Meta released Llama 3 yesterday, and some of the moves they made have made be consider if Zuck could win these first AI wars. Is Zuck also getting aggressive in VR? Why Apple had to take down the WhatsApp and Threads apps in China. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.

Links:

• Meta’s battle with ChatGPT begins now (The Verge)
• Meta, in Its Biggest A.I. Push, Places Smart Assistants Across Its Apps (NYTimes)
• Meta gives the Quest 2 its second permanent price cut in four months (Engadget)
• Cool or creepy? Microsoft's VASA-1 is a new AI model that turns photos into 'talking faces' (Tom's Guide)
• China Orders Apple to Remove Popular Messaging Apps (WSJ)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• How Perfectly Can Reality Be Simulated? (The New Yorker)
• The Life and Death of Hollywood (Harper's Magazine)
• How Neopets’ nostalgic revival tripled users in six months (The Guardian)

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