Instagram, WhatsApp at legal crossroads
Facebook acquired Instagram when the photo-sharing app had just 13 employees. At the time, Zuckerberg was preparing to take Facebook public in what would become the largest tech IPO on record.
At the time of their acquisitions, Instagram had about 30 million users and was bought for $1 billion, while WhatsApp, with around 450 million users, was acquired for a whopping $19 billion. Both have since outpaced Facebook’s growth, according to The New York Times.
Facebook’s acquisitions of both platforms are central to the antitrust trial that began Monday and could last for weeks.
The federal regulatory agency has accused the tech company of holding a monopoly over the social networking market, arguing that it should never have been allowed to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp.
Political pressure surfaces again
Zuckerberg’s legal clash with the FTC was initiated during Donald Trump’s First term as US president.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the Meta boss had directly approached Trump, asking him to press the FTC to drop the antitrust case against the tech giant.
Previously tense, the relationship between Trump and Zuckerberg seems to have improved since the fallout from Trump’s ban on Meta platforms following the January 6 Capitol riots.
The case, overseen by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, could last up to two months.
“This research paves the way for user-friendly visual assistance systems, offering alternative avenues to enhance the quality of life for people with visual impairment,” the team wrote.
The role of simple audio and haptic cues
Lead researcher Gu Leilei, an associate professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, emphasised the team’s commitment to making the system as practical and easy to use as possible.
“This system can partially replace the eyes,” he said.
“Lengthy audio descriptions of the environment can overwhelm and tire users, making them reluctant to use such systems,” Gu told The South China Morning Post.
The extent of object recognition
Researchers are planning to expand these capabilities further. Gu said the team’s next focus is to refine the system for outdoor environments, where navigational challenges are far more complex. Enhancements could include improved object detection, dynamic route adaptation, and integration with real-world GPS systems.
This AI-powered wearable system may offer a new level of autonomy with further developments, and with that, confidence to millions of visually impaired people to be independent worldwide.
The robot’s facial recognition capabilities enable it to recognize people who have been marked as high-risk or wanted. Its technology can identify and locate people in busy event locations by analyzing a variety of visual clues, such as gender, body shape, clothing, and face features. Additionally, the robot is taught to recognize offensive activities, including fighting, physical altercations, and other disturbances.
Together with behavioral analysis, the robot can recognize possible weapons like knives and blunt objects like wooden sticks while deftly ruling out innocuous devices like water cannons, which are frequently used during Songkran celebrations.
RTP claims that the cutting-edge patrol system is a major advancement in Thailand’s use of AI in public safety operations.
The deployment of these humanoid robots is part of China’s broader strategy to integrate robotics into public safety, emergency services, and law enforcement. This initiative also includes the testing of other advanced robotic systems. In the same month, Chinese authorities trialed the RT-G robot, an autonomous spherical unit created by Logon Technology.
Built for tough conditions, the RT-G can traverse both land and water at speeds of up to 22 mph (35 km/h) and endure impacts of up to 4 tons (8,818 pounds), making it ideal for use in extreme environments.
Together, these developments signal countries’ growing investment in robotic assistance for public safety and policing.
The successful submission and acceptance of the construction permit application (CPA) to the NRC is also an important milestone, and so is the over a years’ worth of review with the NRC on the company’s CPA and Topical Report Submittals, with the NRC recently announcing they are ahead of schedule on the review.
The company had also recently been awarded a state-level construction permit from the State of Wyoming; where the first Natrium project is being built.
The bid by Terrapower can be seen as a challenge to Rolls-Royce which is hoping to get its mini-nuclear reactors accepted for UK’s nuclear energy resurgence.
Alongside these two, GE Hitachi, Holtec and Westinghouse have also been participating in the tender approved by the UK government, as per a report by Telegraph. The winner of the tender process is slated to be announced by mid-2025.
Instagram, WhatsApp at legal crossroads
Facebook acquired Instagram when the photo-sharing app had just 13 employees. At the time, Zuckerberg was preparing to take Facebook public in what would become the largest tech IPO on record.
