Author: openjargon

• The House passed a bill to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses.
• 70 House Democrats voted against it, including the longest-serving Jewish House Democrat.
• That's because the bill defines some criticisms of Israel as being antisemitic.

The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday designed to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses.

The bill sailed through by a 320-91 bipartisan vote, with 70 House Democrats and 21 House Republicans voting against it.

Lawmakers who voted against the bill aren't necessarily supportive of antisemitism, or opposed to efforts to curb it. Rather, they had issues with the definition of antisemitism that the bill would mandate.

The Antisemitism Awareness Act, led by Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York and cosponsored by 61 other lawmakers across both parties, would require the Department of Education to use definitions of antisemitism proposed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) when enforcing anti-discrimination laws.

That IHRA definition of antisemitism — alongside obvious instances of antisemitism — encompasses some criticisms commonly made against the State of Israel, including:

• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

• Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

That's led to concerns on the part of more progressive lawmakers that free speech norms could be violated, and that anti-Zionism or opposition to Israel could be conflated with antisemitism.

On Wednesday, Rep. Jerry Nadler — the longest-serving Jewish House Democrat — spoke out against the bill on the House floor, arguing that the IHRA's definitions of antisemitism "may include protected speech in some contexts, particularly with respect to criticism of the State of Israel."

"Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination," said Nadler, arguing that the Department of Education already has the ability to investigate discrimination under current law.

The vote took place on Wednesday as college campuses across the country have been swept by pro-Palestinian protests.

"Much of this activity, whether you agree with the sentiments expressed at these protests or not, constitutes legally protected speech," said Nadler. "Some participants shamefully have exhibited antisemitic conduct, and the Department of Education will rightfully investigate them."

In December, Nadler also led 92 House Democrats in voting "present" on a GOP-sponsored resolution that equated anti-Zionism with antisemitism. 13 House Democrats voted against the resolution outright.

In an effort to avoid this split, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries asked House Speaker Mike Johnson to take up a separate bill — the Counter Antisemitism Act — which would include establishing a National Coordinator to oversee an Interagency Task Force to Counter Antisemitism in the White House.

Republicans had their own issues with the bill. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said that she would vote against the bill because it "could convict Christians of antisemitism" for believing that Jewish people played a role in the killing of Jesus Christ — a notion that the Catholic Church has refuted since the 1960s.

It's unclear when — or if — the bill will be taken up in the Senate, where the bill has 30 cosponsors, roughly half of whom are Democrats.

This story will be updated with a list of lawmakers who voted against the bill when it becomes available.

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• Fisker customers are worried about how a potential bankruptcy could impact service needs.
• Some Fisker owners probably wish they had leased over buying.
• There are several reasons to consider leasing an EV over buying. 

Fisker has said it could go out of business by the end of the year.

As it searches for a lifeline, owners of its vehicles are desperately asking what will happen if they miss out on future tech updates and service needs. 

Some Fisker owners who purchased their vehicles outright may now be wishing they had leased instead.

To be sure, the vast majority of EV owners don't have to worry about the maker of their vehicles imminently going out of business. But Fisker's issues do highlight some of the benefits of leasing over buying, particularly in the EV market, which features limited used-market pricing data and few insights into long-term battery degradation.

Leasing is often eschewed by financial advisors, but here's why it might make more sense for EV buyers today:

Batteries are improving 

Battery technology is only going to improve in terms of overall range, as well as charging speed and longevity.

The average range of an electric vehicle was less than 200 miles in 2010 — but is now closer to 350, according to the International Energy Agency.

Charging ports are also in flux as the industry switches to the North American Charging Standard, which was pioneered by Tesla. (That said, adapters can help you keep up with any charging port changes).

Used EV prices are a huge question mark

There's limited data on EV resale prices. 

Pre-owned EV prices have fallen in line with new EV prices. The Average used EV sold for about $23,787 in February 2024, down from more than $32,000 a year ago, according to data from Recurrent. Some models, like the Tesla Model Y, have fallen even more. Compared to gas-powered cars, EVs tend to lose their value much faster, according to an iSeeCars study that looked at 5-year depreciation.

Several newer EV models don't have enough used options on the market to accurately estimate their value.  

