For the Trump Era

At This Point, It’s Clear What Donald Trump Wants from Mark Zuckerberg. But What Does Zuckerberg Want from Trump?

The Question I’ve Been Asking Sources in and Around Meta

That’s the question I’ve been asking sources in and around Meta over the last several days. They all described Meta’s relationship with the outgoing Biden administration as incredibly hostile. It’s safe to assume that Zuckerberg wants a reset for the MAGA regime, especially since Trump threatened not that long ago to imprison him for life.

In Trump’s America, Removing Tampons from the Men’s Restrooms on Meta’s Campuses is a Business Decision

In Trump’s America, removing tampons from the men’s restrooms on Meta’s campuses, — a real thing that just happened — is as much a business decision as a political one. Destroying ‘woke’ ideology is a key pillar of Trump’s stated mandate. Others who know they need to play the game, like Amazon, are also starting to fall in line. Even still, Zuckerberg is transforming Meta for this new political reality at a speed that’s unusual for a company of its size and influence. Founder mode.

Zuckerberg’s Conversation with Joe Rogan and His Video on Instagram

In his conversation with Joe Rogan and his video on Instagram, Zuckerberg shares a laundry list of issues that Trump could help him with: fighting other countries that are ratcheting up their policing of his platforms, stopping Apple from dictating how he builds mobile apps and smart glasses (the latter is increasingly important to Meta’s future), and, perhaps most importantly, keeping domestic AI regulation from slowing his efforts to crush OpenAI. Elon Musk has bought Trump’s ear. But the more time Zuckerberg spends in Mar-a-Lago, the more Sam Altman and Tim Cook should be worried.

The US Government’s Case to Break Up Meta

Then there’s the US government’s case to break up Meta that’s set to go to trial in a few months. After the blur that was the last four years, it’s easy to forget that this lawsuit was filed at the end of Trump’s first term by a Republican FTC chair, not Lina Khan…

The Most Impactful Change for Users of Meta’s Apps

The decision to start recommending political content again is a 180-degree turn for Zuckerberg. But insiders believe that the most impactful change for users of Meta’s apps will be the softening of its systems that remove content for potential policy violations.

Conclusion

Out of all the announcements Meta made last week, this is the one I believe is the least connected to Trump. Meta execs have been signaling for a while that they know they are mistakenly removing too much content that doesn’t actually break the rules; I’m told it’s one of, if not the, biggest complaint in user surveys. If done correctly, dialing back on moderation mistakes may be the only thing Zuckerberg announced that makes everyone happy.

Elsewhere

• CES is for dealmaking now: Each year, the official CES show — the sprawling show floor and flashy keynotes — feels more like an advertising exercise and no longer a place to launch real products. Most of the energy has moved to private meeting rooms and happy hours at the Wynn, Aria, and Cosmopolitan, where tech execs are schmoozing CMOs and getting deals done with partners all week.
• TikTok may just get banned: Imagine an alternate world in which the Chinese government is about to ban Instagram from operating in the country and Mark Zuckerberg is in hiding. That’s the situation with ByteDance and its founder Zhang Yiming, who stepped down from the CEO role after the last US ban attempt but still controls the company.
• Google and OpenAI flick at what’s next: Google’s DeepMind unit is starting “an ambitious project to build generative models that simulate the physical world,” which it believes “is on the critical path to artificial general intelligence.” Meanwhile, OpenAI is returning to its early roots by starting a “general-purpose robotics” team that will build hardware and push “towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings.”

Job Board

Some recent, noteworthy job changes in the tech world:

• A bunch of changes at Meta: UFC CEO Dana White, Exor CEO John Elkann, and Charlie Songhurst joined the board. Joel Kaplan is running policy and comms now. After a stint at Google, I’m told Michael Levinson is coming back as VP of product for the Integrity org. (Good luck!) Head of civil rights, Roy Austin, is leaving. And former DEI chief Maxine Williams is now head of “accessibility and engagement.”
• Elon Musk’s X named a couple of new leaders: Romina Khananisho is the new head of government affairs and John Nitti is head of “ad innovation.”
• Calista Redmo joined Nvidia as VP of “global AI initiatives,” where she’ll “drive adoption of the NVIDIA platform for national and regional AI initiatives.”
• Sophia Dominguez, Snap’s director of AR platform, is leaving.

More Links

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to subscribe to The Verge, which includes unlimited access to Command Line, all of our reporting, and an improved ad experience on the web.

FAQs

Q: What does Zuckerberg want from Trump?
A: It’s unclear, but sources suggest he wants a reset for the MAGA regime and help with issues like fighting other countries’ policing of his platforms and stopping Apple from dictating how he builds mobile apps and smart glasses.

Q: What is the US government’s case to break up Meta?
A: The case was filed at the end of Trump’s first term by a Republican FTC chair, not Lina Khan, and is set to go to trial in a few months.

Q: What is the most impactful change for users of Meta’s apps?
A: The softening of Meta’s systems that remove content for potential policy violations, which insiders believe will be the most impactful change for users.