DEV Community: meta

Meta prepares new shares to protect Zuckerberg's control from potential tax

Hacks.gr — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 23:59:25 +0000

Meta has introduced a new class of non-voting Class C common stock via a stock dividend structure.

SEC filings indicate the mechanism supports capital raising and AI investments while allowing major stakeholders to manage tax liabilities without altering voting control.

The bill, known as Proposition 40, would impose a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of billionaires living in the state. According to estimates, Zuckerberg could be ordered to pay as much as $11 billion if the measure passes.

To address this possibility, Meta's board of directors approved the creation of new shares that do not carry voting rights in company decisions. According to official documents and reports, Zuckerberg pressured board members for a solution, even threatening to put his California home up for sale if there was no protection plan.

Through this plan, the head of Meta will be able to sell part of his new shares to cover the tax, while maintaining the majority of votes that allows him to control the course of the company.

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Rhode Island sues Meta over false ads

Hacks.gr — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 20:54:24 +0000

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F.

Neronha filed a lawsuit against Meta concerning scam advertisements, marking the first time a US state has taken legal action over the platform's handling of fraudulent ads.

The litigation alleges enforcement gaps driven by revenue concerns, while Meta highlights the removal of over 159 million scam ads.

According to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronia, Meta knows it is exposing vulnerable users to fraud and is choosing not to take stricter measures because these ads generate revenue for it.

Meta's answer

Meta responded that it has already removed more than 159 million fake ads from its platforms. A spokesperson for the company accused the attorney general of refusing to discuss the matter with them and instead hired a private law firm out of state to pursue the lawsuit.

Previous similar actions

While this is the first time a state has taken legal action against Meta over this issue, it is not the first time the company has faced similar allegations. Similar lawsuits were filed last spring by the Consumer Federation of America in April and by Santa Clara County in California in May.

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At the same time, a 2025 journalistic study estimated that fake ads could generate billions of dollars, or up to 10 percent of Meta's total revenue.

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Get 1 Billion Free Muse Tokens with Invite Code KGDUUN

samsam40601 — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 18:55:36 +0000

Muse is Meta's personal AI agent — think of it as an always-on assistant that lives at muse.ai and helps you get things done, from answering questions to carrying out multi-step tasks on the web.

Muse has a referral-style invite program, and it is unusually generous: if you sign up with someone's invite code, you both get 1 billion Muse tokens to use on the platform. Tokens never expire, so they just sit in your account until you spend them.

My invite code is:

KGDUUN

How the invite program works

A new user signs up at Muse (https://muse.ai/join).
Within 48 hours of creating the account, they open Settings → General → Redeem invite code and enter the invite code.
Both people — the newcomer and the code owner — receive 1,000,000,000 Muse tokens.
The tokens never expire.

Step-by-step: redeeming the code

Go to https://muse.ai/join and create your Muse account (email signup).
Open Settings, then General.
Find Redeem invite code and click it.
Type (or paste) the code: KGDUUN
Confirm. You should see the 1 billion tokens credited to your account — and I get the same.

The whole process takes under two minutes. Do it right after signing up so you don't forget: the redemption window is only 48 hours from the moment your account is created.

Things to keep in mind

48-hour window: If more than 48 hours pass between account creation and redeeming the code, the code won't count — no tokens for either side.
Usage cap: Like most referral programs, each invite code has a limited number of successful redemptions. If a code stops working, it likely hit its cap.
One code per account, so make your first one count.

Get your free tokens

Sign up at https://muse.ai/join and enter invite code KGDUUN in Settings → General → Redeem invite code within 48 hours of joining. We both get 1 billion tokens, forever.

Meta ordered to pay New Mexico $25B for misleading users on privacy

techaiwire — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:28:39 +0000

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta on October 21, 2026 to pay the state $25 billion. In September, a jury found that Meta misled users about the privacy of their data. It counted more than 43 million violations of the state's consumer protection law. Meta says it will appeal.

The ruling landed on the same day Meta reported $64.6 billion in third-quarter revenue. It is one of the largest penalties a single state has won against a tech company.

What the judge decided

Judge Francis Mathew sits in New Mexico's First Judicial District in Santa Fe. State law allows a penalty of up to $5,000 per violation. According to NBC News, which carried Reuters' report, the judge said the law supported a penalty of more than $219 billion. The judge then cut it to $25 billion.