EV leasing is growing in popularity

Leasing an EV is no longer a niche concept. About 27% of all EVs were leased in the first months of 2024, more than double the previous year, according to data from Cox Automotive. Many leases can still qualify for the $7,500 tax credit, too. 

Leases can often cost less than a loan — but you don't get any equity. The average monthly loan was about $744 in March, according to Cox, while lease deals can be found as low as $500, according to data compiled by Electrek.

Of course, there are mileage limits and other limitations on a lease, but some EV makers are trying to rethink vehicle ownership. Polestar last year launched a "flexible lease" program with an early opt-out at five months with no termination fee, and Hyundai's "evolve+" subscription program comes with 1,000 miles a month and no long-term commitment. 

"At the end of the day, leasing is a great solution for customers that want to try it out, that might be afraid of some of the residual value pieces," GM CFO Paul Jacobson told investors in 2022. "Lease is going to be a very valuable tool across EVs."

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• The Supreme Court denied military chaplains' lawsuit claiming retaliation for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.
• They accused the Defense Department of denying religious exemptions and ruining their careers.
• In 2023, an appellate court deemed the case moot since the military's vaccine mandate was rescinded.

The US Supreme Court has decided not to hear a case involving 39 military chaplains who say they continue to face recrimination for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons.

In an announcement Monday of the cases the court has selected to hear next year, the justices denied the chaplains' petition to review last year's dismissal of the case by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

The appellate court ruled that the Defense Department's decision in January 2023 to rescind the vaccine mandate rendered the chaplains' case moot.

In their petition, the chaplains said they needed the court to consider the case to protect them and their First Amendment rights. They argued that many continue to have bad marks in their fitness reports that influence assignments and promotions.

"These chaplains' careers are dead men walking, direct consequences of filing [religious accommodation requests]," the petition stated.

According to court documents, the chaplains filed the lawsuit "when it became obvious" that the Defense Department was denying religious accommodation requests. They claimed that since the mandate was dropped, the Defense Department has made false claims that all adverse actions have been removed from the personnel files of those who had asked for a religious exemption.

With the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stands, an affirmation of the lower court's finding that renders the case, Israel Alvarado et. al. v. Austin, moot.

At least 50 service members previously sued the Defense Department over its vaccine mandate, alleging that the services and the Pentagon had violated their right to religious freedom for "categorically denying" their request for religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine.

In one case involving several Navy SEALs, a district court judge quashed the Navy's ability to punish the sailors for refusing the vaccine order, a ruling which was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals but later rejected by the US Supreme Court.

The Defense Department was later ordered to pay $1.8 million in legal fees as settlement for two lawsuits over the mandate.

The Defense Department began requiring service members to get the COVID-19 vaccine in August 2021. More than 2 million troops and nearly 350,000 Defense Department civilian employees received the vaccines, two of which used emerging technology — messenger RNA — to teach a recipient's immune system to replicate the spike protein found on the COVID-19 virus and destroy it.

More than 17,000 service members refused to take the vaccine, with some citing concerns over the new technology and others saying they objected on religious grounds, noting that the widely available vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson were tested using cell lines derived from fetal tissue obtained from abortions decades ago.

Roughly 8,400 troops were discharged, including 3,717 Marines, 2,041 Navy sailors, 1,841 Army soldiers, and 834 Air Force and Space Force members, and more than 1,000 service members received religious exemptions before the mandate was dropped.

A total of 690 service members, dependents and civilian Defense Department employees died from COVID-19 between the start of the pandemic in early 2020 and Dec. 8, 2022, the date the DoD stopped publishing updates of its COVID-related deaths.

Nearly 1.2 million Americans have died and more than 7 million deaths have occurred worldwide as a result of the virus, first detected in China in late 2019.

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• The US Army has unveiled photos of its new Bradley infantry fighting vehicle.
• In a statement, the Army called it "the most modern and survivable version" of the vehicle yet.
• Bradleys have been an important tool for Ukrainian forces, who have repeatedly praised the vehicle.

The US Army has released photos of the newest and most advanced version of its Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, combat-proven armor that Ukraine has been using against Russia.

In a Tuesday statement, the Army's Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems posted images of the new next-generation M2A4E1 Bradley variant revealed in Maine last week, calling it "the most modern and survivable version" of the armored vehicle.

