Pranav Dixit

Meta eyes budget cuts for its metaverse group as CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubles down on AI Meta plans Reality Labs budget cuts up to 30%, weighing job cuts amid metaverse losses and renewed focus on AI technology.

Internally, employees face uncertainty about whether the planned Reality Labs cost cuts will ultimately lead to layoffs. Directors are telling employees that most of the reductions will come from operating expenses. www.businessinsider.com/meta-job-cut...

Read Instagram chief Adam Mosseri's memo ordering staff to the office five days a week in 2026 Instagram back-to-office policy: Adam Mosseri demands full-time in-person work in 2026, fewer meetings, and faster product prototypes.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri orders staff back to the office five days a week in 2026. Read the memo. www.businessinsider.com/instagram-ch...

Internal documents show how many people are using Meta's Vibes AI feed each day The documents show Meta Vibes' daily usage and global growth trends, highlighting user engagement in India, Brazil, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

🚨 Scoop: I got internal Meta documents that show how the company’s newest product, the Vibes AI video feed, is performing. The data reveals where it’s growing, where usage is already declining, and a lot more. www.businessinsider.com/meta-vibes-a...

Meta's product managers are using an increasingly popular skill to design apps for Mark Zuckerberg Meta embraces vibe coding and AI development, enabling product managers to design prototype apps and present innovations to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Meta's product managers are vibe coding prototype apps and showing them to Mark Zuckerberg. www.businessinsider.com/meta-vibe-co...

Nothing reinforces the Silicon Valley monoculture quite like your Uber driver casually chatting about about GTC and “Jensen” on your ride home.

If you were part of the Meta Superintelligence Labs layoffs today, I want to hear from you. Message me securely on Signal at +1408-905-9124.

Get you a newsroom that lets you write about both Meta and Metallica.

I went to Salesforce's biggest conference to learn what it actually does. I finally kind of get it, and I saw Metallica live. I went to Salesforce's Dreamforce, where over 50,000 attendees experienced CRM software, celebrity talks, and an unforgettable Metallica concert.

I grew up in 90s India where Western bands rarely toured. So my first concert being Metallica — at Salesforce’s Dreamforce — felt gloriously incongruous. If you can’t make B2B exciting, I guess you can at least make it loud. Blogged about it here. www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-d...

I need something like a lightweight CRM to manage sources and broader contacts and connections. Does anyone have ideas on how to manage this?

I need something like a lightweight CRM to manage sources and broader contacts and connections. Does anyone have ideas on how to manage this?

Meta balked at turning over AI chatbot records in lawsuit, setting up court fight Meta faces a legal battle in New Mexico over AI chatbot records in a child safety lawsuit, as the state demands key internal documents.

🚨 A legal-y scoop: New filings show Meta is fighting to block AI chatbot documents and whistleblower testimony in a major child-safety case heading to trial in New Mexico. www.businessinsider.com/meta-legal-b...

Luckily not on an H1B!

Today I realized I won’t be able to afford a house in the Bay Area anytime soon. I’ve only been here three years — one of the few immigrants in journalism — so maybe I was jumping the gun. But one day. One day. I’ve got the immigrant zeal to make it all worth it.

This post appeared under this Techmeme headline:

Do you work for Meta Superintelligence Labs? I'd love to chat with you. I promise to keep your identity absolutely safe. My Signal number is +1408-905-9124 (or scan this QR code).

Meta Superintelligence Labs executives are pushing staff to ditch slow internal systems for faster engineering tools As part of Meta's big bet on superintelligence, it's steering its AI teams to new tools like Vercel and GitHub, as revealed by internal memos.

🚨 Scoop: Internal memos show Meta’s new Superintelligence Labs is steering teams from slow internal systems to faster third-party tools like Vercel to speed up AI development. Executives say Meta’s own tech “is not conducive to vibe coding.” www.businessinsider.com/meta-superin...

Do you work for Meta Superintelligence Labs? I'd love to chat with you. I promise to keep your identity absolutely safe. My Signal number is +1408-905-9124 (or scan this QR code).

Meta Superintelligence Labs executives are pushing staff to ditch slow internal systems for faster engineering tools As part of Meta's big bet on superintelligence, it's steering its AI teams to new tools like Vercel and GitHub, as revealed by internal memos.

