Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the work of midlevel software engineers can soon be outsourced to AI.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/ Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg said Meta will start automating the work of midlevel software engineers this year.
Meta may eventually outsource all coding on its apps to AI.
Meta also plans to replace fact-checkers with community notes and reduce DEI initiatives.
This year coding might go from one of the most sought-after skills on the job market to one that can be fully automated.
Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta and some of the biggest companies in the tech industry are already working toward this on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience on Friday.
"Probably in 2025, we at Meta, as well as the other companies that are basically working on this, are going to have an AI that can effectively be a sort of midlevel engineer that you have at your company that can write code."
It may initially be an expensive endeavor, but Zuckerberg said Meta will reach the point where all of the code in its apps and the AI it generates will also be done by AI. According to a salary tracking site, midlevel software engineers at the company now earn close to mid-six figures in total compensation.
Zuckerberg's interview with Rogan came after a big week of changes for the company.
On Tuesday, Zuckerberg announced that Meta plans to replace third-party fact-checkers with community notes, similar to Elon Musk's X, and bring back more political content. The announcement has elicited alarm from dozens of fact-checking groups, who signed an open letter to Zuckerberg saying the changes would be "a step backward" for the company.
Meta is also planning to roll back several of its DEI initiatives. In a memo sent to staff on Meta's internal communications platform, Workplace, its vice president of human resources, Janelle Gale, wrote, "We will no longer have a team focused on DEI."
Samsung’s big Galaxy S25 launch is right around the corner. The first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025 is confirmed for January 22 at 1PM ET in San Jose, CA, where Samsung’s “Next Big Thing” (to borrow a 14-year-old marketing slogan) will be revealed. What exactly will be on tap? Well, apart from a few sure bets and some likely leaks, only those sworn to a blood oath under an NDA know for certain. But here are the most likely products and features we’ll see.
Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra
Galaxy S24 Ultra
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Much like Apple reveals its latest iPhones at its first fall event, Samsung typically launches its mainline Galaxy S flagships at its first Unpacked shindig of the year. You can bet the farm that there will be Galaxy S25 phones at this event. And given Samsung’s recent trend of launching three tiers of flagships — standard, Plus and Ultra — you can bet we’ll see that again. (Samsung could technically change the brand names, but the three-layered lineup is practically guaranteed.) There’s even an FCC certification (first spotted by 91Mobiles) to dispel any doubts.
The degree of certainty falls sharply once we dig into the phones’ features. A subtle redesign with rounded corners, flatter edges and thinner bezels appears likely based on a leaked video posted to Reddit and images from reputable tipster Ice Universe. But this isn’t expected to be the generation where Samsung’s hiring of a former Mercedes-Benz designer will lead to drastic aesthetic changes.
Qualcomm
At least in the US, the phone is practically guaranteed to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which the chip-maker revealed in October. (Qualcomm even listed Samsung among the companies launching devices with that processor “in the coming weeks.”) Like just about every flagship processor these days, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is built for on-device generative AI, which aligns with Samsung’s Galaxy AI blitz in recent models.
We don’t know whether the company will split its S25 processors between Snapdragon (US and other markets) and Exynos (everywhere else), but Ice Universe has claimed it will be all Snapdragon this generation. That would be a good thing, given what’s often a glaring performance and battery life disparity favoring Qualcomm.
Samsung is rumored to stick with last-generation OLED displays (made with M13 organic materials) instead of the brighter and more efficient M14 OLED panels used in the iPhone 16 Pro and Google Pixel 9. Logic suggests Samsung would want its best homemade screen in its best phones — especially when its competitors are already using it. But it could stick with the cheaper panels to keep the bill of materials down. Perhaps it calculated that better displays don’t make for better generative AI (the obsession of nearly every tech company right now), while the latest Qualcomm chip does.
Speaking of AI, expect Samsung to devote a perhaps agonizingly long portion of the event to generative AI features. The hit-or-miss DigiTimesreported last month that the Galaxy S25 series will include “an AI Agent that provides personalized clothing suggestions and transport information.” What that would look like in practice is anyone’s guess, but I’m not sure I want to know.
Galaxy S24 Ultra
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
On the camera front, Ice Universe claims (via Android Headlines) it’s “confirmed” that only the ultra-wide sensor will see an upgrade in the Galaxy S25 Ultra — to 50MP from 12MP in last year’s model. The leaker says the S25 Ultra will stick with a 200MP main sensor, 10MP 3x zoom and 50MP 5x zoom.
Samsung will add the Qi2 wireless charging standard to its new flagships — and that comes straight from the horse’s (aka, the Wireless Power Consortium’s) mouth. However, leaker chunvn8888 (aka “yawn”) says Samsung’s phones won’t have built-in magnets for Qi2’s native MagSafe in everything but name charging. Instead, the leaker says Samsung will sell a first-party case with a Qi2 magnetic ring to enable that. (Gotta move those accessories, baby!)
Rumors have buzzed about an alleged Galaxy S25 Slim with a — you guessed it — slimmer design joining the trio at some point this year. That’s something Apple is also rumored to be working on. However, given the FCC certifications only appear to cover the familiar trio of flagships, that phone (if it’s in the pipeline at all) may not arrive until later in the year.