The new Bradley IFV, the office explained in a social media post, is the result "of integrating an Iron Fist Active Protection System, improved High Definition Forward Looking Infrared Gunner's Sight, and an Environmental Control Unit to prevent heat stress for dismounts."

The Iron Fist APS is a significant defensive upgrade for the Bradley, and one that the Army had long been looking into for its vehicles. Manufactured by Israel's Elbit Systems, the Iron Fist provides hard-kill protection against anti-armor weapons like rockets or missiles by firing an interceptor munition to engage the inbound threat from a distance.

Iron Fist "increases survivability" for armored vehicles against anti-tank threats and is effective against "all types of anti-armor threats," according to a fact sheet published by Elbit. Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, who leads the PEOGCS, told Breaking Defense in late-March that the Army had finally signed a deal to acquire the Iron Fist after previously suggesting it couldn't afford the highly advanced systems.

"The Army received funding to procure the M2A4E1 for every Bradley donated to Ukraine," the PEOGCS said this week. It's not immediately clear how much money that will amount to.

According to the latest Pentagon data, the US has sent more than 200 M2A2 Bradleys to Ukraine as part of the more than $50 billion in security assistance Washington has committed to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale war began in February 2022. That aid also includes other American-made armored systems, like Strykers vehicles and Abrams tanks.

The Bradleys first arrived on the battlefield in Ukraine almost exactly a year ago, giving Kyiv a significant armor boost ahead of its much-anticipated — though ultimately lackluster — summer counteroffensive.

Ukrainian soldiers have since praised the Bradley for its survivability and firepower in combat, commending it for being a powerful upgrade over similar Soviet systems.

The vehicles have been captured on video raking Russian troops positions and destroying advanced tanks, but they are not untouchable, as many have fallen victim to Russian artillery and defensive measures, including mines.

The Bradley, initially built as a response to Soviet infantry fighting vehicles, entered service in the 1980s and was deployed to the Gulf War the following decade before being sent to Iraq in the 2000s. They are highly maneuverable and can transport as many as six fully equipped troops to and from the battlefield.

Bradleys are armed with Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided missiles (the US has sent Ukraine more than 9,000 TOW missiles), which can hit enemy armor; a 25mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun; and a 7.62mm M240C machine gun. It has an operational range of around 300 miles and can drive at speeds of over 40 miles per hour.

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• The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady once again on Wednesday.
• Powell said inflation data is not yet where it needs to be to consider cutting rates.
• He said it'll take better inflation data or "unexpected" labor market weakness before that happens.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will not say when the nation's central bank will cut interest rates, but he did say what it will take for that to happen.

On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee announced that interest rates will remain unchanged, continuing the pause that began in September following 11 consecutive rate hikes. However, the announcement confirmed that rate cuts won't be happening any time soon, with the FOMC's statement saying that "there has been a lack of further progress toward the Committee's 2 percent inflation objective."

The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, rose 3.5% year-over-year in March, a slight increase from the 3.2% year-over-year reading in February. Given that inflation is not coming down at the rate the Fed is hoping for, Powell said during his Wednesday press conference that the central bank needs to wait for more economic data before cutting rates enters the discussion.

'We've said that we don't think it would be appropriate to dial back our restrictive policy stance until we gain greater confidence that inflation is moving down sustainably toward 2%," Powell said.

"If we did have a path where inflation proves more persistent than expected, and where the labor market remains strong but inflation is moving sideways, and we're not gaining greater confidence, that would be a case in which it could be appropriate to hold off on rate cuts," he continued.

But he said the economy could take one of two paths that would give the Fed enough confidence to cut rates: further data to prove that inflation is moving toward the Fed's 2% target and an "unexpected weakening in the labor market."

The labor market has continued to be strong, dampening any urgency the Fed might have to cut rates. The US added 303,000 US jobs in March, with Julia Pollak, the chief economist at ZipRecruiter, previously calling that data "the Fed's holy grail: strong job market with non-inflationary growth."

However, with inflation still above target, rate cuts are not yet in the picture. Powell did note, however, that it's "unlikely" there will be any interest-rate hikes, strongly indicating that rates will remain steady until the Fed gets the data it needs to begin considering relief for prospective borrowers.

The Fed's decision to hold rates steady prompted some pushback from Democratic lawmakers who are worried that continued high rates will hurt Americans. Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said in a statement that "the longer the Fed maintains these elevated interest rates, the greater the risk of harming that economic progress."