That figure sits between the two sides. Meta had asked for a cap of $3.45 billion in court filings. The state asked for $35 billion to $40 billion at an October 1 hearing, NBC reports, while ABC News gives the upper end as $45 billion.

In the order, Mathew wrote that the case "goes to the heart of Facebook's core business practices." Under state law, all of the money goes to New Mexico's schools.

What the case was about

The case goes back to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that worked on Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. A personality quiz app, which Facebook allowed on its platform, collected data on about 87 million profiles. That data was later sold to the firm and used to profile and target voters. Cambridge Analytica shut down in 2018.

New Mexico argued that Meta misled users about who could access their data. It also said Meta misled them about how it handled hate speech and misinformation. On September 25, jurors found that 26 of 29 statements by Meta and its leaders were misleading. They counted violations by the audience each statement reached, which is how the total passed 43 million.

Meta told the court that it does not sell user data and that the state never proved any consumer was actually misled. Its lawyers also called the evidence stale. Meta already paid a $5 billion penalty to the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 over the same scandal.

How both sides responded

Meta chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney told ABC News the ruling "makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico." Mahoney added: "At its core, this lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online." Mahoney said the company is "confident we will prevail on appeal."

Attorney General Raúl Torrez called it the "single largest, if not the largest, single state verdict against the company in American history." Torrez said the result "should be a clear warning to everyone in big tech."

Collecting may take years. Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson, told Reuters that Meta "will likely continue to appeal these cases and drag them out."

Meta's second loss in New Mexico this year

This is the second time in six months that a New Mexico jury has ruled against Meta. In March, a Santa Fe jury found that Meta misled users about the safety of young people on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. That case brought $375 million in civil penalties. A judge later directed $567 million into a teen mental health fund and ordered new protections for teen users in the state.

In August, Meta also reached a $17.1 billion settlement over teen mental health claims with a group of states.

What this means for tech companies

The size of this penalty came from how the jury counted. Each misleading statement was multiplied by the number of people who saw it.

Treat public privacy claims as legal statements. Blog posts, help pages and executive interviews were all part of the case. If a claim about data access is not exactly true, its reach multiplies the risk.
A federal settlement does not end state exposure. Meta paid the FTC $5 billion in 2019 for the same events. A state court still added $25 billion seven years later.
Audit what third-party apps can reach. The scandal began with an outside app that Facebook allowed. Platforms with public APIs should check which user data those apps can pull, and make sure their privacy pages say the same thing.
Expect more state cases. New Mexico has now won twice against Meta in 2026, and Torrez framed the result as a warning to the whole industry.

This article was first published on Tech AI Wire.

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New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $25 billion

Hacks.gr — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:17:27 +0000

A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for misleading privacy claims tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Judge Francis J.

Mathew cited over 43 million violations of state law regarding user data control.

Judge Francis J. Mathew wrote that Facebook was telling users they were in control of their data, but that wasn't true. Meta's chief legal counsel, CJ Mahoney, criticized the decision and said the company plans to appeal.

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 and is related to the case of Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm. The company obtained personal data of millions of Facebook users without consent, which it used to create personality profiles.

The data was collected through the personality test app “thisisyourdigitallife.” Around 300.000 users reportedly took the test, but the app also collected data on their friends. In total, data was gathered from 87 million profiles.

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Judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion fine

Facebook banned the app in 2015 for violating the platform's rules and legally required Cambridge Analytica to delete the data. The case became public in 2018. In May of that year, Cambridge Analytica announced it was shutting down immediately. The company had also worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

In December 2022, Meta agreed to pay $725 million to settle a class action lawsuit over the improper sharing of user information with Cambridge Analytica. In 2019, Meta faced a $5 billion fine from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for limiting users' ability to control their privacy on Facebook.

In August 2026, Meta agreed with nearly every U.S. state and territory except New Mexico and Florida to pay $18 billion over the next decade. The agreement also includes stronger child safety measures on Facebook and Instagram and $459 million for claims related to Cambridge Analytica.

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Mark Zuckerberg commits to staying in California for eight years

Hacks.gr — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 23:16:29 +0000

Meta’s agreement with Mark Zuckerberg links sales of certain new shares to his remaining in California for eight years.

The company also plans a non-voting share class, saying it could help fund AI data-center investment without reducing his voting power—a useful case study in how share design can separate capital from control.

