Meta and Google delay undersea cables over security concerns

Meta has announced the closure of several virtual reality studios, including three key developers for its Quest 3 platform, as part of significant budget cuts to its metaverse division. This decision reflects a strategic shift in the company's focus amid ongoing financial reassessments.

Twenty-eight advocacy groups have urged Apple and Google to ban the platforms Grok and X due to their involvement in nonconsensual deepfake content, highlighting growing concerns over digital privacy and consent.

Z.ai's open-source GLM-Image has outperformed Google's Nano Banana Pro in complex text rendering, showcasing its capabilities in generating intricate, text-heavy graphics, although it falls short in aesthetic quality. This development highlights the competitive landscape of AI image generation technologies.

Meta is laying off over 1,000 employees from its Reality Labs division, which focuses on virtual and augmented reality, as part of a broader strategy to cut costs and refocus its efforts. This decision follows the closure of three VR studios, indicating a significant shift in the company's approach to its metaverse ambitions.

Apple has announced its decision to integrate Google's Gemini technology to enhance its Siri AI, marking a significant shift in the company's approach to voice assistant capabilities. This collaboration is seen as a temporary solution while Apple develops its own AI model.

Meta has laid off 1,500 employees from its metaverse division, representing a 10% reduction in staff, as the company shifts its focus towards artificial intelligence glasses and other wearable technologies. This decision follows a broader strategic reassessment of its financial priorities, including a 30% budget cut for the metaverse unit.

Apple has announced a collaboration with Google to integrate the Gemini AI technology into its Siri virtual assistant, marking a significant shift in Apple's approach to enhancing voice assistant capabilities. This partnership reflects a strategic decision rather than a retreat from its traditional focus on control and integration.

Google has announced that its AI model, Gemini, can now pull context from other Google applications, enhancing its functionality and user experience. This capability allows Gemini to provide more personalized and relevant responses by integrating data from services like Gmail and Calendar, contingent on user consent.