The Social Skinny: Meta’s chief AI scientist resigns; Snapchat users petition for 2D Bitmojis

Meta’s chief AI scientist departs to launch startup As Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shifted away from prioritizing Meta’s Fundamental AI Research Lab in favor of rapidly-released AI products to compete with OpenAI and Google, Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun plans to depart from the tech giant, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Known by the tech community as a pioneer of modern AI, LeCun plans to leave Meta in coming months and has begun fundraising for his own startup. He’s led Meta’s Fundamental AI Research Lab — which focused on long-term AI research — since 2013.  Declining cable trends bog down Disney’s earnings While Walt Disney’s theme parks and streaming services are on the up-and-up, its overall revenue stopped short of Wall Street estimates due to the decline of its cable unit, the entertainment and media giant reported Thursday.  According to Disney’s earnings report, earnings from streaming spiked 39% to $352 million. While 12.5 million new viewers subscribed to Disney+ and Hulu this quarter with the addition of box office hits — for example, Lilo & Stitch amassed 14.3 million views in its first five days on Disney+ — traditional TV profit dropped 21% to $391
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