, classification, information extraction, and content-grounded question and answering.

The Llama 3 8B model is optimized for faster training and deployment on edge devices, while the Llama 3 70B model is tailored for more demanding tasks like content creation, conversational AI, and language understanding¹. IBM's collaboration with Meta and the AI Alliance reflects a commitment to open innovation in AI, with the alliance now comprising over 80 members and collaborators.

IBM also hosts Code Llama 34B, a task-specific model for code generation and translation, on the Watsonx platform. These models are available for both SaaS and on-premises deployment, providing flexibility for clients to scale AI with their own data across a broader set of enterprise use cases.

For those interested in exploring these models, IBM offers a free trial on the Watsonx platform. It's an exciting development for AI builders and researchers who are looking to leverage these advanced models for various applications.

Meta's 1st Gaming Summit in India Featured A Survey's Findings That Can Help Gaming Brands Grow

Last week, Meta held its first Gaming Summit in India, which is a milestone that highlights the growing importance of the gaming industry to the company. The summit took place in Mumbai and featured findings from a survey conducted in December 2023, which examined consumer trends in India's gaming industry. The survey included 2,019 respondents aged 18–64 from 75 cities in India, with over 1,000 casual gamers and over 800 real-money gamers among the participants.

The summit held in Mumbai to highlight the gaming industry's latest trends and the role of Meta platforms in shaping gamers' preferences. The summit also unveiled consumer insights from a commissioned study by GWI, an audience-research company, and the launch of the "Gaming Playbook" report on the Indian gaming ecosystem.

These findings show the impactful role of Meta platforms, especially that of Reels, video ads, and influencers in helping gamers discover and purchase new games. The findings were revealed at Meta’s inaugural Gaming Summit in India, where the role of AI-powered ad tools in driving growth for gaming brands was also highlighted.
Sandhya Devanathan, the company's India managing director, said that the gaming industry is a key player in India's journey towards becoming an $8 trillion economy, and that gaming could be worth almost $7.5 billion by 2025, generating 250,000 jobs.

 

The summit also shed light on the following:

• 82% of people surveyed have followed a business after watching Reels
• 74% of people surveyed have messaged a business after seeing their Reels
• 77% of people surveyed have purchased a product or service after watching Reels
• 97% of people surveyed have shared Reels with friends or family

Key Insights from the Meta-Commissioned Study by GWI on Gaming:

• Gaming is becoming more prevalent across India: The study revealed that 6 in 10 smartphone gamers game daily, and almost 90% of real-money gamers play real-money games at least weekly. The study also showed that nearly half of casual gamers and 43% of Real-money gamers come from non-metro geographies.
• Meta’s role in driving discovery of new games: We play a crucial role in helping gamers discover and purchase new games. More than three out of four casual and real money gamers in India discover new games to play and purchase on social media, and more than 90% of these do so on the Meta platforms, as per the study. Reels, ads, and influencers play a leading role in driving this discovery.
• Key moments for Gamers: The festive season and sporting events impact game types played, according to the study. 88% say they’re more likely to switch from playing other real-money games to playing fantasy sports games during tentpole sporting events such as IPL and World Cup.
• Technologies that Gamers love: Artificial intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) are the top three gaming technologies that most interest casual gamers in India.
• The evolving technology and customer behaviour have opened countless opportunities for the Gaming industry in India. The insights from the study can empower Gaming brands to build marketing plans that are more likely to connect with gamers and also deliver on key business outcomes.

​​This survey was conducted in December 2023, with 2,019 respondents aged 18-64 from 75 cities in India.

Audiences

• Casual gamers: 1,176 internet users aged 18-64 who have played a video game on a smartphone/tablet, PC/laptop, console or another device in the last month, but have NOT played a real-money game in the last month
• Casual smartphone/tablet gamers: 1,026 internet users aged 18-64 who have played a video game on a smartphone/tablet in the last month, but have NOT played a real-money game in the last month
• Real-Money gamers: 843 internet users aged 18-64 who have played a real-money game in the last month.