At the time of their acquisitions, Instagram had about 30 million users and was bought for $1 billion, while WhatsApp, with around 450 million users, was acquired for a whopping $19 billion. Both have since outpaced Facebook’s growth, according to The New York Times.
Facebook’s acquisitions of both platforms are central to the antitrust trial that began Monday and could last for weeks.
The federal regulatory agency has accused the tech company of holding a monopoly over the social networking market, arguing that it should never have been allowed to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp.
Political pressure surfaces again
Zuckerberg’s legal clash with the FTC was initiated during Donald Trump’s First term as US president.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the Meta boss had directly approached Trump, asking him to press the FTC to drop the antitrust case against the tech giant.
Previously tense, the relationship between Trump and Zuckerberg seems to have improved since the fallout from Trump’s ban on Meta platforms following the January 6 Capitol riots.
The case, overseen by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, could last up to two months.
“This research paves the way for user-friendly visual assistance systems, offering alternative avenues to enhance the quality of life for people with visual impairment,” the team wrote.
The role of simple audio and haptic cues
Lead researcher Gu Leilei, an associate professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, emphasised the team’s commitment to making the system as practical and easy to use as possible.
“This system can partially replace the eyes,” he said.
“Lengthy audio descriptions of the environment can overwhelm and tire users, making them reluctant to use such systems,” Gu told The South China Morning Post.
The extent of object recognition
Researchers are planning to expand these capabilities further. Gu said the team’s next focus is to refine the system for outdoor environments, where navigational challenges are far more complex. Enhancements could include improved object detection, dynamic route adaptation, and integration with real-world GPS systems.
This AI-powered wearable system may offer a new level of autonomy with further developments, and with that, confidence to millions of visually impaired people to be independent worldwide.
The robot’s facial recognition capabilities enable it to recognize people who have been marked as high-risk or wanted. Its technology can identify and locate people in busy event locations by analyzing a variety of visual clues, such as gender, body shape, clothing, and face features. Additionally, the robot is taught to recognize offensive activities, including fighting, physical altercations, and other disturbances.
Together with behavioral analysis, the robot can recognize possible weapons like knives and blunt objects like wooden sticks while deftly ruling out innocuous devices like water cannons, which are frequently used during Songkran celebrations.
RTP claims that the cutting-edge patrol system is a major advancement in Thailand’s use of AI in public safety operations.
The deployment of these humanoid robots is part of China’s broader strategy to integrate robotics into public safety, emergency services, and law enforcement. This initiative also includes the testing of other advanced robotic systems. In the same month, Chinese authorities trialed the RT-G robot, an autonomous spherical unit created by Logon Technology.
Built for tough conditions, the RT-G can traverse both land and water at speeds of up to 22 mph (35 km/h) and endure impacts of up to 4 tons (8,818 pounds), making it ideal for use in extreme environments.
Together, these developments signal countries’ growing investment in robotic assistance for public safety and policing.
The successful submission and acceptance of the construction permit application (CPA) to the NRC is also an important milestone, and so is the over a years’ worth of review with the NRC on the company’s CPA and Topical Report Submittals, with the NRC recently announcing they are ahead of schedule on the review.
The company had also recently been awarded a state-level construction permit from the State of Wyoming; where the first Natrium project is being built.
The bid by Terrapower can be seen as a challenge to Rolls-Royce which is hoping to get its mini-nuclear reactors accepted for UK’s nuclear energy resurgence.
Alongside these two, GE Hitachi, Holtec and Westinghouse have also been participating in the tender approved by the UK government, as per a report by Telegraph. The winner of the tender process is slated to be announced by mid-2025.
According to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), the successful trial comes as drone swarms are increasingly seen in use in frontline combat in Ukraine.
UK Defence Intelligence estimates that last year, Ukraine had to defend against attacks from more than 18,000 drones.
Frying 100 drones
In this test, the British Army successfully killed two swarms of drones in a single engagement.
The project saw more than 100 drones being tracked, engaged, and defeated using the weapon across all trials.
Team Hersa, a collaboration between Defence Equipment & Support and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, has delivered the project.
The RFDEW demonstrator has been developed by an industry consortium led by Thales UK.