Meta

The company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, also building AI, including the open Llama models, and virtual and augmented reality devices.

About Meta

Meta is the company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads, apps used by billions of people to connect and share. It is also a major builder of AI, including the Llama family of AI models, and of virtual and augmented reality technology through its Reality Labs division.

Mark Zuckerberg, with Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum and Chris Hughes, founded the company on 4 February 2004 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It started as TheFacebook, then became Facebook, and in October 2021 renamed itself Meta to reflect its focus on building the "metaverse", a world of connected virtual and augmented reality experiences.

Meta does not publish a single short mission statement on the pages we checked, but its recent direction is clear. On AI, it makes its Llama models available to download, and says openness will spread AI's benefits to more people, stop power concentrating in a few hands, and let the technology be used more evenly and safely. On devices, it is building headsets and smart glasses.

Meta has had a London presence for years: Facebook opened its London headquarters in Fitzrovia in 2017, according to public records. Our sources also note that Meta later gave up one London office lease, so we have not stated its current London locations or staff numbers.

For young people, Meta shows careers across software engineering, AI research, design, data science, hardware, policy and safety. Meta's work also raises questions about privacy, young people and social media, which makes it a useful company to study critically as well as admire. The pages we read do not describe UK early-careers programmes, so check Meta's careers site for current internships and graduate roles.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads.', 'title': 'Social and messaging apps'}
• {'desc': 'Openly available AI models developers can download and adapt.', 'title': 'Llama AI models'}
• {'desc': 'Virtual and augmented reality headsets and glasses.', 'title': 'Reality Labs'}
• {'desc': 'Fundamental AI research, including the FAIR lab.', 'title': 'AI research'}

Key facts

• Founded: 4 February 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts, as TheFacebook
• Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes
• Renamed Meta Platforms: October 2021
• Apps: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Threads
• UK: London presence since at least 2017

Website: www.meta.com