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Meta appoints generative AI VP to run Threads

Meta appoints generative AI VP to run Threads

TechCrunch5 days ago
In Brief
Meta appointed Connor Hayes, Meta's VP of product for generative AI, to become the head of Threads, per Axios.
Until now, Instagram head Adam Mosseri has been in charge of Threads. But the platform has grown into more than a side product of Instagram, necessitating additional leadership.
Though Threads only launched in 2023, its mobile daily active user (DAU) numbers are fast approaching those of X, according to market intelligence provider Similarweb. Currently, Threads is averaging around 115 million DAUs on mobile, with X's DAU numbers reaching around 132 million.
TechCrunch has reached out to Meta for comment.
Image Credits:Similarweb
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Nish Kumar reflects on political satire, social media and the evolving global reach of stand-up comedy ahead of his Just For Laughs shows in Montreal LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: Nish Kumar attends Day 1 of The Podcast Show at the Business Design Centre on May 21, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Alan Chapman/) As the Just For Laughs comedy festival continues this week, shows from comedian Nish Kumar are sure to be a highlight of the Montreal summer staple. While Kumar sells out stand-up shows around the world, and for good reason because he's one of the best, he said that he has a "sentimental fondness" for taking part in a festival. "The shows are always really good fun. ... There's an international circuit of comedians that do these things, that do Montreal, that do Edinburgh, that do Melbourne, and ... it's a really great opportunity to catch up with some friends, and also get to see some cool stuff as well," Kumar told Yahoo Canada. "I watch a lot when I'm in town and I've seen some unbelievable shows." This isn't Kumar's first time in Canada this year. The British comedian was doing a show in Toronto in February, just as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs came into effect. ADVERTISEMENT "That was a particularly febrile time," Kumar recalled. "I think I was hoping that things might have calmed down a little bit, but obviously they were never going to calm down." "It's a fascinating experiment in what happens when a country, for seemingly no reason, out of nowhere, reverses centuries of diplomatic relations with its neighbour, with whom it shares a land border." Kumar's February show was also just months before Canada's last election, which saw Mark Carney get elected prime minister after previous holding the position of Governor of the Bank of England. "It obviously is very strange for a British person that Mark Carney is [the Prime Minister]. 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I've had to kind of retool the show as I've been touring, because I've been touring it for nearly a year now, and so that 20 per cent has just changed." LOS ANGELES - FEBRUARY 29: AFTER MIDNIGHT, airing Thursday, February 29, 2024, with host Taylor Tomlinson. Pictured: Nish Kumar. (Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images) The good and the bad of social media A big shift in comedy consumption around the world has been things like social media and podcasts allowing people to get exposure to comedians they otherwise wouldn't engage with, also helping to create an invested audience for things like comedy festivals, as Kumar highlighted. ADVERTISEMENT "I think the internet is sort of supercharging these things, rather than taking away from them," he said. "A British comedian of my standing 20 years ago would not have been able to casually come to Canada and America and sell out tour shows, that didn't exist. 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