Mark Zuckerberg’s makeover of Meta for the Trump era hit a surprising new register last week when the CEO announced his company would end its use of third-party fact-checkers in favor of a crowdsourced community notes system similar to the one employed by Elon Musk’s X.

Now, some marketers say that the change could limit their ad spend on the platform if it were to result in the unchecked spread of fake news, harmful content, and hate speech. Several advertising bosses told the Financial Times that brands will begin reevaluating their plans to advertise on Meta’s platforms over brand safety concerns.

The shift “creates headwinds for marketers who are risk averse,” and some may “reduce their reliance” on Meta, Lou Paskalis, the CEO of marketing consultancy AJL Advisory, told the FT.

Meta’s ad revenue is key to its business

Actually, it is Meta’s only business at the moment. In the third quarter of last year, advertising accounted for 98% of Meta’s total revenue of nearly $40.6 billion. Its enormous 21% share of the US digital ad market is second to Google, according to Emarketer. Meta’s ability to keep advertising dollars flowing not only keeps the lights on now, but it’s also crucial for subsidizing futuristic, money-sucking bets like the metaverse and AI (Meta’s Reality Labs hardware division has lost $58 billion since 2020).

A different perspective: Other advertising leaders told Insider that they don’t expect Meta’s pivot to community notes to dissuade brands from spending money. After all, Meta became one of the world’s largest companies by delivering unmatched ROI for brands that advertise on its platform—and as long as performance remains high, brands will stay.

Do community notes work as a check on fake news? It may be too early to know. Research has shown that X’s user-generated community notes are often too slow to slap a label on inaccurate misinformation before it goes viral. And the share of community notes rated “helpful” on X has been falling consistently, down to 6.9% in November 2024 from 11.3% in January 2023. However, another study from last year found that community notes worked just as well as professional fact-checkers on the topic of Covid-19 vaccines.

For more: Zuckerberg went on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Friday, where he made a number of provocative statements, including that Apple hasn’t innovated since the iPhone and that companies needed more “masculine energy.”—NF

Santa Ana winds bring more danger to Southern California. The strong, dry winds that fueled the wildfires last week have returned, and officials warn the threat of continued spread remains high until Wednesday. At least 24 people have died and over 12,000 structures have been destroyed as of Sunday night. The nation’s top investigators are exploring the possible origins of the fires, including an electrical tower area near Eaton Canyon. The Palisades Fire is 13% contained, and the Eaton Fire is 27%. LAPD is now warning people affected by the tragedy to be on guard against scammers who are “actively targeting vulnerable individuals and families, exploiting their distress.”

🏛 Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faces criticism for Ghana trip. Bass, who has faced rumors and accusations of cutting Los Angeles Fire Department funding, is now contending with increased criticism for having been out of the country when the fires began. The former member of Congress had spent much of her career working on Africa–US relations and she was en route home after attending the inauguration of a new president in Ghana last Tuesday. Bass defended the trip, saying that she went upon request from the Biden administration and that because she was on a military plane for the diplomatic mission, she was able to stay in constant contact with officials on the ground. In a 2021 interview with the New York Times, Bass said she would not travel internationally while mayor.

Dunkin’ has run out of donuts in some states. Shops in Nebraska, New Mexico, and Arizona have reported running out of dunkers due to “a manufacturing error,” according to signs that have sprung up on their front doors. A spokesperson for Dunkin’s parent company, Inspire Brands, said the issue stemmed from one particular supplier that affects some stores in Nebraska and some other states but did not divulge which ones, leaving media outlets to piece together the puzzle from angry tweets and in-person research trips. Some impacted stores have been able to continue selling Munchkins, raising even more questions about where donut holes come from.—HVL

The next time someone tells you innovation is dead, point them to the darlings of CES 2025—robot vacuums that can pick up your socks, sprout legs, and check out that suspicious noise coming from the other room.

Armed and fastidious: Roborock and Dreame unveiled robovacs that come with a pincer so that they can pick up and move small objects—such as socks and washcloths—and drop them in a bin to clear a path for vacuuming. Roborock says its max capacity is 300 grams (a little more than half a pound), while Dreame says its arm can lift up to 500 grams (a little more than a pound), which means it can pick up something as heavy as a shoe.

A leg up on competition: Dreame’s robovac also has “legs” for climbing that can propel itself onto surfaces up to two inches high, perfect for small elevation changes between rooms, but not long enough that you have to worry about the robovac appearing upstairs in your bedroom at 2am wondering why you can’t put your socks in the hamper yourself.

One robovac can fight crime: And not just crimes of laziness—Samsung’s Jet Bot Combo AI robot vacuum can detect intruders when you’re not scheduled to be home. Samsung told Wired that if another Samsung smart appliance detects unrecognized movement, that washing machine or refrigerator can send the robovac to take a picture of a potential burglar who won’t want to tell anyone in jail how he got caught.—DL

A Sunday deadline looms for TikTok: The app that brought us NyQuil chicken and made everyone wonder if everything was actually cake will be banned in the US starting on Sunday, barring an 11th-hour sale to a US buyer or a surprise ruling by the Supreme Court this week. Justices who heard arguments on Friday indicated that they would enforce the ban, expressing concern that the Chinese government could use the data of millions of Americans gathered by the app’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, for nefarious purposes.

It’s a busy week for Wall Street: Last week’s strong jobs report has investors on edge for this week’s inflation data. If Wednesday’s consumer price index report comes in higher than expected, the Fed might put its already cooling plans for rate cuts on ice. It’s also the start of Q4 earnings season: Big banks JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup kick things off on Wednesday, while Bank of America, US Bancorp, Morgan Stanley, and PNC Financial release their numbers on Thursday.

And in television and movies: The highly anticipated second season of the AppleTV+ hit Severance is out on Friday, three years after its debut season. The show, which takes the concept of work-life balance to new levels, is currently sitting at 93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Meanwhile, Oscar nominations that were originally scheduled for Friday were pushed to Sunday due to the wildfires in Los Angeles. Voting was also extended two days to Tuesday.

Everything else…

• Confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks start this week.
• The NFL playoff game between the Vikings and Rams will take place in Glendale, AZ, tonight after the wildfires in Los Angeles forced the relocation of the weekend’s final playoff game.
• And once that game is decided, the four divisional round matchups will be set for the weekend.
• Tiger Woods will make his debut in his TGL indoor golf league on Tuesday.

Despite a recent push to enforce RTO policies, offices have never been this vacant. Moody’s reported that 20.4% of office spaces in the 50 largest metro areas in the US were empty in the fourth quarter of last year. That represents a new high and a sign that plenty of companies still don’t mind if employees get their work done at home in their pajamas.

Older office spaces—think endless rows of cubicles and the most depressing lighting imaginable—are being knocked down and pushed aside for more modern workspaces near transport hubs that offer coworking spaces, fitness centers, and restaurants. While some companies say the RTO push is about increasing productivity, Resume.org said 1 in 3 business leaders want workers back in the office due to existing lease agreements.—DL