"The Fed must remember its dual mandate and avoid keeping these rates too high for too long," Boyle said.

Powell said he's "acutely aware that high inflation imposes significant hardship as it erodes purchasing power, especially for those least able to meet the higher costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation."

And he won't risk easing up on the Fed's restrictive policy too early.

"We believe it is restrictive, and we believe over time it will be sufficiently restrictive," Powell said. "That will be a question that the data will have to answer."

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• Harvey Weinstein had his first court appearance since New York's highest court overturned his conviction.
• Prosecutors want to have a retrial in September.
• Weinstein's separate 16-year sentence in Los Angeles is also being appealed.

Harvey Weinstein appeared in court Wednesday for the first time since last week's explosive ruling overturning his New York rape conviction.

At the hearing Wednesday afternoon, trial judge Curtis Farber set a new trial date for "after Labor Day" of this year. Prosecutors said they would be ready for a retrial as soon as September.

New York state's highest court overturned the former film mogul's 2020 conviction. In a 4-3 decision, it ruled the trial judge, New York Supreme Court Justice James Burke, made an error by allowing testimony from other women who alleged Weinstein sexually abused them, even though he wasn't charged with the conduct. Burke has since left his post, leaving the case in Farber's hands.

While prosecutors sought to show jurors that Weinstein had repeatedly abused women, the New York Court of Appeals said such testimony was "highly prejudicial" and served to "diminish defendant's character before the jury."

"The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial," the judges wrote.

At the 2020 trial, jurors found Weinstein guilty of raping one woman and a first-degree criminal sex act with another woman. The Manhattan district attorney's office has said it wants to bring him to trial again, which would require those two women to take the witness stand and submit to cross-examination from his lawyers a second time.

Weinstein, sitting in a wheelchair, was brought into the chilly courtroom — two floors down from where former President Donald Trump is sitting trial in the Manhattan criminal courthouse — where he was photographed next to his lawyers.

One of his attorneys, Arthur Aidala, objected to allowing press photographers, saying there were "a million pictures" of Weinstein from his two criminal trials and life as a celebrated film producer.

Burke said the objection was "noted." Earlier, he clicked on the angular Tiffany-style lamp on his bench, offering more illumination for the photographers.

Manhattan district attorney prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said they would be ready to take the case to trial again as soon as September. After conferring with the attorneys, Burke said the trial would begin "Sometime after Labor Day, the exact date to be determined," after additional court hearings.

Jessica Mann, one of Weinstein's accusers, was in the courtroom for the hearing. Blumberg said Mann was "committed to seeing justice served again."

"We have every belief the defendant will be convicted again after the trial," Blumberg said.

Weinstein "has very, very serious health issues" — including reported diabetes and cardiac problems — but was under good care in Manhattan's Bellevue hospital, Aidala told the judge.

"He's sharp as a tack, he's smart as he ever was, he's read hundreds of hundreds of books," Aidala said.

Weinstein has been serving his now-overturned 23-year-sentence in New York's Mohawk Correctional Facility, but he still won't walk free.

Burke said Weinstein would be remanded in the care of the New York City Department of Corrections "on consent" of his legal team.

And in Los Angeles, Weinstein was found guilty of rape in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 additional years in prison.

His legal team is also appealing that conviction. Jennifer Bonjean, the attorney representing him in that appeal, observed the Manhattan courtroom proceedings in the front row.

Aidala said the Los Angeles conviction was also in question, since jurors were informed about the New York conviction — which has now been overturned.

As he was being wheeled out of court at the end of the hearing, Weinstein low-fived members of his legal team from his wheelchair.

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• USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, is undergoing repairs, causing disruptions to Marine Corps operations.
• The ship's issues began in 2022 and have continued, delaying deployment.
• Naval Surface Force has stated that the USS Boxer may deploy this summer.

USS Boxer, a namphibious assault ship, is undergoing repairs, and a top general says that the hang-ups are affecting Marine Corps operations and depriving the force of key capabilities.

"When you lose your big-deck, you lose most of your aviation assets and you lose your crisis response force," Marine Corps commandant Gen. Eric M. Smith told members of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

Smith also said that Marines cannot train the same with the USS Boxer, a large flattop that resembles a medium-sized aircraft carrier, currently out of action.

