Menlo Park Andrew Bosworth is rarely seen without glasses these days. For example, when a couple of weeks ago the head of devices at Facebook presented “Ray Ban Stories” – sunglasses with a camera, for which the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp collaborates with the brand of the Italian glasses giant Luxottica. In his LinkedIn profile picture, the bald man Bosworth, known internally as “Bose”, shoves his “Oculus Quest 2” VR glasses on his forehead.
So far, Bosworth has been Mark Zuckerberg’s guy in charge of hardware, and in the future he’ll be in charge of technology across the entire group. Over the next year, he will succeed Mike Schroepfer, who has served as Facebook’s chief technology officer since 2013 and will assume the role of “senior fellow”, where he will continue to lead Facebook’s initiatives in the development of artificial intelligence. .
The change represents a huge turning point for Facebook: Schroepfer, known internally as “Schrep,” has been in charge of Facebook’s massive technical infrastructure since 2013. Among other things, he’s been responsible for developing algorithms that are supposed to filter hate messages or influence Politics over elections by anti-democratic regimes.
Just last week, a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook is far from being able to master political radicalism or anti-vaccination propaganda on its platforms.
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It is unlikely that such disagreements were the direct reason for Schrooper’s withdrawal. After all, Facebook has been the subject of constant criticism for many years. The fact that the change does not come suddenly and Schroepfer must stay with the company speaks against it. However, Schroepfer isn’t the first big manager to walk away from the front row of Facebook: Frenchman Fidji Simo, who, as the head of Facebook’s network, has practically run Zuckerberg’s legacy, recently moved to the top of the food delivery service Instacart. And Facebook’s head of advertising, Caroline Iverson, also moved there.
Bosworth’s blog made headlines
The 39-year-old Bosworth is one of Zuckerberg’s closest confidants. The director – Twitterhandleboztank (“Boz-Panzer”) – sometimes aggressively defends his company in the face of constant criticism. In 2016, an internal blog published by Bosworth made headlines, calling on Facebook employees to deal with the “ugly truth” that Facebook’s mission to connect people also costs lives. Overall, Facebook’s quest for growth is still good because it brings more people into contact with each other.
Bosworth has spent most of his career on Facebook. He met Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University, where he attended an AI science exercise with somewhat older Bosworth. After a short trip to Microsoft, Zuckerberg, now a Harvard dropout, rented Bosworth in 2006. There he developed the computer scientist News Feed, the center of Facebook pages for nearly three billion users.
His promotion gives a double indication of where Zuckerberg sees the future of the group: On the one hand, he reacts more aggressively to public criticism in recent years rather than apologizing — and that fits more in Bosworth’s style than Schroever’s quiet style.
On the other hand, smart devices are becoming increasingly important in Facebook’s strategy. Zuckerberg sees virtual reality as the next big internet platform. So far, the group has been at the mercy of App Store providers Apple and Google. Apple in particular is hurting Facebook’s advertising business, which relies on analyzing user data, with stricter privacy rules.
On the other hand, Facebook can set its own rules on its own devices. The Bosworth hardware unit advanced. “Portal” video phones are selling well, and Facebook has just introduced its first mobile device. The Oculus Quest 2 is the first mass-produced VR headset.
Zuckerberg announced that he will turn Facebook into a Metaversum group – a virtual world in which diverse experiences should be possible. Bosworth is the man who, along with Zuckerberg, is supposed to lead Facebook into this new world.
more: The network is overflowing with hate and emotion. The European Union wants to take action against this, but the German government is insisting on red lines and making settlement more difficult.
