AI-Innovators-2023-Meta

The social media conglomerate may not be as synonymous with the generative AI revolution as OpenAI, Microsoft, or Google, but the firm’s AI research lab boasts some of the world's top deep learning talent and its pioneering work on large language models has played a key role behind the scenes in Meta's own products, from helping to moderate content on Facebook to helping to match advertising recommendations with users on Instagram. Now the company is also playing a critical role in the open-source generative AI world, releasing LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI), an open-source language model meant to match many of the capabilities of OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard, for free. Five months later, Meta released open-source Llama 2 with Microsoft, free of charge for commercial use or research. Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Meta, is a preeminent AI researcher and one of the “godfathers of AI.” He's been increasingly vocal in arguing against heavy-handed AI regulation, especially rules that might make it harder for open-souce AI. He has also emerged as a leading critic of the idea that AI could pose an existential risk to humanity, a position that has pitted him against his fellow deep learning godfathers, Geoff Hinton and Yoshua Bengio. In June, Meta announced Voicebox, a generative AI voice model that can produce high-quality text-to-speech with audio samples as short as two seconds long, among other services. Most recently, Meta announced Habitat 3.0, a simulator for AI models that it hopes to use to train socially intelligent AI assistants in the form of physical robots. It has also launched a number of AI chatbots with distinct communication styles licensed from celebrities from Paris Hilton to Snoop Dogg.

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Scale AI and Passes founder Lucy Guo says AI is making people work harder, not less: ‘I worked a 26-hour day’

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GM plans to integrate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto after all

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Mark Zuckerberg says AI doesn't need an industry-wide slowdown because market forces and competition will push companies to make their models safe

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Tech billionaires and executives like Evan Spiegel and Peter Thiel are publicly shielding their children from the products that made them rich

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Julio Ottino

Brian Uzzi

Mark Zuckerberg is outsourcing his thinking to AI. It shows in his new 'personal AI agent’ experiment

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Google shipped four Gemini Flash models in 106 days. But its flagship frontier model is still nowhere to be seen.

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Peter Thiel and other tech billionaires are publicly shielding their children from the products that made them rich

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Sasha Rogelberg

Wyoming officials say Meta’s 715,000-square-foot data center is responsible for contaminating its water system with a rare bacterium

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In this episode of Fortune Daily, Executive Editor Jim Edwards reveals the scale of Temu’s “AI-slop” problem, with research estimating nearly $1 billion spent on ads featuring likely fake creators and influencers. We also dive into Shein’s rocky IPO as shares slide below their offer price. Plus, Tech Correspondent Sebastian Herrera takes us inside the new John Ternus era at Apple, and Business Editor Nick Lichtenberg explores why Gen Z is trading tech for blue-collar work with a social media twist.
Subscribe to Fortune Daily for more deep dives into the world's most powerful companies.

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Temu’s Fake AI Influencer Problem Exposed

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On today's episode of Fortune Daily: Bill Gates shares a new, urgent essay detailing the looming threats AI poses to society. Plus, we dive into the landmark Meta settlement — what it means for teens on Facebook and Instagram and how other social media apps may follow suit with Fortune News Editor Catherina Gioino. Next, Senior Fortune Reporter Eleanor Pringle breaks down the U.S. bond market in Bull/Bear/Base Case. And we go inside Bill Ackman’s brain research institute and discuss whether we’re entering a new golden age of philanthropy with Fortune’s Finance and Crypto Editor, Jeff John Roberts.

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Why Meta is Paying Billions to Settle This Case

In today’s episode of Fortune Daily, Meta faces a landmark federal trial with states seeking up to $1.4 trillion in damages. Fortune Editorial Director Kristin Stoller takes us into the world of social media rehab and the young patients at the center of the court battle.
Then, we examine Bank of America’s $250 million-a-year bet on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs for employees. Reporter Emma Burleigh explains why companies are weighing the promise of a healthier workforce against the rapidly rising cost of covering drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound.
Finally, we look at Arianna Huffington’s warning that success can become a trap. From CEOs afraid to leave multimillion-dollar roles to founders who feel unmoored after a major exit, we explore why professional achievement does not always translate into fulfillment with Associate Editor, Orianna Rosa Royle.