The proposal, called Proposition 40, would impose a one-time 5% tax on stocks and other assets of billionaires located in California in January 2026. The measure is expected to be put to a vote next month, according to the report. Even if it passes, it could face challenges in the courts.

On September 9, at a dinner with Meta board members, Zuckerberg said he was considering leaving California because of the proposal. Four days later, he planned to put his Palo Alto home up for sale. According to a Wall Street Journal report, he had bought a home in Florida in February.

A special committee of the board of directors was concerned that Zuckerberg’s absence would make it more difficult for him to work with Meta’s management team. The committee linked this concern to difficulties that had arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The deal will see Meta create a new class of shares with no voting rights in the company. All existing shareholders will automatically receive them, based on the stake they already own. Meta says the new shares could help fund investments in artificial intelligence data centers without reducing Zuckerberg’s voting power.

Zuckerberg can sell 20% of the new shares to pay any taxes he owes. He can also sell the remaining 80% in installments over the next eight years, as long as he stays in California. If he wants to sell that portion sooner, he will also have to sell some of his voting shares. An exception is made if serious and unforeseen circumstances arise that would make it prudent or advisable for him to reside elsewhere.

However, the deal requires him to live in the state where Meta is headquartered. So the company and Zuckerberg could move together to another state. Meta says the goal is for Zuckerberg to continue leading the company from California, close to the Meta Superintelligence Labs team. The team is behind the company’s recent Muse AI models.

Recent polls in California suggest that Proposition 40 may not secure enough votes. According to the report, about $129 million was spent on the campaign against the proposal.

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Meta will give all shareholders new shares without voting rights

Hacks.gr — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 22:59:27 +0000

Meta plans to issue a publicly traded class of shares without voting rights, distributed to current shareholders.

The company says existing Class A and B voting rights will remain unchanged.

The plan offers a concrete example of how share classes can serve corporate financing and compensation goals while keeping voting structures in place.

The new shares will be publicly traded. Meta plans to use them to raise money, pay employees, make acquisitions and for other corporate purposes. The company said the new class will not change the voting rights of current Class A and B shareholders or the founder-led management. Meta says the new shares will give it greater investment flexibility, including as it attributes part of its growth to artificial intelligence.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that within a month and a half, more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada had created personal assistants with Muse. He also said that Muse was at the top of the App Store almost every day. Meta wants to expand its use so that it can eventually serve billions of people.

Meta this year introduced the Muse Spark and Muse Glimmer AI models, and more recently, the Muse Wonder and Muse Spark Open. In Muse Spark Open, the model’s parameters—the settings that determine how it works—are publicly available so that third parties can use and improve upon it. The company also introduced Muse Code, an AI assistant for software developers.

READ ALSO

Meta plans to profit from Muse, which can generate more revenue per user than its apps

Meta's revenue in the third quarter reached $64 billion. It was up 26% compared to the same quarter a year earlier and exceeded Wall Street expectations. However, the company's expenses increased 68% compared to the same period last year.

Reality Labs, which develops Meta's augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets and related software, is still losing money. The company predicts that losses will fall to $18 billion to $19 billion, down from 2025 levels.

Meta is monitoring legal and regulatory matters that could significantly impact its business and financial results. Li said the company is under scrutiny for youth-related issues in various markets and that several related lawsuits are expected in the U.S. in the coming months.

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Meta plans to profit from Muse, which can generate more revenue per user than its apps

Hacks.gr — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 22:50:27 +0000

Meta is planning business transaction fees and subscriptions for Muse, its personal AI assistant.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg says shopping is currently the assistant’s most common use.

The announcement offers a concrete look at the monetization options being considered for a consumer AI product, alongside the cost of operating it.

Muse is currently only available in the US and Canada. According to Zuckerberg, more than 10 million people have started using it since it launched in early September 2026. On October 21, 2026, during Meta's third-quarter earnings call, he said that the company wants to expand the service so it can serve billions of people.

Meta is planning shopping tools that would allow it to charge businesses for transactions facilitated by Muse. Zuckerberg said shopping is currently the most common use of the assistant, with users spending an average of $200 on each purchase through it. The company is also planning subscriptions for people and businesses who use Muse more frequently.