Galaxy Ring 2, Samsung XR and AR glasses
Galaxy Ring
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
DigiTimesreported in December that Samsung would show off (or maybe just tease) the Galaxy Ring 2 and augmented reality (AR) glasses during its January Unpacked event.
The Taiwanese publication says the Galaxy Ring 2 will add two more sizes to the nine from the original model, which only launched in July. The second-gen wearable health tracker is said to add new AI features (surprise!) and updated sensors for more accurate measurements. The Galaxy Ring 2 is also rumored to last longer than the current model’s maximum of seven days.
Google
DigiTimes also claims Samsung’s AR glasses — which the company has confirmed it’s working on — will look like regular prescription glasses and weigh around 50g. It says the futuristic glasses would use Google’s Gemini AI, which aligns with what we already know about Samsung’s partnership with Google and Qualcomm on Android XR. But given the lack of supply chain rumors surrounding the glasses, it’s likely that any mention at the event would amount to little more than a teaser, a la its grand reveal of... a stinkin’ render for the first Galaxy Ring at Unpacked 2024.
We also know Samsung is co-developing an Android XR (extended reality) headset — codenamed Project Moohan — alongside Google and Qualcomm. The “lightweight” and “ergonomically designed” headset will have a “state-of-the-art display,” passthrough video and natural multi-modal input. Google’s renderings show a wearable reminiscent of Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro.
Project Moohan
Google / Samsung
Since Google only recently began offering a developer kit and API for the platform, any glimpse of it at Unpacked wouldn’t likely include an imminent release or deep dive into its hardware.
Engadget will have full coverage of Samsung’s first Unpacked event of 2025. More to come on January 22!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/what-to-expect-at-samsungs-galaxy-s25-unpacked-event-182028420.html?src=rss
The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are far from contained, but they're already expected to be the costliest in U.S. history and among the worst natural disasters
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard says his non-throwing hand is "fine" after fans on social media couldn’t help but notice a rather unusual-looking lump on his hand during the Buckeyes' win over Texas in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night.
Howard, 23, appeared to sustain an injury to his left hand during the first half of the game.
CBS Sports reported that the knot on his hand formed after he appeared to hit his hand on the helmet of a Longhorns player.
Social media erupted over the bizarre-looking injury as the lump seemed to grow larger.
ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe said during the broadcast that Howard did not receive any treatment for the lump during that game. After Ohio State’s victory, ESPN’s Jake Trotter reported that Howard told him his hand is "just fine."
Howard was 24-of-33 passing for 289 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Now in his first season with the Buckeyes after entering the transfer portal last season, Howard has given Ohio State a chance to win its first national title in over a decade.
The Buckeyes will take on Notre Dame in the national championship game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
Welcome back to Week in Review. I missed you! This week, we’re diving into all the gadgets and announcements out of this year’s CES, Meta’s decision to roll back its fact-checking program, TikTok’s response to employees affected by the California wildfires, and more! Let’s do this. CES 2025 came and went this week. The event […]
I did not go to CES 2025 with the goal of getting drenched by Lake Mead’s chilly January waters. But when I discovered Los Angeles-based boat startup Arc had brought its new sport boat to Las Vegas, I figured it was worth the risk. It was. The Arc Sport was a joy to drive, even […]
But she said that following the procedure, the male doctor who had performed the surgery told her he had thrown in a "bonus" rejuvenation, also known as vaginal tightening.
"I was horrified, but also at a loss," Shields wrote. "I didn't want to sue this man — or maybe I did want to, but I didn't feel I could — because I didn't particularly want talk of my lady parts, once again, on the front page of every paper."
Shields, 59, said that it was on the advice of her female gynecologist that she had decided to have the surgery, as she had been experiencing discomfort and pain since high school.
But Shields said that when she woke up from the operation, the surgeon told her that he had gone further: "I was in there for four hours, and you know what I did? I tightened you up a little bit! Gave you a little rejuvenation!"
"He acted as if he'd done me a favor," she wrote. "But I had never asked to be 'tightened' or 'rejuvenated' (translation: given a younger vagina). I felt numb."
"This man surgically altered my body without my consent," she continued. "The sheer gall of it enraged me. The fact that the most intimate parts of my body had been a public focal point for so long ... it was enough already."
Shields said that while she was outraged by her treatment during the procedure, she "never took action against this doctor" or spoke to him about it, as she questioned herself and wondered "if he was right" that she should feel lucky.
Shields also said that it took her a while to discuss what had happened with her husband, Chris Henchy, adding that "he was nearly as angry as I was."
"Had I been happy with the results of the procedure, I still would have been angry that he did it without my consent. But as it turns out, I wasn't happy with the results, and haven't been since," she went on.
Shields added that while she was "embarrassed" to share her story, she felt it was important to "bring up the uncomfortable but very real issues" if people were to change the way they approach the topic of women's health.
Barcelona midfielder Pedri has denied that the club's players considered boycotting the Spain national team over the row surrounding Dani Olmo's registration.
Napoli coach Antonio Conte has confirmed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has asked to leave the club amid reported interest from Premier League leaders Liverpool.
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