Meta brings gen AI 'Imagine Me' feature to Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger in India
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Meta AI's new Imagine Me feature.
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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Mark Zuckerberg's wife Priscilla Chan reveals what AI researchers value more than big salaries
Priscilla Chan, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg 's wife, recently revealed her secret recruiting pitch to lure top talent. Chan is co-founder of the nonprofit organisation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). Speaking on the Core Memory podcast hosted by Ashlee Vance, she said that while tech companies continue to offer massive compensation packages, CZI is focused on providing researchers with the tools they need instead. 'The other thing researchers really care about is access to GPUs. You're not going to make the most of someone if you don't actually have the GPUs for them to work from,' Priscilla Chan said. Her comments come as Meta's Superintelligence Labs keeps hiring top AI talent with eight-figure salaries and a goal of managing 1.3 million GPUs by the end of 2025. During the podcast, she revealed that the organization now has about 1,000 advanced GPUs and plans to add more so that scientists can pursue cutting-edge work—even if the nonprofit can't match tech industry salaries. Chan revealed that CZI has shifted its priorities to what she called a 'science-first philanthropy,' with major efforts focused on biomedical discovery. The nonprofit, she said, continues to build advanced infrastructure to support research, aiming to make scientific breakthroughs more accessible. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Swelling and internal bleeding in the brain, help this baby Donate For Health Donate Now Undo Chan emphasized that while they can't match Big Tech's paychecks, CZI hopes to offer the next best thing: top-tier computing power dedicated to science. 'Come work with us because we're going to have the computing power to support the research that you want to do,' Chan tells candidates. She added, 'Pay is obviously important, yet we cannot compete with tech companies on this.' Mark Zuckerberg on techies joining Meta for big salaries Recently, Mark Zuckerberg dismissed the idea that top AI researchers are joining Meta only for the massive paychecks, revealing that the major factor drawing towards them is the unmatched compute power autonomy. In an interview with The Information, Zuckerberg emphasised that the unparalleled compute power and the unique opportunity to build "superintelligence' are the reasons why AI researchers are joining the company. Recently, we witnessed an aggressive recruitment drive from Meta, with some reports citing offers in the hundreds of millions of dollars to poach AI talent from Apple, OpenAI and Google DeepMind. These figures and rapid hiring made by Meta fuelled speculation of an unprecedented talent war, where financial gains reign supreme. Google Pixel 10 Series Launch: Everything Coming on August 20 AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Meta, X and LinkedIn appeal unprecedented VAT claim by Italy
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills US tech giants Meta, X and LinkedIn have lodged an appeal against an unprecedented VAT claim by Italy that could influence tax policy across the 27-nation European Union, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on is the first time that Italy has failed to reach a settlement agreement after bringing tax cases against tech companies, resulting in a fully-fledged judicial tax trial being to the sources, this came about because the case went beyond agreeing on a settlement figure and sought to establish a broader approach focused on how social networks provide access to their tax authorities argue that free user registrations with X, LinkedIn and Meta platforms should be seen as taxable transactions as they imply the exchange of a membership account in return for a user's personal issue is especially sensitive given wider trade tensions between the EU and the administration of US President Donald is claiming 887.6 million euros ($1.03 billion) from Meta, 12.5 million euros from X and around 140 million euros from the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Elon Musk's social network X and Microsoft's LinkedIn filed their appeals with a first instance tax court after mid-July, when the deadline for responding to a tax assessment notice issued by Italy's Revenue Agency in March to several experts consulted by Reuters, the Italian approach could affect almost all companies, from airlines to supermarkets to publishers, who link access to free services on their sites to users' acceptance of profiling could also eventually be extended across the EU where VAT is a harmonised a statement to Reuters, Meta said that it had cooperated "fully with the authorities on our obligations under EU and local law".It added that the company "strongly disagrees with the idea that providing access to online platforms to users should be subject to VAT".LinkedIn said it had "nothing to share at this time".X did not respond to a request for comment from is uncertain whether a full trial of the matter, which involves three levels of judgement and takes an average of 10 years, will go discussions with the three companies, Italy is preparing as a next step to seek an advisory opinion from the European Commission, the sources Italian Revenue Agency will have to prepare specific questions, which the Economy Ministry will then send to the EU Commission's VAT Committee, which meets twice a aims to submit its questions for the meeting scheduled to be held by early November, in order to receive the EU's comments in time for the following meeting in spring Economy Ministry and Revenue Agency declined to EU Commission's VAT Committee is an independent advisory group. While its assessment will be non-binding, a "No" could prompt Italy to halt the case and ultimately drop the criminal investigation by Italian prosecutors, according to the dispute is one of several between Europeans and US Big July 11 Reuters exclusively reported that Meta would not be tweaking its pay-or-consent model further despite the risk of EU to a Financial Times report on July 17, the European Commission has stalled one of its investigations into Musk's platform X for breaching its digital transparency rules while it seeks to conclude trade talks with the US.
