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Meta conference kicks off with focus on AI and virtual reality
The company’s Connect conference is a two-day event focussed on Meta’s artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) future.
Mark Zuckerberg emphasised virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) as he kicked off Meta’s Connect conference this week.
The CEO of the technology giant previously known as Facebook unveiled a new version of its virtual reality headset, the Quest 3.
Zuckerberg said Meta wants to build “the future of human connection” where people interact with hologram versions of friends and where AI bots assist them.
“Soon the physical and digital will come together in what we call the metaverse,” he said.
He also introduced an AI personal assistant that people can interact with on Meta’s messaging apps and introduced the next version of the company’s Ray Ban Stories smart glasses.
The glasses allow people to record videos, live stream, listen to music, and interact with AI assistants.
“Smart glasses are the ideal form factor for you to let an AI assistant see what you are seeing and hear what you are hearing,” Zuckerberg said. The glasses are available for pre-order in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Virtual reality and AI transformation
Meta is in the midst of a corporate transformation that it says will take years to complete.
It wants to grow from a social platform provider to become dominant in the VR world called the metaverse, an emerging three-dimensional digital space.
The transformation, however, has been slower than expected and cost the company billions of dollars.
Meta’s main business remains advertising on its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram.
The company has cut 20,000 jobs since last November due to a fall in online advertising and uncertainty around the global economy.
AI, meanwhile, is part of the company’s long-term vision.
Meta released Llama 2, the next generation of its AI large language model in the summer, and on Wednesday, it unveiled an AI image generator named Emu, which creates images based on prompts from users.
Much like tech peers Google and Microsoft, Meta has long had a big research team of computer scientists devoted to advancing AI technology.
But it’s been overshadowed as the release of ChatGPT sparked a rush to profit off of “generative AI” tools that can create new prose, images, and other media.
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Tourist plane crashes onto highway in France, killing three: video
Horrifying video shows the aftermath of a deadly tourist plane crash on a highway in France on Sunday.
The crash took place on the A4 highway near Collegien, a small commune in the Seine-et-Marne region of the country. Collegien is roughly 18 miles east of Paris.
Three people, a woman and two men, were killed in the crash. According to Storyful, the plane had two other occupants, but their statuses are unknown.
Social media footage shows bumper-to-bumper traffic next to the mangled plane, which appeared to be lying upside down.
SMALL PLANE CARRYING TWO PEOPLE CRASHES IN NASHVILLE SUBURB: POLICE
In the video, smoke was billowing from the scene as emergency officials tended to the crash.
Local prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier told the French newspaper Le Parisian that the pilot “very likely” hit a high voltage line shortly after the plane took off. Local reports say that Bladier is investigating the situation as a possible involuntary manslaughter.
ALASKA LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONDS TO WORLD WAR II-ERA PLANE CRASH WITH 2 PEOPLE ON BOARD
Plane crashes next to or on highways are rare. In August 2023, a small aircraft crashed on the side of a Malaysian highway, killing at least nine people.
In February, two people died in a plane crash on Interstate 75 in Naples, Florida.
French authorities are actively investigating the situation. No other information is known at this time.
World
Far-right win in France would not change Labour's EU plans – Starmer
The UK Labour leader expressed willingness to work with any government in Europe.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has said he will press on with plans to re-negotiate part of the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the European Union, even if the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen enters government in France.
Starmer – whose Labour party is topping opinion polls ahead of Thursday’s general election – told reporters on the campaign trail on Monday that he didn’t think a far-right win in France would change his party’s “overall intention” of negotiating “a better deal with the EU.”
The UK general election is sandwiched between the two rounds of snap legislative elections in France, abruptly convened by President Emmanuel Macron in what has been described as a high-stakes political gamble.
The far-right National Rally – which has seen its support bolstered under the leadership of Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella – swept to victory with 33.4% of the national vote during the first round on Sunday.
The left-wing New Popular Front coalition came in second at 27.9% the vote, with Macron’s centrist alliance trailing third at 20.7%. It places the far-right RN as firm favourites going into the second round, although other parties may tactically remove their candidates from the race in order to block a far-right victory.
“l work with any government in Europe and across the world if we are elected in to serve the country. For me, that’s what serious government is about,” Starmer said on Monday.
But he also made a pitch for centrist forces such as his own Labour party, which is perceived to have gravitated more towards the centre-ground since he replaced Jeremy Corbyn as the party’s leader in 2020.
“The lesson that I take from nationalism and populism, wherever it is across Europe (…) is that we need to address the everyday concerns of so many people in this country who feel disaffected by politics,” Starmer said.
“We have to take that head on and we have to show on Thursday in the UK and across Europe and the world that only progressives have the answer to the challenges that are facing us in this country and across Europe.”
The Labour leader – who campaigned to remain in the European Union ahead of the 2016 Brexit referendum – has kept details of his plan to re-open the post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels vague.
His shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has suggested that chemicals regulation and financial services could be potential areas were a prospective Labour government could seek greater EU alignment.
Starmer has firmly assured he will not seek re-joining the EU’s single market or customs union, or allow the return of freedom of movement. A clause in the post-Brexit TCA foresees a review of the deal in 2026.
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