Facebook profit soars, Zuckerberg encouraged to stay 'active' - CNET

Enlarge Image

When you think of whacky and iovative tech companies, Google is usually the first to come up. But Facebook is quickly becoming second.

More people in Silicon Valley are talking about how Mark Zuckerberg is transforming Facebook from a way to share baby photos and updates about what we ate for breakfast to a company that wants to be an even bigger part of our lives. That's kind of like Google, which started life as a search engine and now makes phone software, autonomous cars and contact lenses that double as health sensors.

In the past two years, Facebook spent at least $2 billion to become a leader in virtual reality. In March, it started selling $599 Oculus Rift goggles that strap a screen so close to your face you'll believe the computer-generated worlds you're seeing are real. Facebook is also becoming such a vocal part of artificial intelligence research that Zuckerberg pledged to spend 2016 inventing an AI to manage his work and home. The company's also building Inteet-beaming drones that fly over and capture images from remote parts of the world.

If you look at Google's list of research projects, there's a lot of overlap. The search giant just said it taught an AI how to play the ancient board game, Go. Facebook taught an AI to answer tests about J.R.R. Tolkien's book series "The Lord of the Rings." Facebook has Inteet-beaming drones. Google's is flying high-altitude balloons. Google also makes VR devices. Facebook is trying to speed up Inteet networks. So is Google with its Fiber broadband service.

Facebook even aounced Wednesday a new stock scheme which will create a new class of shares (something Google did as well). Facebook's board said the new plan will "allow us to remain focused on Mr. Zuckerberg's long-term vision for our company and encourage Mr. Zuckerberg to remain in an active leadership role at Facebook."