Algorithm Addiction Rehab

And we read about young people in particular forging relationships with these bots online. She described it to me as like I'm standing on a cliff watching a tsunami about to come destroy all these houses and no one else can see it but me. Hello from New York. I'm Ellie Austin and you're watching Fortune Daily. So we start the week with the existential white collar question to meet or not to meet? Well, a number of high profile meetings faced collapse, cancellation, and closed door curiosity over the weekend. First up, USCanada trade negotiations failed. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said last minute demands from the US were unfair, and he clapped back with dollar for dollar levies. In California. Meanwhile, the state's Attorney General Rob Bonte canceled a Monday meeting to settle the state's lawsuit blocking the Paramount Warner Brothers. Discovery merger. He accused Paramount of leaking and misrepresenting details in what he called a bad faith maneuver, and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Trump adviser Jared Kushner met privately in New York to discuss possible areas of common ground and cooperation. The confab sparked immediate backlash among progressives. From boardrooms to courtrooms. Our next story asks whether social media platforms are facing a reckoning of their own, and what we do know is that Mehta is up against lawsuits from dozens of US states over addictive tech that it is alleged particularly targets young people and children. And coming up, Fortune editorial director Kristen Stoller gives us a look at young users seeking recovery in social media rehab. And as businesses weigh the costs of GLP one access, reporter Emma Burley will break down Bank of America's big bet. Finally, Arianna Huffington says a quote, success trap is leaving leaders in a creativity rough. Associate editor Orellana Rosa Royal shares her reporting on the CEOs who are desperate to quit. Christian, hello, thank you so much for dropping by. Now I mentioned in the introduction to the show that we are seeing states suing Meta right now um over potentially addictive tendencies of their tech and the impact that that tech is having on children and young people in particular, and we'll be watching how those cases evolve, but in the meantime you've written a piece that really dives into the human. Side of this, you went to the country's only standalone rehab center for tech addiction, which I think is just outside of Seattle. Tell us first of all how you learn about this center's existence. Yeah, so my brother is a therapist and for years he has been saying I want to do tech addiction therapy, and he's basically been laughed at by all of. The people in his in his life because everyone says oh that's so niche, you know we have drugs we have gambling, we have pornography addiction, but tech addiction is such a new field um so he told me about this one center that does it in Seattle and so I thought I have to to visit and see what it's about and how easy was it to get access? It was easy to talk to the center's founders. Talking to the, the clients, uh, was a bit more difficult because it, it's embarrass. for a lot of them. They're between the ages of 19 and sometimes it even goes up to 50, and they just are addicted to their phones, their tablets. They can't get off. Now I think any of us would say we have a certain degree of addiction to our phones. I mean, I very much count myself in that category, sadly. This center treats people who reach crisis point. What does crisis point look like? Yeah, so for them, so there's, I spoke to a bunch of them. One of them told me that she had absolutely failed out of school. She would not leave her room. She didn't have friends in the real world. She wasn't eating, showering, sleeping, and I think a lot of them follow the same pattern. They, they just live in this virtual existence. And how old was this? This the woman I spoke with was 21, and typically women is rare. It's typically men at the center, way more men than women. And at what age had she been given her first screen? At 6. So she had her iPad at 6 playing Angry Birds, and from there it just evolved into VR. Well, which you can have a lot of empathy for. I mean these screens are incredibly addictive, and if you're getting it at 6, how does your brain know how to control that? So tell us what happens when a patient arrives at one of these, uh, at this clinic. What happens next? Yeah, so what happens next, it kind of looks like a house really, and there's a bunch of different rooms separated for males and female clients. All their screens are fully taken away, no phone, no iPad. They can use a manual handheld phone, which I think you and I have not used in decades. They can listen to records. They can listen to CDs. TV. There is no TV that I have seen. And they have to go to therapy between 24 and 30 hours a week. It's a mix of individual therapy and