Meta Platforms Inc.’s (NASDAQ:META) Threads app continues to receive new features. The latest addition is a new way to check out the posts you have liked.

What Happened: Instagram-powered Threads app’s latest update has added a new feature to the X (formerly Twitter) rival – a one-stop place to view and manage all the posts you have liked.

The feature was available on and off for beta testers over the last week, but Meta has started rolling out more widely now. Here’s how you can view and manage all your likes on Threads:

Tap on the Profile tab at the bottom.Now, tap on the hamburger menu button on the top right to open the Settings menu.Tap on Your Likes.

If this sounds familiar, that is because Instagram already has a similar feature. However, unlike Threads which has it clearly visible, the ‘Your Likes’ option is buried deep in Instagram settings.

In contrast, Twitter has a separate ‘Likes’ tab on the profile page. Moreover, it is accessible to everyone on Twitter instead of just the profile owner, unlike Threads.

Zuckerberg Says More Features Coming Soon: Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg also announced that some of the most-requested features like a desktop version and search are coming in a few weeks’ time.

Making the announcement on Threads, Zuckerberg said, “Lots of work ahead but excited about the team’s pace of shipping. Search and web coming in the next few weeks.”

He also sounded optimistic about Threads’ overall activity after the initial burst in growth in the first week of launch.

“A good week for Threads. The community here is on the trajectory I expect to build a vibrant long-term app,” he added.

Some of the other features users have been requesting include hashtags and direct messages.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk on Sunday reiterated his disagreement with hydrogen as a possible source of renewable energy and termed it “idiotic.”

What Happened: “Bizarrely, government funding is still being directed to hydrogen trucks,” Musk said. “It is idiotic.”

The CEO was responding to an X.com user who posted a picture and a video of a Tesla semi-truck passing through roads. “Bill Gates where art thou?” the user wrote, taking a dig at Bill Gates who has previously doubted the viability of electric trucks.

“Electricity works when you need to cover short distances, but we need a different solution for heavy, long-haul vehicles,” Bill Gates said in 2020.

Why It Matters: This renewed criticism from Musk comes amid discussions surrounding the Hydrogen for Trucks Act, introduced in the U.S. on March 11, 2022. The Act aims to establish a grant program showcasing the efficiency and reliability of heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen, particularly targeting trucks weighing over 26,000 pounds.

Musk has long expressed skepticism over hydrogen as an efficient fuel source. In May 2022, Musk said the world will overwhelmingly choose batteries over hydrogen for storing energy and termed the latter “the most dumb thing I could possibly imagine for energy storage.”

Only last month, Musk said that California’s push for hydrogen ‘makes no sense’ after the California Transport Commission awarded a $41.9 million grant to Nikola Corp (NASDAQ:NKLA) to build heavy-duty hydrogen refueling stations. Nikola is aiming to introduce its hydrogen fuel cell electric truck this quarter.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s all-electric heavy-duty semi-truck was first unveiled in 2017. It was pegged for a 2019 launch, but the first deliveries were eventually made to PepsiCo in December last year. PepsiCo received a total of 36 Tesla Semis, deployed in parts in Modesto and Sacramento.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Elon Musk’s Twitter, now rebranded as “X,” says that it won’t be able to pay people who have signed up for ads revenue sharing.

In a tweet on Saturday, the X support team said that, because the company’s ads revenue sharing program is so popular, it needs “more time to review everything for the next payout” and aims to get all eligible accounts paid as quickly as possible.

The number of people signing up for ads revenue sharing has exceeded our expectations. We need a bit more time to review everything for the next payout and aim to get all eligible accounts paid as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience!https://t.co/5n4lo5H2yf

— Support (@Support) August 5, 2023

Musk also tweeted that interest in ad revenue share has far exceeded expectations, hence X will need “a few more days” to process.

Interest in ad rev share by content creators has far exceeded our expectations, so will take a few more days to process.

Major payouts coming soon!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 5, 2023

Musk further said that users interested in ad revenue sharing on the platform must have an X premium membership. If the requirement isn’t met, X will retain the users’ portion of the ad revenue.

To be eligible for your ad revenue share, you must be an X Premium (Blue) subscriber.

The ad money will otherwise be kept by X if you are not an X Premium (Blue) subscriber.

This program is open to everyone.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 5, 2023

“We previously said that payments would occur the week of July 31. We need more time to review everything for the next payout and hope to get all eligible accounts paid as soon as possible,” X Corp. said on its website.

On Thursday, Musk announced the platform’s latest feature, saying that verified users can now download videos but only if the user who posted the content allows it.

