Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his outline for a new corporate culture — including the new motto "Meta, Metamates, Me" — in an employee memo he posted on Facebook on Tuesday. The update follows Meta's rebranding from Facebook in December and its $240B plummet in market cap earlier this month, the largest single-day wipeout in U.S. corporate history. More: - In the memo, Zuckerberg said Meta is now "a distributed company" and expressed plans to "continue hiring around the world."
- "Meta, Metamates, Me" is meant to reflect the "sense of responsibility" that Meta workers have to the company's success and to each other, he wrote.
- The saying is inspired by the naval adage of "ship, shipmates, self," which Instagram has used internally.
- The "Metamates" part was coined by Douglas Hofstadter, a cognitive science professor and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid."
Related: - Zuckerberg also announced that Meta's value of "Move Fast" will be updated to "Move Fast Together." The company's other mottos include "Build Awesome Things," "Live in the Future," "Focus on Long-Term Impact," and "Be Direct and Respect Your Colleagues."
- Facebook will also change the name of its “News Feed” feature to “Feed.”
- The company is shifting its business model and corporate values as it rebrands from a social media-centric company toward the metaverse, a potential successor to the mobile internet.
- Meta's shares fell precipitously following its Q4 results in early February, wiping over $200B from its market cap. Meta reported fast-growing costs and expenses as well as a lower-than-expected revenue outlook for the current quarter.
BLOOMBERG 
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Google said it will be at least two years until it phases out cross-app ad tracking on Android smartphones, a move that would be similar to an Apple update that gave users the option to opt out of ad tracking. Like Apple, Google is hoping the move will boost data privacy for its users. More: - On Wednesday, Google said it wants to replace its advertising ID system with a privacy-focused system that restricts the sharing of user data with outside parties.
- Google said it will be a "multi-year initiative" to build the Privacy Sandbox on Android. It promoted an alternative path that would be similar to its app-tracking replacements for browsers.
- The company clarified that it will provide "substantial notice" before making the change, which won't occur for at least two years. It's now seeking feedback on alternatives as it works with developers to figure out the best approach.
Zoom-out: - Meanwhile, Apple's new restrictions have had major impacts on companies that rely on tracking for targeted advertising.
- Meta, formerly Facebook, said it expects to lose around $10B in ad sales this year as a result of the change.
- Google took aim at Apple's approach, saying such a system "can be ineffective and lead to worse outcomes" for users' privacy and businesses.
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 Roblox missed analysts' expectations for the fourth quarter as its growth appeared to be slowing down after reaching a high during the pandemic. The open gaming platform still reported a 33% jump in its average daily active users, which reached 49.5 million people, most of whom are under the age of 13. More: - The company's Q4 bookings rose by 20% to $770M, lower than the $772M expected by analysts. For the full year 2021, its revenue rose 108%, to $1.9B.
- CEO David Baszucki acknowledged that Roblox's growth rates have dropped when compared to quarters last year, when certain metrics "doubled or even tripled."
- Reports surmised that the opening of schools negatively impacted the growth in user spending.
Zoom-out: - The company considers itself a key player in the future of the metaverse. Roblox CTO Daniel Sturman believes that the metaverse will be built on existing 3D games that will also house virtual events and concerts.
- Roblox pays as much as a $430,000 annual base salary for its top talent to accelerate the development of the metaverse; the company is looking to fill a wide range of roles.
- Last year, Nike opened its virtual world Nikeland on the Roblox platform.
PC GAMER
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 Two U.S. senators introduced a bill that would require social media platforms to take additional action to protect children from online harm. The Kids Online Safety Act would force companies like Meta, Snap, and TikTok to re-design features in their platforms to shield minors from sexual exploitation, bullying, harmful images, and inappropriate ads. More: - The bill would force tech companies to follow a "duty of care" to protect children from online content promoting eating disorders, substance abuse, self-harm, and more.
- Under the proposed legislation, platforms would have to implement stricter safety measures by default for children under 16.
- These would include things like new parental supervision tools, channels for reporting harm, and safeguards against contacting minors and viewing their personal data.
- Children would be given the option to turn off recommendations based on data-driven algorithms. In addition, companies would have to do annual third-party audits to determine the risks that their platforms pose to children.
- Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the bill today; they are chair and ranking member of the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection, respectively.
THE WASHINGTON POST
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 General Motors will resume production of the electric Chevrolet Bolt in early April after pausing output to address a battery defect linked to fires. The automaker once again extended the pause, initiated last year, after recalling all battery modules in Bolt EV and Bolt EUV models from 2017 to 2022. More: - Defective LG Chem cells in the battery packs are behind the problem, which GM believes has caused 18 suspected fires.
- In August, GM widened the recall to roughly 140,000 Bolts and paused sales and production of the cars at its suburban Detroit factory.
- Battery manufacturer LG later agreed to reimburse $1.9B to GM for the fire risks.
- Production will now come back online on April 4, with retail sales to resume shortly after.
Zoom-out: THE DRIVE
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Researchers warned about the mass rollout of so-called "deepfake" photos, videos, and other media, which they said are being "weaponized" through the creation of non-consensual pornography, disinformation, and financial fraud. The warning follows a study that found deepfake AI-generated faces look more "trustworthy" than real faces. More: - Deepfakes are synthetic media created through the use of artificial intelligence.
- In a digital world where fake images and videos are increasingly common and realistic, the authenticity of any recording "can be called into question," according to researchers.
- AI-generated faces, for example, have now surpassed the "uncanny valley," according to the new study published in PNAS.
- In an experiment outlined in the study, participants were asked to rank the "trustworthiness" of fake vs. real photos of people. They rated the fake faces as nearly 8% more trustworthy.
- The study authors — Lancaster University's Sophie Nightingale and the University of California's Hany Farid — have called for safeguards to prevent the mass rollout of deepfakes.
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- Sony announced its latest wireless earbuds, the LinkBuds, which let in ambient noise via an "open ring" design for better situational awareness.
- Nintendo said it will shut down the online game stores for the Wii U console and Nintendo 3DS in late March 2023.
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to legalize adaptive beam headlights, also known as "smart headlights," which reduce the glare for oncoming drivers.
- Disney appointed its executive Mike White, a former Apollo Group CTO and Yahoo director, to lead its metaverse strategy
- Epic Games surpassed 500 million accounts as the Store seeks to compete against Steam.
- Google launched a feature that automatically summarizes content in Google Docs.
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 |  | Beth is an Inside Analyst and a former public policy/investigative reporter. She has covered AI, VR, technology, and e-commerce for Inside. When she's not busy writing, she's hiking in Arizona's desert, playing pickleball, or trying out new Mexican food recipes. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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