group therapy, and it's a lot of time in nature too, because they're right out in Seattle. They're doing a lot more grounding in nature. And what did you learn about parallels between tech addiction and substance addiction? That, that was honestly the most interesting part to me about the piece was that the, the founder of the center, this woman Cosette, she said. You know with tech it's, it's really different because with a drug addiction it's not like I go out into the real world and my friends are talking to me about meth or heroin or I'm at a supermarket and people are selling drugs like with with tech it's constantly in your face you're constantly being presented with it and have to say no. And so she told me, you know, I think of it more as like an eating disorder where food is always going to be a part of your life, but you have to constantly make a choice about how to have a healthy relationship with it. And that's how she looked at tech. It's really hard because at some point presumably you have to reintroduce it in some form, and you mentioned that in the piece that a lot of these clients end up with what we call a dumb phone for a period of time when they transition back into day to day life. Yeah, so, so one of the women I spoke with, Sarah, she had just transitioned to this dumb phone. You get that after about 16 weeks. All. Can do is I think call basic basic text and no access to the internet so she was working at a supermarket, had access to this, but she said the scary part was she found herself scrolling just through screensavers about like what to do because she, her brain just needed something to do like the dopamine exactly and then so she got scared and kind of like put it under her leg when we were talking, but she was like. I am fearful that I could go back to that place. Tell me more about the founder, Cosette and why she felt there was a need for this sort of rehab center. So, she's interesting because she actually worked in tech. She worked outside of Seattle and she found herself, and this was back, I would say late 90s, early 2000s, really spending too much time on it and she was really ahead of the curve and she and her co-founder. Founder thought we need to do something about it. She'd been a social worker. She'd had one case where she'd started to see it, and when she founded the center in 2012, people kind of laughed at her and thought she was crazy. And eventually now she's seeing more and more clients, but it was a real struggle for her at first to to get it up and running. She was really ahead of that curve. Um, how does the introduction. Of AI chatbots influence the work that is going on at this center because I mean we read about young people in particular forging relationships with these bots online. She is so scared about it, the founder of Cosette, she said she kind of, she described it to me as like I'm standing on a cliff watching a tsunami about to come destroy all these houses and no one else can see it but me. It is too early for it at the center though, because I, I went in end of February, early March, and she said usually the diagnosis and treatment is, is years behind the tech. So right now the biggest thing is virtual reality. She predicts that probably in 5 years she'll be treating people who are addicted to AI tech. The biggest addiction point right now is virtual reality, exactly, yes, which, which we think is being a tech from maybe what, like 7 years ago, but it's just caught up that people are caught so. So addicted that they need the help for it. So she predicts that for AI chatbots in 5. Wow. So people are people wearing headsets for their virtual reality addiction? And the woman I spoke to, Sarah, that was her main addiction. She was wearing the virtual reality headset day and night, refused to take it off. Wow, there's an element there of wanting to escape reality, isn't there, drilling down into why you're finding day to day life so difficult. Um, I want to talk a bit about accessibility because you say in the piece that this clinic costs. $1000 a day, yes, which is not accessible to the majority of people who need it. Absolutely not. Is it covered by insurance? Most insurances don't take it, especially because, so tech addiction is not actually a clinical diagnosis. It's not in the DSM, which is the manual that the American Psychological Association uses to diagnose disorders. So without it being a clinical diagnosis, it's really hard to get it covered. Do you have to apply for access to the clinic? You. For access, um, they will typically take anyone that that can pay for it, but it's, it's really difficult to pay for it because you were saying it's about a 16 week treatment for the first part, the first part, yeah, so it could take months at $1000 a day. What did you learn, if anything, about how this type of treatment is going to be made more mainstream? That's the tough part is that this is really the only center in the US. I