Meta and MCA Launching Fact-Checking WhatsApp Helpline in India to Curb AI-generated Misinformation

• Meta aunching a dedicated fact-checking helpline on WhatsApp with the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) to combat AI-generated misinformation.
• The program will implement a four-pillar approach – detection, prevention, reporting and driving awareness around deepfakes.
• Collaboration with MCA represents our continued effort to empower people with tools and resources to verify information on WhatsApp.
• The helpline will be available for the public to use in March 2024.

Meta is collaborating with the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) to launch a dedicated fact-checking helpline on WhatsApp in an effort to combat media generated using artificial intelligence which may deceive people on matters of public importance, commonly known as deepfakes, and help people connect with verified and credible information. The helpline will be available for the public to use in March 2024.

The industry leading initiative will allow MCA and its associated network of independent fact-checkers and research organizations to address viral misinformation – particularly deepfakes. People will be able to flag deepfakes by sending it to the WhatsApp chatbot which will offer multilingual support in English and three regional languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu).

The MCA will set up a central ‘deepfake analysis unit’ to manage all inbound messages they receive on the WhatsApp helpline. They will work closely with member fact-checking organizations as well as industry partners and digital labs to assess and verify the content and respond to the messages accordingly, debunking false claims and misinformation.

The focus of the program is to implement a four-pillar approach – detection, prevention, reporting and driving awareness around the escalating spread of deepfakes along with building a critical instrument that allows citizens to access reliable information to fight the spread of such misinformation. With millions of Indians using WhatsApp, our collaboration with MCA represents a continued effort to empower users with tools to verify information on its service.

“We recognize the concerns around AI-generated misinformation and believe combatting this requires concrete and cooperative measures across the industry. Our collaboration with MCA to launch a WhatsApp helpline dedicated to debunking deepfakes that can materially deceive people is consistent with our pledge under the Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections. As a company that has been at the cutting edge of AI development for more than a decade, we remain committed to work with industry stakeholders to introduce common technical standards for AI detection, transparency solutions and policies, along with empowering people on our platforms with resources and tools that make it simpler for them to identify content that has been generated using AI tools and curb the spread of misinformation.” – Shivnath Thukral, Director, Public Policy India, Meta.

“The Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) will serve as a critical and timely intervention to arrest the spread of AI-enabled disinformation among social media and internet users in India. Its formation highlights the collaboration and whole-of-society approach to foster a healthy information ecosystem that the MCA was set up for. The initiative will see IFCN signatory fact-checkers, journalists, civic tech professionals, research labs and forensic experts come together, with Meta’s support. We hope the DAU will become a trusted resource for the public to discern between real and AI generated media and we invite more stakeholders to be a part of the initiative.” – Bharat Gupta, President, Misinformation Combat Alliance.

Our robust fact-checking program in India includes partnerships with 11 independent fact-checking organizations that help users to identify, review, verify information and help prevent the spread of misinformation on its platforms. On WhatsApp, we encourage people to double-check information that sounds suspicious or inaccurate by sending it to WhatsApp tiplines. People can also follow dedicated fact-checking organizations on WhatsApp Channels to receive verified, accurate and timely updates. In addition to the fact-checking program, WhatsApp addresses misinformation by limiting forwards and actively constraining virality on the platform.

Our approach to addressing deceptive synthetic media has several components, including working to investigate deceptive behaviors like fake accounts and misleading manipulated media; our third-party fact-checking program, in which fact checkers rate misinformation, including content that has been edited or synthesized in a way that could mislead people; and engaging with academia, government and industry. We have recently announced an AI labeling policy. In the coming months, we will label images that users post to Facebook, Instagram and Threads when we can detect industry standard indicators that they are AI-generated.

