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In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg floated the idea of spinning out Instagram, one of the remedies the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will likely seek in Meta's antitrust trial that began this week. CNBC reported on Tuesday that the comments from an email thread with executives came to light in Washington, DC. "I'm beginning to wonder whether spinning Instagram out is the only structure that will accomplish a number of important goals," Zuckerberg wrote in the email. "As calls to break up the big tech companies grow, there is a non-trivial chance that we will be forced to spin out Instagram and perhaps WhatsApp in the next 5-10 years anyway." His estimate, made six years ago, ended up being spot-on. "On the flip side, while most companies resist breakups, the corporate history is that most companies actually perform better after they've been split up," Zuckerberg added in the same email, according to The New York Times. It's Zuckerberg's second day of testimony in the trial, which stemmed from a 2020 government lawsuit against Meta (then still known as Facebook). The FTC argues that the company's purchases of Instagram (for $1 billion in 2012) and WhatsApp (for $19 billion in 2014) hurt competition. If the trial goes the FTC's way, it will likely ask the judge to break up Meta by selling off one or both of the apps. Last April, Meta moved to dismiss the case, but US District Judge James Boasberg allowed it to proceed with a narrower scope. On the stand on Tuesday, the Meta CEO reportedly defended the company's Instagram purchase as the result of a standard cost-benefit examination. "We were doing a build-vs.-buy analysis," Zuckerberg said. "I thought that Instagram was better at that [than Facebook's Camera app], so I thought it was better to buy them." "Building a new app is hard," he said when asked on the stand why he was intent on buying Instagram. "Weve probably tried building dozens of apps over the history of the company, and the majority of them dont go anywhere." Other details that came to light on Tuesday include a 2013 email in which Zuckerberg told executives to block Asian competitors Kakao and WeChat from advertising on Facebook. "Those companies are trying to build social networks and replace us," he wrote. "The revenue is immaterial to us compared to any risk."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/mark-zuckerberg-predicted-metas-antitrust-trial-in-a-2018-email-205719635.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Kia has teased that it will have a trio of announcements at the 2025 New York International Auto Show. The car company's presentation is scheduled for 10AM ET on April 16. Luckily for those gearheads who want to know what's next for the brand, Kia will have a livestream of its showcase. The reveal will be hosted live on YouTube, and it's also embedded below. The presentation will feature three debuts, according to the company, including two that are fully electric. Kia unveiled its EV4 hatchback sedan in February, but didn't share info about North American manufacturing at that time. That's a likely announcement during this week's New York event. While the stage presentation will get livestreamed, we don't yet have tech to remotely test the Kia EV9 and EV6 models that will be at the live show. Maybe one dayThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/how-to-watch-kias-new-york-international-auto-show-presentation-on-april-16-195259387.html?src=rss
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Whether in Ancient Greek parodies, Shakespeare's subtle jabs at the haughty upper class or Jon Stewart's takedowns of the latest Washington absurdities, humor can be a razor-edged weapon that shapes public opinion. Last weekend, we were reminded again of comedy's ability to strike at the rich and powerful when someone hacked Silicon Valley crosswalks to play synthetic voice impersonations of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. "Hi, this is Elon Musk," the voice impersonating the Trump ally and federal government dismantler said. "Welcome to Palo Alto, the home of Tesla Engineering. You know, they say money can't buy happiness. And yeah, okay I guess that's true. God knows I've tried. But it can buy a Cybertruck, and that's pretty sick, right? Right?? Fuck, I'm so alone." "Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but real ones call me the Zuck," the synthetic voice of Meta's CEO said over one crosswalk speaker. "It's normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience. And I just want to assure you, you don't need to worry because there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. Anyway, see ya." The videos have accumulated over 100,000 likes on TikTok and nearly 400,000 views on X (ironically). Palo Alto Online reports (via TechCrunch) that they could be heard in downtown intersections in Redwood City, Menlo Park and Palo Alto but had been removed beginning on Saturday. "Hi, this is Elon Musk," another crosswalk speaker emitted. "And I'd like to personally welcome you to Palo Alto. People keep saying cancer is bad, but have you tried being a cancer? It's fucking awesome." "Hey, it's Zuck here," another voice said. "I just wanted to tell you how very proud I am of everything we've been building together. From undermining democracy to cooking our grandparents' brains with AI slop to making the world less safe for trans people, nobody does it better than us. And I think that's pretty neat. Zuck out!" Finally, a Palo Alto speaker conducted armchair psychology on the Tesla CEO. "Hi, I'm Elon. Can we be friends? Will you be my friend? I'll give you a Cybertruck, I promise. Okay, look, you don't know the level of depravity I would stoop to just for a crumb of approval. I mean, let's be real. It's not like I had any moral convictions to begin with, right?" This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/someone-hacked-silicon-valley-crosswalks-to-spoof-mark-zuckerberg-and-elon-musk-191822645.html?src=rss
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