Meta is testing an AI-powered search bar in Instagram
Meta is pushing ahead with its efforts to make its generative AI-powered products available to more users. Apart from testing Meta AI chatbot with users in countries like India on…
WhatsApp trials Meta AI chatbot in India, more markets
WhatsApp is testing Meta AI, its large language model-powered chatbot, with users in India and some other markets, signalling its intentions to tap the massive user base to scale its…
Meta unveils its newest custom AI chip as it races to catch up
Meta, hell-bent on catching up to rivals in the generative AI space, is spending billions on its own AI efforts. A portion of those billions is going toward recruiting AI researchers.…
Meta’s X competitor Threads invites developers to sign up for API access, publishes docs
After opening its developer API to select companies for testing in March, Meta’s Twitter/X competitor Threads is now introducing developer documentation and a sign-up sheet for interested parties ahead of…
Threads dropped the ball on real-time news as the NYC/NJ earthquake didn’t trend until the afternoon
Despite its similarities, Instagram Threads is no X. At least, not yet. The text-focused social network — and Meta’s answer to Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter — missed a moment…
Facebook’s Oculus acquisition turns 10
Every year, Time Magazine issues a list of the 200 best inventions of the past 12 months. Frankly, I don’t know how the editors do it. The dirty secret of…
Meta (again) denies that Netflix read users’ private Facebook messages
Meta is denying that it gave Netflix access to users’ private messages. The claim recently began circulating on X after X owner Elon Musk amplified multiple posts about the matter by…
Meta now requires users to verify their age to use its Quest VR headsets
During the congressional online safety hearing in January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued that mobile app store providers like Apple and Google should be the ones to implement parental controls…
Instagram is developing ‘Blend,’ recommended Reels for you and a friend
Instagram is developing a “Blend” feature that creates a private feed of Reels recommended for you and a friend. The company told TechCrunch on Friday that the feature is an…
Facebook snooped on users’ Snapchat traffic in secret project, documents reveal
In 2016, Facebook launched a secret project designed to intercept and decrypt the network traffic between people using Snapchat’s app and its servers. The goal was to understand users’ behavior…
Threads is adding live scores for sports games, starting with the NBA
Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is adding live scores for sports games. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Friday that Threads has started testing live scores for NBA games,…
WhatsApp now lets you pin up to three messages
WhatsApp announced Thursday that users can now pin up to three messages in a chat to access them easily. Until now, users could pin only one message on top of…
Threads is rolling out trending topics to all users in the US
Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is rolling out its “trending now” feature widely to all users in the U.S. The official rollout comes a month after the app started…
Facebook is trying to make ‘poking’ cool again
Remember when you would “poke” your friends on Facebook to get their attention, annoy them or just start a poke war? Well, Facebook is trying to bring back that experience…
WhatsApp encryption status might appear at the top of chats
Anyone using WhatsApp should know that their chats and calls are end-to-end encrypted, just like on iMessage and Signal. It’s a security feature WhatsApp had before Meta bought the app.…
Despite distancing itself from politics, the topic is dominating Threads’ trends
Meta’s newest app Threads, a would-be Twitter/X rival, may not want politics on its platform, but it’s coming to the app anyway — or so Threads’ search trends indicate. The…
Threads now lets all users save drafts and take photos within the app
Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is rolling out the ability for users to save a draft and take photos within the app. Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the features…
WhatsApp interop chats will remain encrypted in Europe via Signal
It’s March 7th, the big deadline day for the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The law came into effect on Thursday, so all the big tech companies operating gatekeeper services must…
WhatsApp will support third-party apps in Europe
March 7th is nearly here, and it’s going to be a big day in Europe. All of the companies that have been designated as gatekeepers or operate gatekeeper services must…
Instagram will finally let you edit those embarrassing DMs
There’s nothing like sending someone an embarrassing DM on Instagram. You type, send, and then realize you mistyped something, and boy does that message not look great. Well, Instagram itself…
Instagram now lets you edit DMs up to 15 mins after sending them