We have also pledged to help prevent deceptive AI content from interfering with this year’s global elections. The “Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections” is a set of commitments to deploy technology countering harmful AI-generated content meant to deceive voters. Signatories, including Meta, pledge to work collaboratively on tools to detect and address online distribution of such AI content, drive educational campaigns, and provide transparency, among other concrete steps.

The Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) and Meta are working on launching a dedicated fact-checking helpline on WhatsApp in an effort to combat media generated using artificial intelligence which may deceive people on matters of public importance, commonly known as deepfakes

Meta Elects Hock Tan (Broadcom's CEO) and John Arnold (CoFounder Arnold Ventures) To Its Board of Directors

Meta, on Wednesday, announced that Hock E. Tan and John Arnold have been elected to the company’s board of directors, effective immediately.

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Meta, said, “I’m excited to share that Hock Tan and John Arnold are joining Meta’s board of directors. As we focus on building AGI, having directors with deep expertise in silicon and energy infrastructure will help us execute our long term vision.”

“I am pleased to join the Meta Board and contribute to achieving the company’s vision,” said Tan. “Meta has an incredible role to play in the next-generation of computing as it evolves its platform and apps offerings for the future. I look forward to working with Mark, the broader team and the other Board members on Meta’s technology and business journey.”

“I look forward to being a part of Meta’s board, and to contributing my insights as we work together in our collective responsibility to Meta’s users and the wider community,” said Arnold.

Hock Tan has served as Broadcom’s President & CEO and a member of the Board of Directors since March 2006. From September 2005 to January 2008, he served as chairman of the board of Integrated Device Technology. Prior to becoming chairman of IDT, Mr. Tan was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Circuit Systems from June 1999 to September 2005.

Prior to ICS, Mr. Tan was Vice President of Finance with Commodore International from 1992 to 1994, and previously held senior management positions with PepsiCo and General Motors. Mr. Tan served as managing director of Pacven Investment, a venture capital fund in Singapore, from 1988 to 1992, and served as managing director for Hume Industries in Malaysia from 1983 to 1988.

John Arnold is co-founder and co-chair of Arnold Ventures. Arnold Ventures seeks to tackle some of the most pressing problems in the United States by applying evidence-based solutions to improve outcomes in public systems, including health care, education, criminal justice, infrastructure, and public finance.

John Arnold is also the co-founder and chairman of Grid United, a developer of interregional, high-voltage transmission projects with a mission to make America’s power grid more reliable, resilient, and efficient. Mr. Arnold is founder of Centaurus Capital, a family office investment fund focused on the energy industry. Previously, Mr. Arnold served as founder and CEO of Centaurus Energy, a multi-billion-dollar energy commodity hedge fund that he founded after overseeing trading of natural gas derivatives at Enron Corp.

Meta’s current board members are: Mark Zuckerberg; Peggy Alford, former Executive Vice President, Global Sales, PayPal Holdings, Inc.; Marc L. Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz; John Arnold, Co-Founder, Arnold Ventures; Drew Houston, Co-Founder and CEO, Dropbox, Inc.; Nancy Killefer, Retired Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company; Robert M. Kimmitt, Meta’s Lead Independent Director and Senior International Counsel at WilmerHale LLP; Sheryl K. Sandberg, former Chief Operating Officer, Meta; Hock E. Tan, President and CEO, Broadcom Inc.; Tracey T. Travis, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.; and Tony Xu, Co-Founder and CEO, DoorDash, Inc.

Meta Partners ONDC To Enable Small Businesses Build Conversational Buyer-Seller Experiences on WhatsApp

• Meta will enable and educate small businesses, through an ecosystem of our business and technical solution providers capable of building seamless conversational buyer and seller experiences on WhatsApp.
• With you ONDC partnership, Meta will digitally upskill five lakh MSMEs through the Meta Small Business Academy.

Meta, the parent of social media giant Facebook, today announced its partnership with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to enable and educate small businesses in building seamless conversational buyer and seller experiences on WhatsApp through an ecosystem of Meta's business and technical solution providers. As part of this collaboration, ONDC will help these business solution providers become seller apps, bringing the businesses they service onto the ONDC network and helping them drive commerce.

