Nicholas Thompson

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced a partnership with Land O’Lakes, a company known for its butter that’s the country’s third-largest agricultural cooperative. As part of the deal, Microsoft and Land O’Lakes will build an AgTech platform that, ideally, will use artificial intelligence to help farmers plan their crop cycles, protect their soils, and harvest more grain. The companies will also try to increase broadband access in rural areas and make it easier for farmers to get credit for carbon removal.

In some ways, the world’s largest social network is stronger than ever, with record revenue of $55.8 billion in 2018. But Facebook has also never been more threatened. Here are some dangers that could knock it down.

Facebook is making three important announcements on false news. The first new announcement is a request for proposals from academics eager to study false news on the platform.  The second announcement is the launch of a public education campaign that will utilize the top of Facebook’s home page, perhaps the most valuable real estate on the internet.

This is the story of the two years [at Facebook since the runup to the 2016 election], as they played out inside and around the company. Wired spoke with 51 current or former Facebook employees for this article. The stories varied, but most people told the same basic tale: of a company, and a CEO, whose techno-optimism has been crushed as they’ve learned the myriad ways their platform can be used for ill. Of an election that shocked Facebook, even as its fallout put the company under siege.