Amphibious assault ships, or LHDs, typically have flight and hangar decks that helicopters and aircraft like the Harrier jump jet or newer F-35Bs can operate from.

USS Boxer has experienced ongoing technical issues since 2022, when two of the ship's forced draft fans repeatedly failed. The following year, there were two additional incidents. The ship's main gearbox was spun without proper lubrication. The details of the other incident remain unclear.

Some of the ship's engineers were found to have been negligent in past command investigations into some of the Boxer's problems.

More recently, the ship's rudder is in need of repairs and its roller bearing system is under evaluation after failing.

"We are evaluating the different procedures that will be done to repair her. It's about a four- to six-week repair," Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti, the Chief of Naval Operations, told the House committee. "We're still investigating the cause of the bearing, but it was either potentially installed improperly or the bearing itself had some type of defect."

The warship has been pierside in San Diego since early April, and its deployment has been delayed since January. Naval Surface Force told USNI News in a recent statement that the Boxer may be deployed "as soon as this summer."

USS Boxer received seven Navy-wide awards in March, including the Battle Effectiveness Award and Maritime Warfare Excellence Award for its "sustained superior performance."

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• Donald Trump's social media stock collapsed a month ago, and people were happy to tell you why.
• But those weren't very good answers — which is why they didn't explain why the stock rallied again.
• Now Trump Media is down again. Don't bother trying to understand: Meme stocks don't respond to reason.

Remember when Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, the company that operates Truth Social, Donald Trump's social network, turned into a publicly traded stock? Which then tanked?

OK. I'll remind you: That was a month ago. And at the time, confident headlines explained that the stock's collapse was because of new disclosures, which explained that Truth Social was a bad, money-losing business.

Those explanations made no sense: Earlier public filings had already made it abundantly clear that Truth Social is a bad business.

But that story did set up a useful pattern over the next few weeks: Trump Media shares would plummet again, and then explainers would explain that there was a new reason for the fall. The company was offering more shares for sale. Or Trump's hush money payment trial had begun.

So how do we explain that over the course of the past two weeks, Trump Media shares had doubled again? Or that after that bull run, the shares are collapsing again on Wednesday?

People get paid to explain this stuff, even if they don't really know, so they're trying: Maybe Trump's criminal trial is good for Truth Social since it draws attention to the fact that he posts on it a lot? Or maybe the shares went up because of the company's cynical campaign to blame the stock drop on evil stock manipulators who are shorting the stock — even though Trump Media shares are difficult and expensive to short?

It's kind of exhausting, really. Which is why people are barely trying to explain the most recent collapse: CNBC notes that the company just disclosed that Trump himself will get more Trump shares, but … eh. That doesn't even count as a half-hearted explanation.

OK. My turn. Here is the reason that Trump shares collapse, or rally, or collapse again: There is no underlying reason.

By any objective measure, Trump Media is barely a company, and would be worth at best a tiny fraction of the billions the market assigns it on any given day. But Trump Media is a meme stock, and as such it can gyrate wildly based on … vibes? Or mojo? Or, in some cases, the misplaced faith that some of its retail investors have in Donald Trump, the person?

We do know that over the long haul, meme stocks seem to de-memeify themselves, and their frothy shares eventually end up reflecting something closer to reality. (See, for instance, the multi-year performance of pandemic favorites like GameStop, Bed Bath and Beyond, and AMC.)

But in the near term, on any given day, you'd be very hard-pressed to find a rational reason for their market moves. It's like Jon Stewart trying to explain how the Knicks blew game five against the Sixers.

So go ahead and bet on, or against Trump Media — on any given day, you could be right? But don't delude yourself that you're doing anything other than putting your money on a roulette wheel.

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The US claims China stole American tech to make a copycat of the F-22 Raptor, known as the J-20 Mighty Dragon. We compare the stealth, accuracy, and radar technology of the two fighter jets.

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• Facebook and Instagram now have Llama 3 integrated into their search fields.
• This is confusing. We're used to using the search bar for looking up people, groups, or tags.
• And the suggestions for searches are oddly chipper and G-rated.

Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram have integrated Meta AI into the search fields of their mobile apps. And it's getting weird.

The search bar in the Facebook and Instagram apps is one place you probably know very well. You've searched plenty of things there —the names of people you went to high school with, a local business whose page you want to find, a celebrity whose latest controversial post everyone is talking about.