Zuckerberg said Meta currently makes several hundred dollars a year per user in the U.S. from its apps. He estimated that Muse's revenue per user could eventually exceed that, thanks in part to purchases made through the assistant. This is a projection, not Muse's current revenue.

READ ALSO

Meta's Muse app has over 10 million users

Meta introduced Muse on its smart glasses in September 2026 at its Connect event. Users will be able to talk to the assistant, ask it about tasks, and add things to a to-do list. Zuckerberg said Muse will be available on the glasses in November 2026.

Meta has not specified whether using Muse on the glasses will require a separate subscription. Zuckerberg’s statements suggest that some features may require payment, but this has not been confirmed by the company. He also said that Muse is a key part of Meta’s plans to increase its revenue from smart glasses. The company currently does not make much profit from selling them, and Zuckerberg estimated that Muse could help it sell more subscriptions.

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Meta's Muse app has over 10 million users

Hacks.gr — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:36:23 +0000

Meta announced that its AI assistant Muse has surpassed 10 million users, leveraging Plaid integration for agentic shopping and connecting with productivity tools like email and calendars.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined scaling and monetization plans for the platform.

During Meta’s earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that about 25% of people who set up the app use it every day. Meanwhile, more than a quarter of active users who shop through the digital assistant spend an average of more than $200 per purchase. Zuckerberg also noted that Plaid has seen unprecedented levels of activity with its affiliate program in the app.

How markets work and other uses

The app uses Plaid's service to connect payment apps to bank accounts, enabling autonomous purchases. In addition to commerce, users leverage Muse for everyday tasks, such as connecting to their email or calendars.

Expansion plans and revenue

Meta plans to grow the app to serve more than a billion people in the coming years, while aiming to improve cost efficiency by more than ten times next year.

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The company plans to make money by keeping the app free for most users, but taking a percentage of commercial transactions and charging more demanding users for access to advanced models.

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Multa a Meta de 25 mil millones: engaño en datos de usuarios

Henry Ramirez — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:22:41 +0000

La multa a Meta de 25 mil millones de dólares sacudió las oficinas de Menlo Park este 21 de octubre con un fallo judicial que marca un récord histórico en los tribunales estadounidenses. El juez Francis Mathew, del Primer Distrito Judicial de Nuevo México, castigó a la corporación tecnológica tras determinarse un engaño en datos de usuarios extendido durante años alrededor de sus políticas de recolección y seguridad digital.

El monto final representa una de las sanciones económicas más aplastantes jamás impuestas contra una compañía de Silicon Valley, fijada luego de que un jurado popular hallara culpable a la empresa de más de 43 millones de violaciones directas a las leyes de protección al consumidor.

El origen de este choque legal se remonta a 2021, cuando el fiscal general Raúl Torrez llevó a la firma de Mark Zuckerberg ante los tribunales retomando los coletazos del escándalo de Cambridge Analytica. Durante el juicio, los miembros del jurado evaluaron 29 declaraciones corporativas públicas sobre manejo de datos, moderación de odio y protección de cuentas; el veredicto concluyó que 26 de esas afirmaciones resultaban falsas o deliberadamente engañosas para los ciudadanos que abrían cuentas confiando en la palabra de la red social.

Criterio del tribunal frente a las 43 millones de infracciones

El cálculo legal original colocaba a la compañía frente a un abismo aún más profundo. Las leyes estatales permitían imponer multas civiles de hasta cinco mil dólares por cada infracción comprobada, lo que, en papel, arrojaba un techo teórico superior a los 219 mil millones de dólares. La fiscalía solicitó una cifra situada entre los 35 mil y los 40 mil millones, argumentando que solo un castigo de esa magnitud frenaría la costumbre corporativa de pagar sanciones menores con las ganancias del trimestre siguiente.

El juez Mathew determinó recortar el cálculo aritmético hasta dejarlo en los 25 mil millones definitivos para evitar desproporciones confiscatorias, descartando de paso la solicitud de la defensa técnica de Meta, que suplicaba fijar un tope de 3.450 millones alegando que un fallo superior ahuyentaría la inversión empresarial en la región. El magistrado consideró probado que las promesas públicas sobre el control de la información privada no reflejaban los acuerdos reales de intercambio que la compañía mantenía con terceros desarrolladores y agencias de mercadeo político.