think half the battle is getting people to believe. That tech addiction is real, which is what these lawsuits are all about. I would say a good majority of the population, and a lot of the sources I spoke with for this story told me that they don't think it's a thing. They think it's overblown, and some even told me that using the words tech addiction is really harmful in and of itself. And why do they say that? They think that, you know, we throw it around, oh, we're addicted to our phones, we're addicted to our phones. They say that's really harmful to people who are actually might be addicted, and b, they just don't think it's an actual addiction. Is there any scientific data on this? What are, what are the scientists saying? The, so it's, it's mixed. A lot of scientists have studied, um, the brain scans of people who say they are addicted to technology, and they're seeing, you know, dopamine triggers like people who are addicted to, to drugs. Um, but there have been some studies done in the UK, especially where people said there's, there's no correlation between the tech and an addiction. So it's, it is really, really mixed, and there are people on both sides of the argument. In the lawsuits that I mentioned at the start of this conversation, states are seeking certain structural changes to the, to these social media platforms, such as limits on engagement, maximizing features like infinite scroll, which is definitely scrolling and stronger age protections. Which changes do the c clinicians that you've spoke to believe would most reduce the people who eventually need this sort of treatment? They first of all to start. They want to follow Australia, follow the UK. So Australia, remind us, Australia put a ban in last year, yes, for they're banning anyone under 16 from using social media, and the UK is due to vote on it, I think, towards the end of this year, but has a similar exactly, they're hoping to reduce it by 2027. So that would be a great start, they're saying. The next thing they would love to do is reduce the algorithms that keep you engaged in the platform, reduce the infinite scroll, reduce the amount of likes, um, they don't. A light counter and then the other thing they want to do is the founder actually of of of the clinic Cosette, she would love to do off hours, dark hours, so flip a switch, you turn it off, you know, after 7 p.m., comes back on at 9 a.m. What incentive do the platforms have to do this because I imagine it would result in their revenue decreasing. That's the problem. They have no incentive and there's no regulation right now in the US that says, you know, you have to do X or Y or Z. I think through the lawsuits hopefully there will be some regulation, but right now that's how they make their money. It's a wild west out there. And finally, what did the young people who you spoke to, Sarah, who you mentioned, what did she attribute her addiction to? Did she blame the platforms? Did she blame her parents? What was her take on how she ended up where she did? They're so smart because they really don't blame the platforms. They don't, they show no hatred for. You know, all our social media platforms, they blame society and what they're saying is we should be taught in schools how to safely use technology because technology is great it's a, it's a tool that's super helpful. Our problem is when it doesn't become a tool, it becomes your life and so they wish there was either regulations to to avoid some of these things we talked about or and or I'd say having teachers teach in school from a very young age here's. You can safely use technology, and here are the signs when you may be veering too far into an unhealthy zone. Kristen, this is fascinating and so important. Thank you so much. Where can people find more of your work? Yes, so they can look unfortune.com. I also am on LinkedIn and Instagram. Next up, Anatomy of the Deal with Emma Burley, who's telling us about how Bank of America is offering up a unique employee perk, GLP1. Hi, I'm Emma Burley. I'm a success reporter, and in a recent story for Fortune, I covered how Bank of America is spending more than $250 million annually covering weight loss drugs for its employees. GLP-1s like Ozempic, Wagobi, and Zebound are now in the mainstream for weight loss purposes, but actually they were originally Intended to help type 2 diabetes patients. Currently, about 10% of Americans are on GLP-1s for weight loss purposes. And even though that production's ramping up, supply is ramping up, a lot of companies are now having to grapple with the constant costs of covering these drugs for their employees. So as many companies have reeled back on this offering, arguing that it's unsustainable to cover these costs indefinitely for workers. Some employers like Bank of America are really making a large investment on this bet. So I found Bank of America's investment to be super interesting because a lot of companies are currently