When Facebook became Meta, Big Tech's AI spending spree, and Elon Musk's robots: Tech news roundup

Photo: Samuel Corum (Getty Images), TR/JIJI Press/AFP (Getty Images), Ethan Miller (Getty Images), Josh Edelson (Getty Images), Fabrice Coffrini (Getty Images), Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto (Getty Images), Justin Sullivan (Getty Images), Timothy A. Clary (Getty Images), Fentino (Getty Images), Image: Andrej Sokolow (Getty Images)
Photo: Samuel Corum (Getty Images), TR/JIJI Press/AFP (Getty Images), Ethan Miller (Getty Images), Josh Edelson (Getty Images), Fabrice Coffrini (Getty Images), Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto (Getty Images), Justin Sullivan (Getty Images), Timothy A. Clary (Getty Images), Fentino (Getty Images), Image: Andrej Sokolow (Getty Images)

Elon Musk says there will be more humanoid robots than people in less than 20 years

Tesla CEO Elon Musk - Photo: Samuel Corum (Getty Images)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk - Photo: Samuel Corum (Getty Images)

Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday that he thinks humanoid robots will outnumber humans in less than 20 years. His company is helping to make that future a possibility.

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3 years after turning Facebook into Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s real win is AI

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shows the prototype of computer glasses that can display digital objects in transparent lenses during the Meta Connect developer conference in September. - Image: Andrej Sokolow (Getty Images)
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shows the prototype of computer glasses that can display digital objects in transparent lenses during the Meta Connect developer conference in September. - Image: Andrej Sokolow (Getty Images)

Facebook (META) began as a digital college yearbook, connecting Harvard students face to face. Three years ago on Monday, Mark Zuckerberg rebranded his social media empire as Meta, betting billions on a future where we’d meet in virtual worlds instead.

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Amazon beats earnings expectations on strong cloud growth

Amazon fulfillment center on March 31, 2021 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. - Photo: Ethan Miller (Getty Images)
Amazon fulfillment center on March 31, 2021 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. - Photo: Ethan Miller (Getty Images)

Amazon’s (AMZN) third-quarter results came in above Wall Street’s estimates thanks to strong growth in its cloud and advertising divisions.

The retail and cloud giant reported total revenues of $158.9 billion for the quarter that ended in September — an 11% increase from the previous year. Amazon reported net income of $15.3 billion and earnings per share of $1.43 — both increasing year over year.

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Meta is on an AI spending spree. It’s only going to get bigger

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. - Photo: Josh Edelson (Getty Images)
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. - Photo: Josh Edelson (Getty Images)

Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) has invested billions of dollars into artificial intelligence as it looks to keep pace with its Magnificent 7 competitors. The tech giant warned that this spending will only grow into next year and beyond.

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Meta profits surge 35% as the AI spending spree continues

Photo: Fabrice Coffrini (Getty Images)
Photo: Fabrice Coffrini (Getty Images)

Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) saw its profits surge 35% in the third quarter, as it looks to show investors that its multi-billion dollar investments into artificial intelligence are bearing fruit.

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Apple sees record revenue on strong iPhone sales

Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto (Getty Images)
Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto (Getty Images)

Apple (AAPL) reported record quarterly revenues buoyed by strong iPhone sales in its fiscal fourth quarter.

The Cupertino, California-based tech giant saw $94.9 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, up 6% from $89.5 billion in the same quarter a year ago, the company reported Thursday. That surpassed Wall Street’s projected $94.46 billion in revenue, according to estimates compiled by FactSet (FDS).

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Apple has big AI ambitions. They might take a while

Photo: Timothy A. Clary (Getty Images)
Photo: Timothy A. Clary (Getty Images)

Despite Apple’s (AAPL) strong fourth fiscal quarter performance, analysts warn that the iPhone maker’s new artificial intelligence features might not boost sales for at least a few more years.

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Russia fined Google more money than the entire world’s GDP

Photo: Fentino (Getty Images)
Photo: Fentino (Getty Images)

A Russian court has fined Google more than the world’s GPD for blocking Kremlin-linked accounts on its platforms.

The $2.5 decillion fine — meaning $2.5 trillion trillion trillion — was handed down Tuesday, according to The Independent.

The Russian court has been doubling the fine, which was originally just $100,000 rubles, every week since 2020 because Google hasn’t paid the fine.

The fine came after two Kremlin-linked media outlets won a suit against Google (GOOGL) about restrictions placed on their YouTube channel.

Google also banned other Russian outlets that supported Russia’s actions during the war in Ukraine, which added onto the fines, The Independent said.

The tech giant has been scaling back its operation in Russia for a few years now, blocking the creation of new accounts from Russians and restricting Russian nationals’ abilities to make ad money on YouTube.

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