Meta and Magic Leap in talks to partner on VR optics and manufacturing

Photo: Magic Leap

Meta is reportedly in talks with Magic Leap to license the latter's optical tech and manufacturing process for Meta's virtual reality headsets. The Financial Times says the two companies are negotiating a multi-year deal that would not involve a joint headset. But it would help Meta reduce its reliance on China and compete with Apple and other rivals in the AR space.

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Meta’s first custom AI chip to launch in 2025

Image: Muhammad Asyfaul / Unsplash

Meta recently announced that it is developing its first custom chip for running artificial intelligence models. The chip—called Meta Training and Inference Accelerator or MTIA—is designed to handle inference workloads more efficiently and faster than CPUs. Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that AI agents are a vital opportunity for the company to serve billions of people. The chip and other infrastructure plans revealed Thursday could help Meta compete with other tech giants in the AI field.

The MTIA chip is expected to offer more compute power and customization for Meta’s internal workloads. It will work with GPUs to deliver better performance, lower latency, and higher efficiency for each workload. However, the chip is not expected to be ready until 2025.

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Meta opens Horizon Worlds to teens in Canada, the US

Image: Meta

Meta is making Horizon Worlds available to younger teens. The metaverse space will be accessible to teens aged 13 to 17 in Canada and the US in the coming weeks. Meta promises "robust" safety measures and parental controls. It wants to ensure the experience is "age-appropriate." And this gradual rollout will determine how well the protections are working.

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Meta's paid verification program comes to the US

Image: Meta

Meta Verified, the company's paid verification program, goes live in the US. It costs USD 12 (around CAD 16) per month via the web or USD 15 (~CAD 20) on mobile to account for the in-app fees of both Apple and Google. Meta Verified brings features like a blue verification badge for both Facebook and Instagram, "proactive impersonation protection," and direct access to customer support. 

Meta is also giving stars each month (which you use to tip Facebook creators) and extra stickers for Stories and Reels. The US version of this feature won't gain increased visibility in some parts of the app yet. 

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