🚨 Scoop: Internal memos show Meta’s new Superintelligence Labs is steering teams from slow internal systems to faster third-party tools like Vercel to speed up AI development. Executives say Meta’s own tech “is not conducive to vibe coding.” www.businessinsider.com/meta-superin...

A major Silicon Valley medtech company just announced it was pausing H-1B hires Intuitive Surgical is best-known for building surgery robots. It just froze offers to H-1B candidates due to President Donald Trump's new policy.

🚨 Scoop with @charlesrollet.bsky.social: Intuitive Surgical, a $150-billion Silicon Valley medtech company with 13,000 employees, has paused job offers to all candidates who need H-1B sponsorship because of the recent Presidential proclamation. www.businessinsider.com/intuitive-si...

I am at @stanfordcyber.bsky.social's Trust and Safety Research Conference today. Say hi if you're around!

Meta just missed a senator's deadline for submitting records about its AI chatbot policies for kids Sen. Josh Hawley's office says Meta hasn't complied with its request to hand over records on how its AI chatbot interacted with children.

🚨 Scoop with @charlesrollet.bsky.social:
Meta blew a Senate deadline to produce AI chatbot records tied to kids’ safety. “There’s no upside to meeting the deadline, no consequence for missing it, and a lot more options from buying time," experts said. www.businessinsider.com/meta-misses-...

Confusion and chaos: Trump's $100K H-1B visa fee rocks Silicon Valley's hiring machine Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee sparked chaos in Silicon Valley, sending shockwaves through the tech industry as companies scrambled to adjust to costly new regulations.

🚨 48 hours of chaos. A scramble for flights. Tech workers walking off planes. Immigration lawyers working nonstop. The White House’s $100K H-1B fee threw Silicon Valley into turmoil overnight.

Big new feature from me + my dream team at @businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com/trump-h-1b-v...

Big Tech and finance companies are telling H-1B employees to get to the US in under 24 hours Amazon, Microsoft, JPMorgan, and Meta employees on H-1B visas were told to stay put, per employees and communications reviewed by Business Insider.

🚨 Scoop: Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and JPMorgan are among the companies telling H-1B employees to return to the US within 24 hours after Trump's surprise proclamation, per employees and internal communications reviewed by @businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com/big-tech-emp...

WhatsApp's former security head claims Meta's performance review system punished him for speaking up WhatsApp's former security head sued Meta, alleging ignored privacy risks and problems with the performance review system.

🚨 The WhatsApp whistleblower says Meta’s performance review system (PSC) was weaponized against him. He alleges PSC pushed employees to:

• Do “busy work” + Band-Aid fixes to boost ratings
• Manipulate “user harm” metrics to hide compromised accounts

www.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-sec...

Meta is paying contractors up to $55 an hour to build AI chatbot characters Meta invests in AI chatbots by hiring contractors for markets like India and Indonesia, as privacy and policy scrutiny escalate.

🚨 Scoop: Meta is paying contractors up to $55/hr to build AI chatbot characters for India, Indonesia, and Mexico. Applicants need 6 years of character-creation experience. In Indonesia, two of the most popular bots are “Lonely Woman” and “Deviant Male.” www.businessinsider.com/meta-hires-c...

👶🏼 My baby was born just as Zuck started throwing millions at AI talent and shaking up Meta’s AI org. I’m back from parental leave, sleep-deprived but scoop-hungry.

Current/former Meta folks:
📱 Signal: +1 408-905-9124 (or scan the QR code)
✉️ pranavdixit@protonmail.com

I think they thought they were being funny, but it was so utterly tone deaf.

Seattle. Brown friend and I are struggling to get the Sheraton guests-only entrance open with our keycards. White couple lets us in. “Thank you so much!” we say. “Oh, you're fine, it’s not like we’re letting a bunch of terrorists in,” they laugh. Weird. Icky. Hurtful.

Meta: Record revenue.
Me: Record number of diapers changed in a single day.
Everyone’s doing numbers this quarter.
(OK, back to parental leave)

Excited to be speaking at #AAJA25 in Seattle later this week! I’ll be joining a panel about how India and its diaspora are covered in today's geopolitical climate, drawing from my experience reporting on how Silicon Valley is reshaping South Asia.

Say hi if you're in Seattle!