reeling back this benefit. So currently about 60% of employers offer it for just type 2 diabetes, but other companies, around 36%, offer it for weight loss purposes and for type 2. Even though that the availability and the costs of these drugs have come down, a lot of employers have had to rethink about what this means for their long term investment. Some companies like AWC, HDA Healthcare, and Cigna all once offered GLP-1 treatment for its employees, whether it be weight loss reasons or whether it be type 2 diabetes. But now these companies have since rescinded back on the qualifications that it needs to cover GLP-1s. So now many companies aren't even offering it for weight loss purposes anymore. So it was very interesting to hear Bank of America. America's CEO Brian Moynihan talk more about the short-term health impacts that he's seen already and the overall benefit for his workforce. The $250 million yearly investment is quite large, so it's a sizable chunk of what they're spending to make sure that the mental health and the physical health of their employees are up to par. And Moynihan talks about how this is a worthwhile investment, even if in the long term his employees go elsewhere and then they reap the health benefits of GLP-1s later. He still thinks that offering this in the first place makes Bank of America a great place to work. And now, under the radar with Orellana Rosa Royal on the CEO Success Trap. Hi, I'm Orellana Rosa Royal. I run Fortune's success desk and I've recently interviewed the Huffington Post founder, Arianna Huffington. About what life is like when you actually make it to the top, the reality that comes with success, and one surprising takeaway that I came out with from that interview is that success can be a trap. Some of her CEO friends said that they no longer like their jobs, but they're stuck in it. Arianna Huffington built Huffington Post from scratch to this like multi-million dollar media brand. She was, you know, on the cover of Time magazine, and she did that for 11 years and then gave it all up to start again and launch Thrive Global. She has been through burnout, she's been through the highs of like launching your own company. Uh, like one of the biggest digital media newsrooms of its time to leaving it all and starting over. We often assume when people reach a certain level of success that they're happy, that, you know, I'll get that promotion, I'll get that job title, and I'll get the car, I'll get the house, you know, I'll get all these things with it, and I think we often hold out on our own happiness until we reach a certain role. So it's quite jarring to find out that people that get there aren't happy. When we think about CEOs being unhappy or people with a lot of money being unhappy, that we think of golden handcuffs. We think of this idea that, oh, they must have like trapped themselves with a certain lifestyle. They've got this huge salary, so they splashed out on the mortgage, they sent their kids to private school. The thing that Ariana. Hufferton said is much less tangible, but no less real. It's this idea that our identity becomes so enwrapped with our job titles that that's what is making them trapped. It's not the idea that they can't afford to quit. It's this idea that quitting won't just be leaving a paycheck, it'd be leaving a version of themselves, their identity. And that is existential really. I'd say this is absolutely bigger than CEOs. So many people right now are losing their jobs with AI and. If you inflate who you are with that, that could be soul destroying, and I also think it's applicable for everyday people because a lot of people maybe are climbing the ladder thinking once I get this title, I'll be happy, I'll be successful, I'll be this, that and the other, and I think it's a useful like reframe here, you know, it's not about um CEOs being unhappy. It's just the story's not about that, it's about your job title is rented. Your job title might be different tomorrow, so to not conflate your happiness, to not become your title. Your job is something you do, but it's not who you are. That's it for Fortune daily. I'm Ellie Austin, please remember to like, subscribe, and tell us what you thought of today's episode. I'll see you in the comments.

Meta is spending billions to catch up in the AI race, betting that its model, Muse Spark, can help close the gap with its biggest rivals. But the company’s aggressive AI investments, ranging from advertising tools to its latest AI-powered smart glasses, are coming at a cost: Meta’s profits fell 14% in the second quarter, as spending surged alongside hefty legal penalties. 

In this episode of Next to Lead, Fortune’s C-suite and Leadership Editor Ruth Umoh sits down with Nicola Mendelsohn, Meta’s Head of Global Business Group, in Cannes to discuss the company’s AI ambitions, the creator economy, and Meta’s push towards AI supremacy.

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