Facebook officially registers two billion daily active users

Feb 2 2023

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) has released its Q4 2022 earnings report, which highlights an increase in the number of daily active Facebook users.

As of December 31st, 2022, META reported 2.96 billion daily active Facebook users, which is a 2% growth spurt from the previous year. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of META, credited the progress to the company’s AI technology advancements and the addition of Reels to the platform to follow in the footsteps of Instagram and TikTok’s style

Furthermore, WhatsApp, which is another platform owned by META, has also recently surpassed 2 billion daily users.

However, despite the growth in daily users, META’s revenue has declined over the past year. The company’s revenue of USD 32.2 billion (IDR 478.6 trillion) for Q4 2022 was still slightly better than expected, but still 4% lower than the previous year.

Zuckerberg also addressed the recent restructuring that resulted in the elimination of over 11,000 jobs and stated that the company’s management theme for 2023 is “The Year of Efficiency,” focusing on becoming a stronger and more agile organisation.

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Newly-launched World Cup Ball actually made its debut in Malta and here’s how

Feb 2 2023

Alessia Russo filmed her paid partnership with adidas, in Malta, 2 weeks before the new World Cup ball was unveiled!

The OCEAUNZ, was secretly brought to Malta, by Manchester United Women’s team, during the first week of January.

It is the ninth successive football that adidas has produced for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

This latest ball for the upcoming tournament is the most technologically advanced to date, and it’s undergone construction to ensure it keeps up with the speed of the beautiful game.

On the other hand, Russo, who has recently won the European Championships with England, is currently considered as one of the best women footballers in the world, and will be representing England, as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

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PN MP asks Chat GPT about PM discussing sentencing policy

Feb 2 2023

Nationalist Party Mark Anthony Sammut utilised the currently popular AI platform Chat GPT about whether it is right for a Prime Minister to discuss sentencing policy with sitting magistrates.

The AI responded by saying that ‘it is generally not appropriate for a Prime Minister to interfere with the independence of the judiciary by discussing sentencing policy with sitting magistrates.’

‘The judiciary is meant to be independent and impartial, and its decisions shouldn’t be influenced by political considerations’ the artificial intelligence continued.

‘If a Prime Minister were to discuss sentencing policy with magistrates, it could be seen as an attempt to sway their decisions and undermine their impartiality’.

Chat GPT went on to explain how ‘in most democratic questions, the separation of powers is an important principle, which means that the different branches of government have distinct and independent responsibilities and should not interfere with each other’s affairs.’

Anthony Sammut shared the exchange to social media, captioning the photo by calling out the Prime Minister as well as Justice Minister Jonathan Attard. ‘Artificial intelligence is already capable of reasoning better than you both combined’ said the PN MP.

‘When you are in doubt you can always get consulted by the AI’ he said. ‘And it’s free, unlike the 71 assistants you employed in Castille as they get paid in thousands.’

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Chat GPT might not remain free for long

Feb 2 2023

OpenAI has launched a new subscription plan for ChatGPT, its popular text-generating AI which is currently taking the world by storm as many utilise it for a multitude of reasons.

Called ChatGPT Plus, the service aims at monetising the viral success of the AI and to provide faster response times as well as priority access to new features and improvements over the base-level ChatGPT.

The service is currently only available to customers in the US and starts at $20 per month. OpenAI plans to refine and expand the offering based on user feedback and is also exploring options for lower-cost plans, business plans and data packs, as well as an API.

Despite controversy and several bans, ChatGPT has proven to be a hit, attracting major media attention and boasting over a million users as of early December.

It has raised worries but also opportunities, with students resorting to it to write their own assignments and people from all business sectors finding a range of utilities for the AI.

With operating expenses “eye-watering” and a multi-billion-dollar investment from Microsoft, OpenAI is under pressure to turn a profit and is expected to make $200 million in 2023. The company is also planning to introduce a mobile ChatGPT app in the future.

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