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
How AI agents could reshape the economy
Imagine a world where your digital assistant not only schedules meetings and books trips but also negotiates with dozens of businesses on your behalf, finding the best prices, customising services, and handling payments in seconds. This isn't science fiction. It's the emerging reality of what experts call the agentic economy, powered by generative AI. AI(REUTERS) Already, research from leading economists shows that these technologies are transforming productivity. A recent large-scale field experiment published in the Journal of Econometrics by Erik Brynjolfsson, Danielle Li, and Lindsey Raymond found that generative AI significantly boosts the output of knowledge workers, especially helping less-experienced employees reach the performance levels of their more seasoned peers. This real-world evidence offers a glimpse into how AI might not only make individuals more efficient but also help narrow skill gaps in the workforce. The concept of the agentic economy goes beyond individual productivity. As explored in a study by researchers at Microsoft Research, AI is poised to reduce the friction of communication between consumers and businesses. Instead of painstakingly filling out forms or explaining your situation repeatedly to different service providers, your assistant agent could securely transmit your preferences and history to business-side service agents, instantly tailoring offers to your needs. This could unlock entirely new options that were previously buried under cumbersome processes. For instance, switching accountants or trying a new insurer might become as easy as a short prompt to your AI assistant, who negotiates terms with multiple providers in real time. Such advances could dramatically alter who holds power in the digital economy. Today, giants like Amazon, Google, and Meta act as middlemen—platforms that set rules, curate experiences, and take commissions by bringing together millions of buyers and sellers. But if AI agents on both sides can communicate directly, the need for these costly intermediaries may shrink. Consumers' assistant agents could interact directly with businesses' service agents, comparing prices, customizing bundles, and even resolving disputes. This would foster a more decentralized, competitive market landscape. Still, experts caution that platforms often provide more than just matchmaking. They add value through validation, fraud prevention, and standardised experiences. As a result, we may see platforms evolve rather than disappear, competing fiercely in a market with much lower switching costs. Perhaps the most critical question is whether this agent-driven economy will flourish inside closed ecosystems, agentic walled gardens, or thrive in an open web of agents. Large tech companies are already taking steps to build their own controlled agent marketplaces. Meta, for example, recently launched business service agents on Facebook and Instagram that only work within their platforms. This model can ensure quality and security, but risks consolidating power in the hands of a few players, potentially stifling innovation and fragmenting the user experience. Conversely, an open agent ecosystem would resemble today's world wide web, where any consumer's agent could connect with any business's agent. This would democratise access and spur competition—but would require global cooperation on technical standards, along with robust systems for trust and security. AI agents could also revolutionise advertising. Right now, businesses pay to capture our attention. In an agentic economy, attention may be less scarce; instead, algorithms matching consumer assistants with service agents become the critical battleground. Paid prioritisation will likely remain in some form, but the true driver of success could be human feedback. As Brynjolfsson and his colleagues found, AI tools are most effective when they learn from high-quality user interactions. In the future, businesses may compete to attract early users whose feedback helps train smarter systems, shifting us from an attention economy to a preference economy. Imagine paying small amounts to access only what you need—whether it's a custom-tailored news article that skips what you've already read or a playlist dynamically mixed across streaming platforms. As assistant agents seamlessly handle transactions, micro-payments that once seemed impractical could become commonplace. This also sets the stage for extreme unbundling and rebundling of products. Assistant agents might pull from multiple content or service sources to build hyper-personalised offerings, negotiating micro-transactions behind the scenes. We stand at a pivotal moment, much like the dawn of the internet in the 1990s. Whether this next wave of AI delivers widespread opportunity or concentrates power even further depends on decisions made now by tech leaders, regulators, and consumers alike. The evidence is already here: From field experiments proving how AI boosts worker productivity to new frameworks enabling agents to communicate on our behalf. As we step into this agentic future, we must carefully choose the architecture of our digital economy because it will determine who benefits from this revolutionary technology. Generative AI is not just about personal productivity; it's about reshaping how markets work. Whether we end up in walled gardens controlled by tech giants or a vibrant, open web of competing agents will decide if this new economy truly serves us all. This article is authored by Narinder Kumar, assistant professor, RV University), Amit Kumar, research scientist, PGIMER, Chandigarh and Kiran Sood, professor, Chitkara University, Punjab.