To kick-off the partnership, over the next two years, Meta will also digitally upskill 5 lakh MSMEs through the Meta Small Business Academy. Born out of Meta's commitment to up-skill 10 million small businesses across the country, Meta Small Business Academy offers a certification to empower entrepreneurs and marketers to gain critical digital marketing skills to grow on our apps.

“At ONDC, we are committed to accelerating and democratizing the digital landscape and towards that, we aim to empower MSMEs, help them build digital visibility, and boost their businesses. Today, for any business to grow, it is critical for them to market themselves and reach a wider audience. Our partnership with Meta will not only digitally upskill these businesses but will also enable them to connect with a customer base far and wide. I am confident that our collaborative efforts will pave the way for millions of small businesses by providing them with the right impetus for growth.” – T Koshy, MD & CEO of ONDC. 

“India’s digital transformation story is unfolding at a revolutionary pace, and for this growth to continue, we need the right ecosystem and partnerships that enable millions of small businesses to build and deepen their digital presence. Meta has been a frontrunner in partnering with the government and the industry to advance digital inclusion, especially for MSMEs across India. Our partnership with ONDC builds on supporting the government’s vision for Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and furthering our ongoing commitment to skilling small businesses and aiding this rapid digital transformation and growth story in the country.” – Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President, Meta in India. 

As part of the partnership, Meta will also support Sahayak, ONDC’s WhatApp chatbot, in enhancing the services offered on the bot as the single point of seller communication and customer communication for ONDC.

Earlier this year, Meta launched ‘WhatsApp Se Wyapaar’ program to upskill 10 million traders across 29 states in 11 Indian languages on the WhatsApp Business app. Today, there are more than 200 million users of the WhatsApp Business app across the world, and more than 60% of people on WhatsApp in India message a business account.

In April this year, Meta partnered with NIESBUD, AICTE and CBSE, to train students, Entrepreneurs, Startups and small-businesses in Digital Marketing. The partnership agreement was inked through Ministry of Education, Ministry Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.

IBM and Meta Launch International AI Alliance with 50+ Members Including IIT Bombay, Intel and NASA

AI Alliance Launches as an International Community of Leading Technology Developers, Researchers, and Adopters Collaborating Together to Advance Open, Safe, Responsible AI

India's IIT Bombay and Insurtech startup Roadzen among the members

IBM and Meta has just launched the AI Alliance in collaboration with over 50 Founding Members and Collaborators globally including AMD, Anyscale, CERN, Cerebras, Cleveland Clinic, Cornell University, Dartmouth, Dell Technologies, EPFL, ETH, Hugging Face, Imperial College London, Intel, INSAIT, Linux Foundation, MLCommons, MOC Alliance operated by Boston University and Harvard University, NASA, NSF, Oracle, Partnership on AI, Red Hat, Roadzen, ServiceNow, Sony Group, Stability AI, University of California Berkeley, University of Illinois, University of Notre Dame, The University of Tokyo, Yale University and others

AI advancements are leading to new opportunities that can improve how we work, live, learn and interact with one another. Open and transparent innovation is essential to empower a broad spectrum of AI researchers, builders, and adopters with the information and tools needed to harness these advancements in ways that prioritize safety, diversity, economic opportunity and benefits to all.

While there are many individual companies, start-ups, researchers, governments, and others who are committed to open science and open technologies and want to participate in the new wave of AI innovation, more collaboration and information sharing will help the community innovate faster and more inclusively, and identify specific risks and mitigate those risks before putting a product into the world.

That is why, the AI Alliance is launched – a group of leading organizations across industry, startup, academia, research and government coming together to support open innovation and open science in AI. The AI Alliance is action oriented and decidedly international, designed to create opportunities everywhere through a diverse range of institutions that can shape the evolution of AI in ways that better reflect the needs and the complexity of our societies.

