Baidu Approves $5 Billion Share Buyback and Plans First-Ever Dividend in 2026 
Global PC Makers Eye Chinese Memory Chip Suppliers Amid Ongoing Supply Crunch 
Palantir Stock Jumps After Strong Q4 Earnings Beat and Upbeat 2026 Revenue Forecast 
Nvidia Nears $20 Billion OpenAI Investment as AI Funding Race Intensifies 
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering 
Nvidia, ByteDance, and the U.S.-China AI Chip Standoff Over H200 Exports 
SpaceX Updates Starlink Privacy Policy to Allow AI Training as xAI Merger Talks and IPO Loom 
Instagram Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Users 
Jensen Huang Urges Taiwan Suppliers to Boost AI Chip Production Amid Surging Demand 
Tencent Shares Slide After WeChat Restricts YuanBao AI Promotional Links 
Alphabet’s Massive AI Spending Surge Signals Confidence in Google’s Growth Engine 
SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates 
SoftBank and Intel Partner to Develop Next-Generation Memory Chips for AI Data Centers 
AMD Shares Slide Despite Earnings Beat as Cautious Revenue Outlook Weighs on Stock 
SpaceX Reports $8 Billion Profit as IPO Plans and Starlink Growth Fuel Valuation Buzz 
TSMC Eyes 3nm Chip Production in Japan with $17 Billion Kumamoto Investment 
Some enterprising individuals managed to dig up a hidden feature buried under heaps of code for the iOS version of Facebook Messenger called “Rooms.” Apparently, it was meant to be some kind of social circle where groups could chat about practically anything. In related news, it would seem that there are more privacy concerns related to the social network than already known. This time, it’s about the phone numbers that Facebook is asking from users.
The discovery of “Rooms” was actually made after looking through the source code of the Messenger app and it contained certain references that explained what the feature was about, Tech Crunch reports. The publication was actually tipped off about the discovery by a developer named Chris Messina.
“Rooms are for public conversations about topics and interests,” the code reads. “Each room has a link that can be shared so anyone on Messenger can join the conversation.”
Users were supposed to be able to create their own “Rooms,” which their friends can join in. It even came with its own logo, with two interlocking circles on a blue, circular background.
When Facebook was asked about the feature, the site decided not to comment on it. In an update, the social network even decided to play it off as just another one of their experiments, which they do on a regular basis.
On to more serious news, Fortune argues that Facebook is becoming more and more of a privacy boogeyman than ever. Citing the social network’s method of using the phone numbers of its users to recommend friends to others, it would seem that Facebook is really taking liberties with its authority.
There was even a case where patients of one psychiatrist were put in touch by the social media site, which can open up a barrel of worms. With the payment system that is now available in the Messenger app, it’s practically guaranteed that Facebook will have access to even more personal information that it can take advantage of.
