Meta and Google face first trial over child safety claims Tech The world’s largest social media giants are heading into a series of lawsuits in the US, accusing them of harming children with their addictive algorithms. The opening arguments begin this week in LA County Superior Court in the first case to be heard in front of a jury, alleging that Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube [...]
Meta surges, Microsoft stumbles as Big Tech doubles down on AI spend Tech Three members of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ Big Tech stocks – Meta, Microsoft and Tesla – gave investors an early read on the health of the AI boom after US markets closed on Wednesday. Meta shares jumped as much as nine per cent in after-hours trading after the Facebook owner posted record revenues and issued an [...]
Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla: Big Tech earnings set to test AI bets Tech This week marks one of the most consequential stretches of tech earnings season, with results due from Meta, Microsoft, Tesla and Apple, four giants that sit at the heart of both the market rally and the debate over whether Big Tech’s vast AI spending will ultimately pay off. It is the second-busiest week of the fourth-quarter earnings season, with 103 [...]
Should we be worried about Instagram’s map feature? August 20, 2025 Instagram’s new location-sharing feature, dubbed ‘Instagram Map’, has been rolled out to 170m users, but a journey through the platform reveals a perplexing reality: it’s a digital ghost town. While Instagram’s parent, Meta, has billed the feature as a “new, light way to connect”, many users are finding themselves alone on the map, prompting a [...]
Meta: Zuckerberg’s open source gamble collides with EU regulation July 20, 2025 Meta has refused to sign the European Commission’s new AI Code of Practice, escalating tensions with Brussels just weeks before landmark regulation kicks in. The voluntary guidelines – designed to help tech giants prepare for the EU’s sweeping AI Act – were rejected outright by Meta’s global affairs chief Joel Kaplan, who warned they introduced [...]
Musk’s X tops UK news as Grok says it’s ‘likely’ most viewed – while Meta and TikTok falter June 17, 2025 Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, has become the UK’s most downloaded news app, marking a surprise comeback for a platform many had dismissed as fading. Despite years of falling ad revenue, user churn, and accusations of toxicity related to its controversial founder and chief executive, the app is likely the most viewed news [...]
Meta surges on bold AI spend – but tariff risks loom May 1, 2025 Meta platforms delivered strong first quarter earnings after market close on Wednesday, with revenue and profit surpassing Wall Street expectations thanks to continued growth in advertising and an aggressive push into AI. But the firm’s exposure to global trade tensions and regulatory headwinds in its European market present a complicated picture for investors evaluating the [...]
Microsoft, Meta, Tesla & Apple: What this week’s tech earnings tell us about the AI boom January 31, 2025 Microsoft, Meta, Tesla and Apple kicked off the tech earnings season this week, giving us snapshot of how spending on AI is shaping the tech sector. Here’s what we’ve learnt about the AI boom so far. AI spending shapes the tech sector This week started with the rise of Chinese startup DeepSeek causing headwinds on [...]
Is this the age of the unfiltered CEO? January 29, 2025 Mark Zuckerberg’s recent conversation with podcaster Joe Rogan stays in my mind for a number of reasons. The idea of the world’s Nerd-in-Chief stripping off and shooting pigs with a bow and arrow was one of the more bizarre images to emerge from the chat, along with his slightly cringeworthy enthusiasm for fighting other men [...]
X and Meta: Who’s benefiting from Tiktok’s brief hiatus? January 20, 2025 As Tiktok temporarily went down on Sunday afternoon, rival social media platforms such as X and Meta scrambled to fill the void left by the app’s absence. Several competitors moved quickly to capitalise on its downfall, hoping to attract its 170m US user base by picking up its various features. Before the ban took effect [...]