The AI Alliance is focused on fostering an open community and enabling developers and researchers to accelerate responsible innovation in AI while ensuring scientific rigor, trust, safety, security, diversity and economic competitiveness. By bringing together leading developers, scientists, academic institutions, companies, and other innovators, we will pool resources and knowledge to address safety concerns while providing a platform for sharing and developing solutions that fit the needs of researchers, developers, and adopters around the world.

Initial ohiectives of the AI Alliance –

• Develop and deploy benchmarks and evaluation standards, tools, and other resources that enable the responsible development and use of AI systems at global scale, including the creation of a catalog of vetted safety, security and trust tools. Support the advocacy and enablement of these tools with the developer community for model and application development.
• Responsibly advance the ecosystem of open foundation models with diverse modalities, including highly capable multilingual, multi-modal, and science models that can help address society-wide challenges in climate, education, and beyond.
• Foster a vibrant AI hardware accelerator ecosystem by boosting contributions and adoption of essential enabling software technology.
• Support global AI skills building and exploratory research. Engage the academic community to support researchers and students to learn and contribute to essential AI model and tool research projects.
• Develop educational content and resources to inform the public discourse and policymakers on benefits, risks, solutions and precision regulation for AI.
• Launch initiatives that encourage open development of AI in safe and beneficial ways, and host events to explore AI use cases and showcase how Alliance members are using open technology in AI responsibly and for good.

What is the AI Alliance

To ensure open innovation in AI benefits everyone and that it is built responsibly, the AI Alliance consists of a broad range of organizations that are working across aspects of AI education, research, development and deployment, and governance.

The AI Alliance is –

• The creators of the tooling driving AI benchmarking, trust and validation metrics and best practices, and application creation such as MLPerf, Hugging Face, LangChain, LlamaIndex, and open-source AI toolkits for explainability, privacy, adversarial robustness, and fairness evaluation.
• The universities and science agencies that educate and support generation after generation of AI scientists and engineers and push the frontiers of AI research through open science.
• The builders of the hardware and infrastructure that supports AI training and applications – from the needed GPUs to custom AI accelerators and cloud platforms;
• The champions of frameworks that drive platform software including PyTorch, Transformers, Diffusers, Kubernetes, Ray, Hugging Face Text generation inference and Parameter Efficient Fine Tuning.
• The creators of some of today’s most used open models including Llama2, Stable Diffusion, StarCoder, Bloom, and many others.

Besides IBM and Meta, IBM and the other 50-plus members of the AI Alliance include leading organizations across industry, government and academia. Partners and collaborators include:

1. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
2. Aitomatic
3. AMD
4. Anyscale
5. Cerebras
6. CERN
7. Cleveland Clinic
8. Cornell University
9. Dartmouth
10. Dell Technologies
11. Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
12. ETH Zurich
13. Fast.ai
14. Fenrir, Inc.
15. FPT Software
16. Hebrew University of Jerusalem
17. Hugging Face
18. IBM
19. Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
20. Imperial College London
21. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
22. Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
23. Intel
24. Keio University
25. LangChain
26. LlamaIndex
27. Linux Foundation
28. Mass Open Cloud Alliance, operated by Boston University and Harvard
29. Meta
30. Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence
31. MLCommons
32. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 
33. National Science Foundation
34. New York University
35. NumFOCUS
36. OpenTeams
37. Oracle
38. Partnership on AI
39. Quansight
40. Red Hat
41. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
42. Roadzen
43. Sakana AI
44. SB Intuitions
45. ServiceNow
46. Silo AI
47. Simons Foundation
48. Sony Group
49. Stability AI
50. Together AI
51. TU Munich
52. UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society
53. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
54. The University of Notre Dame
55. The University of Texas at Austin
56. The University of Tokyo
57. Yale University

How the AI Alliance Will Work

The AI Alliance will begin its work with the formation of member-driven working groups across all major topical areas listed above. The Alliance will also establish a governing board and technical oversight committee dedicated to advancing the above project areas, as well as establishing overall project standards and guidelines.

