Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday that the company is swinging away from its efforts to corral its content. Meta is suspending its fact-checking program to move to an X-style Community Notes model on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. We go into detail on the changes Meta promised, but is the company attempting to court the new Trump presidency?
Well, alongside donating to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, replacing policy chief Nick Clegg with a former George W. Bush aide and even adding Trump’s buddy (and UFC CEO) Dana White to its board… yeah. Probably.
Meta blocked Trump from using his accounts on its platforms for years after he stoked the flames of the attempted coup of January 6, 2021. At the time, Zuckerberg said, “His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world.”
But who cares about that when you could get some sweet favor with the incoming administration? Zuckerberg, who revealed the change on Fox News, said Trump’s election win is part of the reasoning behind Meta’s policy shift, calling it “a cultural tipping point” on free speech. He said the company will work with Trump to push back against other governments, including China.
He added, “Europe has an ever-increasing number of laws institutionalizing censorship and making it difficult to build anything innovative there.” It’s not innovative to copy everything rival social networks do, Mark. Also, pay your fines, Mark.
Alongside Zuckerberg’s video, Meta had a blog post — “More Speech and Fewer Mistakes” — detailing incoming changes and policy shifts — or more lies and fewer consequences.
— Mat Smith
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Gemini AI smarts are coming to Google Home
Making the assistant a better conversationalist.
Google is integrating Gemini capabilities into its smart home platform via devices, like the Nest Audio, Nest Hub and Nest Cameras, and at CES we finally got to see them in action. The main takeaway is that conversations with Google Assistant will feel more natural. Possibly the most impressive trick we saw was the case of the missing cookies. The rep asked the Nest Hub what happened to the cookies on the counter, and it pulled footage from a connected Nest Cam, showing a dog walking into a kitchen, swiping a cookie and scampering off. Cheeky. These Gemini-improved smarts will reach Nest Aware subscribers in a public preview later this year. Subscribers? Cheeky.
In case you missed it, Gemini is also coming to Google-powered TVs.
CES 2025: More solar silliness
Put a solar panel on it.
Following Anker’s thrilling solar beach umbrella, we’re moving onto accessories. EcoFlow’s Solar hat is a floppy number able to charge two devices at a time. EcoFlow says it’ll output a maximum of 5V / 2.4A, so you can expect it to keep your phone or tablet topped up, if not power anything more substantial. Fashion victims can rejoice: It’s already on sale for $129. The Solar hat also marks the start of my favorite part of CES coverage: compromising pictures of our editors looking goofy in tech. Wait until you see Cherlynn Low tomorrow.
CES 2025: The robot vacuum that can climb stairs
Don’t tell the Daleks.
I don’t know why this is the year everyone’s going hard on truly innovating with robot vacuums, but here we are. Dreame’s new model doesn’t have an arm, but it can climb stairs. For just $1,699.
The Lenovo Legion Go S is the first third-party SteamOS handheld
There’s also a Windows 11 version that will arrive earlier.
Ready to supplant the beefy Legion Go, Lenovo is announcing a slightly more portable version called the Legion Go S, supporting two OSes: Windows 11 and SteamOS. The specs on both are nearly identical, with either an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip or the Z1 Extreme APU Lenovo used on the previous model, up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD and a 55.5Wh battery. Compared to the original Legion Go, the S features a smaller but still large 8-inch 120 Hz OLED display (down from 8.8 inches) with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and VRR instead of 2,560 x 1,600 144Hz panel like on the original. That should translate to a better battery life, but we’ll have to see when we eventually get one to test.
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