Mo Meta, Mo Problems: Could Facebook be broken up?

Mo Meta, Mo Problems: Could Facebook be broken up?

Author: Ampel April 17, 2025 Duration: 15:01

From Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon: Meta - the parent of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and much more besides - finds itself fighting for its life against a suit from the US Federal Trade Commission, charging abuse of monopoly power - because they acquired Instagram and WhatsApp in order to neutralise up-and-coming competitors. Even in Trump's America, that could result in the break-up of the trillion-dollar social media giant. Plus, are you up for a Day of Unplugging? No devices, no screens, for 24 hours? How about giving it a go - tomorrow? Would that excite or terrify you?

Thanks to RNZ - Nine To Noon

The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce is produced by Ampel and Myrtle and Pine  

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Ever feel like the world is shifting beneath your feet? That's the sensation The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce captures and explores. Hosted by award-winning futurist and journalist Mark Pesce, this podcast digs into the profound technological and societal transformations happening right now-at a pace humanity has never before experienced. It’s not just speculation; it’s about understanding the forces reshaping how we work, connect, and even think about value and money, so we can navigate today with more clarity. Mark has a knack for untangling complex ideas, making the dizzying rate of change feel comprehensible and, more importantly, actionable. Each episode serves as a guide, helping you piece together what’s coming next from the signals already here. For anyone curious about where science, technology, and global news are steering us, this podcast from Ampel is an essential companion. Tune in to hear thoughtful analysis that connects the dots between emerging trends and your daily decisions, all delivered with an engaging, accessible style. The future isn't a distant abstraction on this show-it's the next billion seconds, and they're already unfolding.
Author: Language: en-au Episodes: 100

The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce
Podcast Episodes
ALWAYS IMPERFECT - THE CLIMATE QUESTION [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:28
There's an elephant in the room along with artificial intelligence - its impact on the climate. Demand for electricity has skyrocketed as Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Google and Microsoft build vast new data centres to handl…
ALWAYS IMPERFECT - ISN'T IT IRONIC? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:00
Massive increases in productivity lure businesses into adopting artificial intelligence. But what if pursuit of that elusive 'superprodctivity' produces exactly the opposite? A rebroadcast of Radio New Zealand's Nine To…
ALWAYS IMPERFECT - BUILDING RESISTANCE [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:09
What would you do if you lost your job to an AI? Would you even know? It happened to me - and I didn't learn the truth for six months. In the aftermath I recognised how my work needed to change. That became the core of '…
ALWAYS IMPERFECT - STOP THE WOKE AI! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:19
While the US focuses on putting the brakes on 'woke AI' (whatever that is) the rest of the world's nations confront thorny questions about how to regulate a technology that's both moving very quickly and lacks any clear…
ALWAYS IMPERFECT - A BETTER WAY [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:02
ALWAYS IMPERFECT Episode 3: A BETTER WAYUsed well, artificial intelligence can automate labor-intensive and rote processes, freeing people for the work they want to do. That's the theory, anyway - but what about the prac…
ALWAYS IMPERFECT: "VIBE SLOGGING" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:11
Can a computer program a computer as well as a human being can? Artificial intelligence enabled a quantum leap in the quality of the tools programmer use to write code - but they're delicate. Push them too hard and they…
ALWAYS IMPERFECT: "NO MAGIC WANDS" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:06
Always Imperfect - Episode 1 - NO MAGIC WANDS Artificial intelligence may be amazing but it’s always imperfect. Anyone trying to use AI professionally lands on the horns of a dilemma: will a productivity increase gained…
TWO FUTURISTS GO 'VIBE FORECASTING' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:51
Whenever fellow futurist and longtime friend Rob Tercek and I (Mark Pesce) get together, we go crazy deep on the future: What happens when lazy humans outsource their thought process to machines? You get a society that v…
RNZ Nine to Noon: ADDICTION IS THE BUSINESS MODEL [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:28
Mark joins RNZ Nine to Noon host Kathryn Ryan to delve into the sudden phenomenon of 'viral' AI videos - getting better at capturing your eyeballs. Did you see those cute bunnies bouncing on a trampoline? Never happened…
The Next Billion Cars - Experiences in 'Range Anxiety' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:22
On a recent trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, Mark rented an EV, drove to a rural town on the Mendocino coast, then drove back again. That trip taught Mark a lot about what it means to drive an EV - and how it changes…