In addition to bringing together leading developers, scientists, academics, students, and business leaders in the field of artificial intelligence, the AI Alliance will plan to partner with important existing initiatives from governments, non-profit and civil society organizations who are doing valuable and aligned work in the AI space.

To learn more about the Alliance, visit here: https://thealliance.ai

Meta (Facebook) Partners with NIESBUD, CBSE and AICTE for 3 Yrs for Skilling Students, Entrepreneurs and Startups in Digital Marketing in 7 Regional Languages

Meta, the parent of social media giant Facebook, has today exchanged 3 Letters of Intent (LoI) with NIESBUD, AICTE and CBSE, to train students, Entrepreneurs, Startups and small-businesses in Digital Marketing. 

The LoIs were inked in a launch event of 3-year partnership between Meta and Ministry of Education, Ministry Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.

The partnership dubbed as “Education to Entrepreneurship: Empowering a generation of students, educators and entrepreneurs”, was launched by Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Mr Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi today.

Launched by Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister, the partnership with Meta is a game-changer which will take Digital Skilling to the grassroots and build capacities of India's talent pool, seamlessly connect students, youth, workforce & micro-entrepreneurs, with futuristic technologies and transform our Amrit Peedhi into new-age problem solvers and entrepreneurs.

Speaking at the event, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan said that the initiative launched today is in furtherance to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of making India a skill capital of the world and empowering our Amrit Peedhi.

In furtherance to PM @narendramodi ji’s vision of making India a skill capital of the world and empowering our #AmritPeedhi, launched the ‘Education To Entrepreneurship’ partnership— a joint initiative of @EduMinOfIndia, @MSDESkillIndia and @Meta.

Guided by the tenets of NEP,… pic.twitter.com/BctG1Oca49

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) September 4, 2023

Meta’s partnerships with NIESBUD (National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development), CBSE & AICTE will catalyse infinite possibilities for equipping our population with critical digital skills and empowering micro entrepreneurs and small businesses, he added.

NIESBUD is a premier organization of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, engaged in training, consultancy, research and publication in order to promote entrepreneurship and Skill Development in India.

Under the partnership of Meta with NIESBUD, 5 lakh entrepreneurs will get access to digital marketing skills by Meta over the next 3 years. Budding and existing entrepreneurs will be trained in digital marketing skills using Meta platforms in 7 regional languages to begin with. Three short films were also showcased highlighting the details about the partnerships.

The entrepreneurs,through NIESBUD, will be trained with the use of Meta platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, in 7 regional languages.

Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said, "Government’s focus on preparing our youth and workforce in these rapidly transforming times, to be equipped with the skills to succeed and play important roles in the evolving landscape of technology and the global economy. Digital skills, while representing skilling and entrepreneurship in the innovation ecosystem, more importantly represents a bridge between lakhs of small rural, micro and self-employed entrepreneurs, enabling them to expand, grow and succeed."

In a video message Meta President, Global Affairs, Sir Nick Clegg, thanked Shri Dharmendra Pradhan for his support in bringing the partnership together between the two most important sectors of the workforce, education and skilling. India’s talent base and rapid digital adoption make it the perfect place for us to invest in emerging technologies, he added. He looked forward to Meta’s contribution in empowering India’s students, young people and entrepreneurs, with significant focus on skill development for Indian startups and businesses, having worked closely with India during its G20 Presidency in areas such as education, job creation, skill development and user safety.

Meta Unveils AudioCraft, A New Generative AI for Audio and Music

Meta, the parent of Facebook, has just unveiled 'AudioCraft', a new family of generative Al models built for generating high-quality, realistic audio & music from text.

AudioCraft lets one easily generate high-quality audio and music from text.

With this, Meta is open-sourcing three models of AudioCraft — MusicGen, AudioGen and EnCodec. MusicGen was trained with Meta-owned and specifically licensed music and it generates music from text prompts, while AudioGen was trained on public sound effects and generates audio from text prompts.