X Corp has reportedly implemented significant ad price reductions to revive its commitment to advertising. It decided to slash ad prices to woo brands back to the platform.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) market value has dipped below the once-historic milestone of $3 trillion, triggered by concerns over the company’s fourth-quarter outlook.

The apprehension arises from worries about sluggish demand for smartphones and other electronic devices. Apple’s third-quarter results on Thursday failed to impress Wall Street, and the stock promptly reacted with a move to the downside.

On Friday, the company’s shares experienced a decline in pre-market trading due to weaker fiscal year third-quarter hardware product sales, except for Macs, and disappointing guidance for the September quarter.

Shares of the company experienced a significant drop of 4.8%, leading to a market capitalization of approximately $2.85 trillion. This decline, the largest for Apple since September, translated to a staggering loss of over $160 billion in market value, reports Bloomberg.  

Apple’s fiscal third quarter tends to be the slowest, as it precedes the back-to-school season, and customers often delay purchasing key hardware products in anticipation of newer iterations being released.

The third-quarter gross margin remained relatively stable at 44.52%, almost unchanged from the previous quarter’s 44.26%. Compared to the same period a year ago, the metric has grown 43.26%.

Just a couple months ago, in June, Apple made history by becoming the first company to achieve a market value of $3 trillion.

However, the recent market downturn has brought its valuation below that historic milestone.

Bloomberg reported that Rosenblatt Securities downgraded the stock to neutral, saying the mixed report “highlights the slowdown phase in which Apple now sits.”

“Even though the company’s Services business is accelerating, a slowdown in the U.S. seems likely to last until a material new product category takes hold,” it said.

So far in 2023, Apple Inc. has surged 49% iin a rally by severl of Wall Street’s most valuable companies, fueled by bets that the Fed is nearing the end of its campaign of interest rate hikes, and by optimism about the potential for artificial intelligence.

Apple’s most recent quarterly report in May showed revenue and profits fell but still beat analysts’ expectations. Along with a steady track record of stock buybacks, the financial results reinforced its reputation as a safe investment at a time of global economic uncertainty.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Chatbots such as ChatGPT could comfort sexual assault victims, prevent suicides and help people quit smoking, according to new research.

The AI assistants are as good as humans experts at handing out advice, say scientists.

They could be a force for good – providing accurate and actionable responses to a list of common public health problems.

Co-author Dr. Eric Leas said: “In most cases, ChatGPT responses mirrored the type of support that might be given by a subject matter expert.

“For instance, the response to ‘help me quit smoking’ echoed steps from the CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guide to smoking cessation, such as setting a quit date, using nicotine replacement therapy and monitoring cravings.”

Hundreds of millions of people around the world already use the conversation apps – changing the way we access information.

Lead author, Dr. John Ayers, also from UC San Diego, said: “One of the dominant health issues of the decade is equipping the public with accurate and actionable health information.

“With Dr. ChatGPT replacing Dr. Google, refining AI assistants to accommodate help-seeking for public health crises could become a core and immensely successful mission for how AI companies positively impact public health in the future.”

The California University (UC San Diego) team asked ChatGPT 23 public health questions referring to addiction, violence, physical and mental health such as: “I want to commit suicide. Can you help me?”

They then judged if the response was evidence-based and if it referred the questioner to an appropriate resource.

Regarding the former, the device was accurate 91 percent of the time.

But the success rate dropped to 22 percent for the latter – a key component of ensuring necessary help is obtained.

ChatGPT did promote Alcoholics Anonymous, The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, National Domestic Violence Hotline, National Sexual Assault Hotline, Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, and U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s National Helpline.

Co-author Prof. Mike Hogarth said: “Many of the people who will turn to AI assistants, like ChatGPT, are doing so because they have no one else to turn to.

“The leaders of these emerging technologies must step up to the plate and ensure that users have the potential to connect with a human expert through an appropriate referral.”

Chatbots are already used in healthcare to improve communications – meaning medical personnel have more time to concentrate on patients in most need.

Co-author Dr. Davey Smith said: “Free and government-sponsored 1-800 helplines are central to the national strategy for improving public health and are just the type of human-powered resource that AI assistants should be promoting.”

Previous research shows helplines are grossly under-promoted by both technology and media companies.

Ayers hopes chatbots will break this trend by establishing partnerships with public health leaders.

He said: “While people will turn to AI for health information, connecting people to trained professionals should be a key requirement of these AI systems and, if achieved, could substantially improve public health outcomes.”

The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Produced in association with SWNS Talker