We all know what to expect in the search bar of Facebook and Instagram: You find things — people, pages, groups, tags, locations — that already exist on Facebook and Instagram.

What you are not expecting is an artificial-intelligence chatbot interface that can do any number of things completely unrelated to Instagram or Facebook: generate an image for you, answer questions, give advice about things, etc.

This creates a really odd situation. You come to the Facebook search bar to type in the name of your local Buy Nothing group, but instead, you see an animated blue circle with "Ask Meta AI anything."

Huh???

This intrusion into the sacred space of the search bar isn't the only thing Meta is doing with AI that feels a little off.

Fast Company describes how it feels like AI has made Meta's apps "unusable," with the proliferation of clickbait-y AI images like shrimp Jesus or a creepy comment in a parents' group from the Meta AI bot saying it had a gifted and disabled child.

What makes the "Ask Meta AI anything" prompt in the search tab even stranger is the list of suggestions it gives you for searches. Meta wisely realized that most humans would be somewhat baffled by an AI chatbot — most people have never even knowingly interacted with AI. Pew reported that as of March, only 23% of US adults had tried ChatGPT, and 34% had never even heard of it.

So there are a ton of suggestions for what to search or ask for. And these suggestions are, I guess, fine? But they make me feel like I've been living in some saccharine alternate-reality bubble where everyone is focused on their unproblematic hobbies. Here are a few of my top suggestions:

• 🏡 Landscaping 101.

• 🐕 Dog breed recs for me.

• 🌱 Eco DIY home decor ideas.

• 🏙️ Tips to roam a new city.

• 📺 Top ocean docs.

• 🚀 Can you sleep in space?

These are all fine. Pleasant. A mix of helpful, curious facts and fun things. (There are a few suggestions, like "Imagine a 70s living room," that lead to image generation.)

But, like … Facebook. You know me. Come on, it's me, Katie! We've been together for, what, 15 years? I've given you so much data. You know I don't want to roam new cities or learn about eco-DIY home decor. I'm a garbage gremlin who logged onto Facebook eight times today to do the same gremlin stuff I've been doing for years. I'm not suddenly interested in improving myself! I don't want to know about space! I want to know what people are complaining about in my neighborhood group, and I want to shop for used furniture on Marketplace, and I want to feel bad when I'm done.

This arrangement has satisfied and nourished my spirit for years — and I've been a loyal user. Now you think I want to do landscaping??? I'm hurt.

A representative for Meta told me that these suggestions could change based on popular searches. That might explain at least one surprising search suggestion I got: "Rick Lax net worth." (Rick Lax is a magician behind a lot of Facebook viral content and largely popular only ON Facebook.)

On Instagram, the search suggestions are slightly more Instagram-y, like "5 tips for glowing skin," "Cheerleading reels," and "Write a spring fashion guide." The request for cheerleading reels does lead to a suggestion of a bunch of other reels.

I asked the Meta AI whether there was a difference between the AI used for Facebook and Instagram, and it told me, "While the core LLaMA 3 model remains the same, its applications and fine-tuning differ on Instagram and Facebook to cater to each platform's unique requirements and user experiences." A representative for Meta told me that this wasn't exactly true — a standard case of an AI hallucination.

For me, what feels strangest isn't whether Llama 3 is "good" at answering these queries — or noticeably better or worse than any competing AI. It works, but the best things going for it are that it's fast with its output, it's free, and it's right there in an app I already use a lot.

And if Meta's goal here is to get people's feet wet with the idea of using generative AI — without having to download a different app or think up ideas of what to ask it — well, mission accomplished.

It's part of Meta's push into an AI arms race, and one where it's well equipped with more compute power. Meta also has an edge when it comes to getting its large language model into the hands of as many users as possible to try it out: It has a lot of humans who open its apps every day and search stuff in the search bar.

So, yes, jamming Meta AI into the search bar feels really weird and confusing, but Meta isn't shy about muscling new features on users — even if they complain — to get the new feature adopted by a critical mass of users (cough reels cough).

But for we gremlins who are used to searching for old flames, new acquaintances, celebrities, and embarrassing other things in the Instagram search bar, this is certainly a strange new world.

Update: May 1, 2024 — This story has been updated with a comment from Meta.

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