By open-sourcing these models, Meta is giving researchers and practitioners access so they can train their own models with their own datasets for the first time, and help advance the field of AI-generated audio and music. 

Sample AudioCraft Generated Music —

AudioCraft is a single code base that works for music, sound, compression & generation - all in the same place. It consists of three models: MusicGen, AudioGen and EnCodec. Today's release builds on our previous release of MusicGen with an improved version of our EnCodec decoder enabling higher quality music generation with fewer artifacts + pre-trained AudioGen models which can generate environmental sounds and sound effects.

Meta in a statement said, "As part of our continued investment in an open approach to today's Al, the models are available for research purposes so that researchers and practitioners can train their own models with their own datasets for the first time and help advance the state of the art. We can't wait to see what people create with AudioCraft."

The AudioCraft family of models are capable of producing high-quality audio with long-term consistency, and they’re easy to use.

Earlier this year, Google's holding firm Alphabet Inc too unveiled its own experimental audio generating AI tool called MusicLM.

Meanwhile, Artists and industry experts have raised concerns over copyright violations, as these generative AI tools used machine learning software which work by recognizing and replicating patterns from music/data scraped from the web.

Meta Launching Its Own Generative AI To Compete With ChatGPT and Google

Social Media giant Meta (Facebook) is all set to release a commercial version of its own artificial intelligence model in line with OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard, allowing start-ups and businesses to build custom software on top of the technology.

The release is expected very soon, said a report by Financial Times citing a person familiar with the plans. "The new version of its open-source large language model can be used to build custom software and will be released 'imminently", said the report.

Earlier in February, Meta released its own large language model, known as LLaMA, to researchers and academics, but the new version is said to be more widely available and customisable by companies.

Meta' s LLMs are said to be “open-source,” which means that information about the new model will be made public. This will give an edge to Meta over OpenAI's GPT-4, which is kind of a "walled garden" meaning the data and code used to build the model are not accessible publicly or to third parties.

Notably, Meta has been working on AI research and development for more than a decade but is behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google's Bard in the race of flagship generative AI models.

The upcoming software, which can create text, images and code, is however questionable when it comes to carbon footprint it would create, as it is powered by large language models (LLMs) which are trained on huge amounts of data and require vast computing power which in turn requires vast amount of energy to cool down the heat it will generate.

Meta (Facebook) Launching New Twitter Rival 'Threads'

Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, is unveiling a new app that appears to directly compete with Twitter, a micro-blogging platform owned by Elon Musk.

Named "Instagram Threads", the app is expected to be launched on July 6, according to the App Store listing of the upcoming app showing a version ready for Apple’s iPhone.

A new Wikipedia page of Thread also appeared saying — "Designed as a platform for real-time conversations and sharing, Threads aims to provide users with a similar experience to Twitter, with an emphasis on public, text-based posts and conversations (also known as microblogging), and is closely linked to and based on sister social networking service Instagram."

Existing Instagram users will be able to keep their user names and follow the same accounts on the new app, according to screenshots displayed on the App Store listing.

Of late, a number of Twitter competitors have emerged including former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey’s Blueskey, and Donald Trump’s Mastadon.

The choice of the name Thread is also interesting as a Thread, is one of the features of Twitter that is — a linked series of tweets, which was introduced as an official feature in 2017.

However, few reports suggest that 'Threads' was originally the name of a 2019 app Meta launched to compete with the popular messaging app Snapchat. The product was later abandoned but Meta retained the branding.

Mishi Choudhary, Technology Lawyer & Online Civil Rights Activist, and founder of SFLC.in, said, "The current state of mayhem at Twitter presents a great opportunity for Meta to offer an alternative to users. But Meta's abysmal privacy record is bound to raise concerns. Threads is perfectly capable of acquiring a large user base considering it's based on Instagram that boasts of over 2 billion users."