La reacción de los abogados de la empresa tecnológica llegó de inmediato. Su equipo legal calificó el monto como desmedido, advirtió que la sentencia dificulta operar comercialmente en el estado y confirmó la presentación de un recurso de apelación para intentar reducir tanto el número de infracciones como el desembolso total. Si la resolución sobrevive a las instancias de apelación, los fondos recaudados ingresarán directamente al fideicomiso educativo y de salud pública de Nuevo México.

El fallo coincide con las advertencias constantes sobre los riesgos de privacidad en redes sociales, donde el rastreo silencioso de la navegación diaria convierte los datos personales en la mercancía central de las plataformas sin que las personas tengan herramientas reales de defensa.

Consecuencias para las demandas pendientes en otros estados

La sentencia abre una grieta peligrosa para el resto de los frentes judiciales que enfrenta el conglomerado en territorio norteamericano. Fiscales de decenas de estados que preparan litigios paralelos por adicción juvenil y filtración de información observan con lupa la fórmula aplicada en Santa Fe. Si las leyes estatales de protección al consumidor pueden castigar cada declaración engañosa como una infracción individual multiplicada por millones de usuarios, el blindaje habitual de las grandes tecnológicas pierde eficacia.

El fiscal Torrez declaró al cierre de la sesión que el dictamen envía un mensaje contundente a todo el ecosistema tecnológico: ninguna corporación acumula tanto capital como para mentirle impunemente al público sobre el destino de sus archivos privados. El antecedente golpea la reputación de la firma justo cuando intenta convencer a los reguladores de que sus nuevos sistemas de visión artificial y modelos predictivos respetan la privacidad ciudadana.

Para los usuarios comunes en América Latina y Estados Unidos, el caso muestra cómo las batallas judiciales tardan casi una década en cobrarle factura a prácticas que comenzaron en 2016. La apelación anunciada por la compañía demorará meses en resolverse en cortes superiores, manteniendo en suspenso el cobro efectivo del dinero mientras los balances financieros intentan digerir el golpe.

Próximos pasos legales y apelación en cortes superiores

La apelación de la compañía se centrará en cuestionar la metodología con la que el tribunal calculó los 43 millones de violaciones individuales, intentando demostrar que la fiscalía no probó un daño económico directo a cada ciudadano con cuenta activa en la plataforma.

El resultado de esa batalla determinará si los 25 mil millones se pagan íntegramente o si las cortes de apelación reducen la factura, marcando el estándar para los juicios por privacidad que aguardan fecha de audiencia en los próximos meses.

Fuente: https://www.nytimes.com

Judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion fine

Hacks.gr — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 20:55:27 +0000

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties following a 2021 lawsuit over consumer privacy representations tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The decision follows jury findings regarding statements on user data and privacy settings.

The case was based on a lawsuit filed in 2021 by the state of New Mexico, which had not participated in a previous settlement involving several other states. The trial focused on the company's statements about personal data, privacy settings and content control, with its roots going back to the Cambridge Analytica scandal nearly a decade ago.

How did the fine arise?

In September, a jury in Santa Fe found Meta violated the state’s unfair practices law, counting a total of 43 million separate violations. The theoretical maximum penalty could reach about $219 billion.

The state had sought a fine of $35 billion to $40 billion, while Meta argued it should not exceed $3,45 billion. Ultimately, Judge Francis Mathew set the amount at $25 billion and called the company's actions and internal investigations after the scandal intentionally ineffective.

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Where will the money go and what remains to be done?

The money from the fine will be donated to the New Mexico education system. According to the ruling, 15% interest will be added each year until the amount is paid in full.

Meta announced that it would appeal the decision. The company's chief legal counsel, CJ Mahoney, called the decision a tax on free speech.

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Meta fined $25 billion for Cambridge Analytica scandal

Hacks.gr — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 19:54:24 +0000

A New Mexico jury has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties following a trial centered on the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

The case examined Meta's handling of third-party app data, privacy policies, and platform controls, resulting in a finding of 43 million state consumer protection law violations.

The ruling came after a two-week trial. Jurors found that the company violated state consumer protection laws 43 million times, with each violation costing $5.000.

The case examined how Meta handled an external app linked to the scandal, as well as its privacy rules and actions to curb misinformation.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez commented on the development at a press conference, while Meta announced that it would appeal to a higher court.

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The company's chief legal counsel, K. J. Mahoney, called the decision wrong and said he was confident that Meta would prevail on appeal.

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