Tech
tech

Meta in content talks with Disney for new VR headset: Report

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Meta is talking to Hollywood about licensing content for its new VR headset. Meta has been in talks with Disney, indie horror film studio A24, and others, according to the report.

Meta’s new headset, which is code-named “Loma,” is expected to sell for less than $1,000 but more than the current $300 price for its Quest headset. Reportedly, Meta is offering millions for well-known intellectual property and episodic content.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been all in on VR and AR since renaming the company in 2021 to reflect its new focus on building the “metaverse.” The company’s Reality Labs division, which works on all things VR and AR, lost over $17 billion last year and doesn’t really have a hit consumer device on its hands yet.

Apple’s $3,500 premium Vision Pro headset is a sales flop by Apple’s standards, selling only 500,000 of the pricey face computers.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been all in on VR and AR since renaming the company in 2021 to reflect its new focus on building the “metaverse.” The company’s Reality Labs division, which works on all things VR and AR, lost over $17 billion last year and doesn’t really have a hit consumer device on its hands yet.

Apple’s $3,500 premium Vision Pro headset is a sales flop by Apple’s standards, selling only 500,000 of the pricey face computers.

More Tech

See all Tech
An annotated photo of who attended the tech dinner at the White House.

An interactive who's-who of the tech execs at Trump's White House dinner

The White House invited a gaggle of top founders and tech executives for an intimate dinner at the White House.

tech

Meta: Facebook is for the children, basically

Meta has a youth problem that it keeps trying to fix using old stuff. This time it’s trying to bring back “pokes” — a feature from yesteryear the social media company had buried that allows users to digitally nudge others without having to say anything.

To make the feature shiny and new, the company is adding “counts,” along with a dedicated poke button and page, so users can keep track of who they poked or were poked by and how much.

Meta is hoping the updated feature will lead to more usage from young people, who’ve already started to adopt the practice thanks to previous pushes by Meta. Social media companies, like Snapchat and TikTok, have previously gotten into hot water before for similar gamification elements like “streaks” that critics have said are addictive.

The average age of Facebook users has been ticking up for years as the company loses young people to newer services, including Instagram, which Meta bought more than a decade ago, back when it was still called Facebook. According to the latest data from Pew Research Center, released last winter, teens were way less inclined to use Facebook than TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.

Meta is hoping the updated feature will lead to more usage from young people, who’ve already started to adopt the practice thanks to previous pushes by Meta. Social media companies, like Snapchat and TikTok, have previously gotten into hot water before for similar gamification elements like “streaks” that critics have said are addictive.

The average age of Facebook users has been ticking up for years as the company loses young people to newer services, including Instagram, which Meta bought more than a decade ago, back when it was still called Facebook. According to the latest data from Pew Research Center, released last winter, teens were way less inclined to use Facebook than TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.

tech

OpenAI is working on a “jobs platform” for people who lose their jobs to AI

OpenAI has some good news and bad news for workers. The bad news? AI will probably take your job. The good news? The company will offer AI-powered classes to retrain you, and try to help you get a job as a certified AI pro.

The company announced plans for the OpenAI Jobs Platform, in partnership with Walmart, John Deere, and Accenture, to help workers looking to level up their AI skills, and match them with companies seeking such candidates.

In a blog post announcing the plan, the company wrote:

“But AI will also be disruptive. Jobs will look different, companies will have to adapt, and all of us—from shift workers to CEOs—will have to learn how to work in new ways. At OpenAI, we can’t eliminate that disruption. But what we can do is help more people become fluent in AI and connect them with companies that need their skills, to give people more economic opportunities. “

Using AI-powered instruction, users can receive certification for their training, and OpenAI said it is committing to certifying 10 million Americans on its platform by 2030.

The company announced plans for the OpenAI Jobs Platform, in partnership with Walmart, John Deere, and Accenture, to help workers looking to level up their AI skills, and match them with companies seeking such candidates.

In a blog post announcing the plan, the company wrote:

“But AI will also be disruptive. Jobs will look different, companies will have to adapt, and all of us—from shift workers to CEOs—will have to learn how to work in new ways. At OpenAI, we can’t eliminate that disruption. But what we can do is help more people become fluent in AI and connect them with companies that need their skills, to give people more economic opportunities. “

Using AI-powered instruction, users can receive certification for their training, and OpenAI said it is committing to certifying 10 million Americans on its platform by 2030.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.