Instagram announced today that it’s rolling out the ability for users to edit their direct messages for up to 15 minutes after sending them. The company also announced that users will…
Threads says it will make its API broadly available by June
Meta-owned social network Threads said today that it will make its API broadly available to developers by June. Engineer Jesse Chen posted that the company has been building the API…
Facebook plans to shut down its news tab in the U.S. and Australia
Meta is trying to distance itself from news media-related regulations and payment complexities as it is planning to remove the news tab on Facebook in the U.S. and Australia. The…
Yes, Threads is running a fact-checking program, but the system isn’t fully rolled out
Threads, Meta’s Twitter-like service and competitor to X, may be distancing itself from politics, but that doesn’t mean it won’t try to tackle the misinformation that spreads across social media…
Vision Pro review from Mark Zuckerberg is in: Quest 3 is better
When videos like this one exist, and I’m linking to Steve Ballmer mocking the iPhone, why go out of your way as the CEO of an Apple competitor and criticize…
Facebook users, here’s how to turn off that super-annoying chirping sound in the mobile app
If any of you have found yourself using the Facebook mobile app this week and noticed it seeming to “chirp” at you — multiple times, and incessantly — you’re not…
The problem with Meta no longer amplifying political content
Much of tech journalism these days amounts to the rewriting of press releases and corporate blog posts. A good example of this came on Friday, when the blogosphere cranked out…
Instagram and Threads will no longer ‘proactively’ recommend political content
Meta doesn’t want its new app Threads to become another Twitter, full of heated political debates and the resulting toxicity that entails. In an announcement today, the company detailed how…
Meta will support third-party chat apps
The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) law is about to change the tech landscape in ways that other markets can only dream of, or dread, depending on who you ask.…
Meta announces new updates to help teens on its platforms combat sextortion
Meta is introducing a few new updates and efforts to help teens on its platforms combat sextortion, the company announced on Tuesday. Most notably, Meta announced expanded availability of Take…
Meta cuts off third-party access to Facebook Groups, leaving developers and customers in disarray
The recent surprise announcement that Meta will soon be shutting down its Facebook Groups API is throwing some businesses and social media marketers into disarray. On January 23, Meta announced…
Oversight Board calls on Meta to rewrite ‘incoherent’ rules against faked videos
A misleading seven second clip of President Biden could reshape Facebook’s misinformation policies ahead of the 2024 election, but the platform — and the American electorate — are running out…
Senate hearing with five social media CEOs was a missed opportunity
Five social media CEOs were sworn in on Wednesday for what could have been the most eventful children’s online safety hearing yet. But even with some of tech’s most powerful…
Amid a fairly flat European market, Giant Ventures raises $250M to invest transatlantically
Giant Ventures, a UK-based VC that has made a habit of investing on both sides of the Atlantic, is launching two new funds, totalling $250 million. It’s previous fund had totalled…
CEOs from Meta, TikTok, Snap, X and Discord head to Congress for kids’ online safety hearing
CEOs from some of the biggest social platforms will appear before Congress on Wednesday to defend their companies against mounting criticism that they have done too little to protect kids…
Meta will share data with researchers studying online well-being
Ahead of a major congressional hearing about children’s online safety, Meta has announced a collaboration with the Center for Open Science, a nonprofit dedicated to transparency in academic research. As…
Instagram confirms test of ‘Flipside,’ a feature that turns ‘finstas’ into an official product
Instagram head Adam Mosseri confirmed the company is testing a feature called Flipside — an experiment that would essentially turn users’ “finstas” — their separate, private and more personal accounts…
How a browser startup is taking on Google search
Today, we're talking about Arc's new mobile app vs. Google search; why Reddit's IPO might finally happen; why Meta :heart: Apple; and... what Garry said. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights…
Meta is rolling out tighter teen messaging limitations and parental controls
Meta announced today that it is rolling out new DM restrictions on both Facebook and Instagram for teens that prevent anyone from messaging teens. Until now, Instagram restricts adults over…
Unredacted Meta documents reveal ‘historical reluctance’ to protect children
Internal Meta documents about child safety have been unsealed as part of a lawsuit filed by the New Mexico Department of Justice against both Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.…