Trying again to rehabilitate its reputation in Europe, Facebook today announced a wide-ranging training program to help small businesses and provide individuals with critical digital skills.
In addition, the company said it would expand its artificial intelligence investments in France by hiring new engineers and expanding a scholarship program, according to a post penned by Ciaran Quilty, Faceook’s vice president of small businesses for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The announcement comes after year in which Facebook has faced growing skepticism and tough questions from regulators across Europe who worry that the social network has become too powerful. Regulators have confronted the company over its taxes, its failure to block hate speech, how it handles users’ data, and its role in spreading fake news.
In the latest announcement, Facebook sought again to highlight the positive economic impact it has. The company noted that its platform was used by 35 percent of small and medium businesses in Europe’s largest countries, which has led to increased sales and hiring.
To further boost that dynamic, Facebook said it would open community skills hubs in Spain, Poland and Italy. Those hubs would partner with local groups to offer training in “digital skills, media literacy and online safety to underrepresented groups.” It has also set a goal of training 1 million people and business owners in Europe by 2020.
In addition, Facebook said it would spend $12.25 million via its French AI research center to increase its scholarship program in that country. The number of Facebook AI Research Paris’ PhD fellows will increase from 10 to 40. The money will also be used to fund 10 servers to host open data sets for public agencies. And the company plans to double its AI research team in Paris from 30 to 60.
No comments:
Post a Comment