Meta Tech Podcast

Join Steve, a Jupyter expert from Meta, as he reveals the exciting features of Bento, Meta's customized Jupyter Notebooks. Learn how serverless capabilities and WebAssembly enhance performance and efficiency. Steve discusses innovative tools like scheduled notebooks, easier data integration from Google Sheets, and the upcoming multi-language support. Discover how Bento streamlines data analytics and fosters collaboration among engineers and data scientists while integrating AI to assist users. Get a glimpse of what's next for these groundbreaking tools!

We don’t know when but at some point in the future we will face what researchers call a "Quantum Apocalypse". This is when quantum computers will be able to break many of our existing encryption algorithms. To keep Meta’a users safe even from attacks that don’t even exist today, Sheran and Rafael are working on post-quantum-ready encryption. Tune in to learn about the various challenges and trade offs that this work brings with it.   Got feedback? Send it to us on Threads (https://threads.net/@metatechpod), Twitter (https://twitter.com/metatechpod), Instagram (https://instagram.com/metatechpod) and don’t forget to follow our host @passy (https://twitter.com/passy, https://mastodon.social/@passy, and https://threads.net/@passy_). Fancy working with us? Check out https://www.metacareers.com/. Links Post-quantum readiness for TLS at Meta: https://engineering.fb.com/2024/05/22/security/post-quantum-readiness-tls-pqr-meta/  Fizz TLS implementation: https://github.com/facebookincubator/fizz  liboqs: https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs  NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Submissions: https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/post-quantum-cryptography/post-quantum-cryptography-standardization/round-3-submissions    Timestamps Intro 0:06 Meta Open Source 101 1:10 Intros 1:49 Sheran Intro 2:31 Rafael Intro 3:37 Then Quantum Apocalypse 5:24 Why symmetric and asymmetric algos behave differently 8:10 Why invest in tomorrow's problems? 9:21 First deployment target 14:17 Choosing an algorithm 18:06 Choosing the right parameters 19:51 Performance costs and wins 21:28 Stack 23:33 Challenges 25:26 What's next for PQC? 30:38 Working with NIST 32:59 Outro 34:30 Outtakes 35:43

Join Ed, Jason, Fan, and Raghavan, four innovative mechanical engineers who created Caddy, a cutting-edge CAD software for mixed reality. They discuss the journey from traditional CAD limitations to a collaborative, immersive experience that transforms 3D modeling. The team shares insights on harnessing generative AI to enhance coding skills and user interaction. With applications in hardware, education, and more, they envision a future where mixed reality reduces travel and boosts productivity in design.

Aida, a trailblazer on one of Meta's first Rust teams, discusses the challenges of integrating Rust with existing C++ systems. She shares insights into the cxx library, which simplifies safe interop and async programming between the two languages. Aida explores her journey transitioning from C++ to Rust, tackling memory management and thread safety issues along the way. The conversation highlights the benefits of Rust, such as performance enhancements, while addressing real-world complexities developers face.

The basic version of Threads for web was built in just under three months by two engineers, mirroring the nimble engineering practices we talked about on this podcast before when it came to launching Threads for Android and iOS. In this episode, Pascal is joined by Ally and Kevin, two engineers on the Threads Web team. They talk about how shared infrastructure with other Meta web properties allows them to move fast and how they manage to balance the need to ship new features with the desire to craft delightful experiences for their users.  Got feedback? Send it to us on Threads (https://threads.net/@metatechpod), Twitter (https://twitter.com/metatechpod), Instagram (https://instagram.com/metatechpod) and don’t forget to follow our host @passy (https://twitter.com/passy, https://mastodon.social/@passy, and https://threads.net/@passy_). Fancy working with us? Check out https://www.metacareers.com/. Links Threads: https://threads.net StyleX: https://stylexjs.com/  FlowJS: https://flow.org/  Introducing Meta Llama 3: https://ai.meta.com/blog/meta-llama-3/ Building custom silicon for the future of AI: https://www.metacareers.com/life/building-custom-silicon-for-the-future-of-ai Building Meta’s GenAI Infrastructure: https://engineering.fb.com/2024/03/12/data-center-engineering/building-metas-genai-infrastructure/  Timestamps Intro 0:06 Intro Ally and Kevin 1:44 Why focus on Web? 2:48 Kevin's contributions 4:42 Focus on craft 6:18 Editing Threads 7:34 Ally's contributions 10:40 Prioritising delight and shipping features 12:02 Launching Threads Web 13:30 Shared Infra 16:13 Tech Stack 19:15 The DevX of Meta www 23:51 Challenges 30:57 Favourite bit of polish 34:32 Outtakes 39:18

Every day, trillions of image download requests are made from Meta’s family of apps. Zuzanna works on the Media Platform Team that owns the entire flow from serving images from the CDN to displaying the pixels on your phone. One of the project she and her team recently worked on was rolling out HDR images to Instagram and Threads and in this episode’s interview, Zuzanna tells show host Pascal how they partnered with large phone manufacturers to develop and roll out the new feature. Got feedback? Send it to us on Threads (https://threads.net/@metatechpod), Twitter (https://twitter.com/metatechpod), Instagram (https://instagram.com/metatechpod) and don’t forget to follow our host @passy (https://twitter.com/passy, https://mastodon.social/@passy, and https://threads.net/@passy_). Fancy working with us? Check out https://www.metacareers.com/. Links Fresco: https://frescolib.org/  Timestamps Intro 0:06 Intro Zuza 1:44 Image Infra Team 3:23 The scale of images at Meta 5:10 Measuring quality 10:01 HDR photos 12:13 HDR file formats 19:02 HDR photo availability today 22:34 Partnering with phone vendors 30:40 Why photos after videos? 32:27 Outro 36:22

Learn about DotSlash, a tool that simplifies executable deployment by combining a fast Rust program with a JSON manifest. Discover the differences between DotSlash and other deployment methods like LFS and buck2 run. Hear about where DotSlash is used at Meta and how it improves tool distribution.

Discussing Python 3.12 new features contributed by Meta like custom JITs, type system improvements, and faster comprehensions. Exploring the challenges of upstreaming changes, including Cinder's impact on machine learning. Insights on Python performance enhancements, upcoming features, and managing API changes within tech companies.

In this episode, Pascal interviews Devi, an AI research director at Meta, about the history of AI at Meta and their unique approach to developing and using AI. They discuss topics such as the difference between AI and ML, deep learning and LLMs, Meta's open approach to AI, and exciting future AI developments. They also mention recent product launches, including Meta AI agents and personalized AI assistants.

We’re jumping into our time machine and going back to 2018 for an interview with Will B. about the various twists and turns that led to the creation of Instagram Stories. We will be back with a fresh interview next month. Got feedback? Send it to us on Threads (https://threads.net/@metatechpod), Twitter (https://twitter.com/metatechpod), Instagram (https://instagram.com/metatechpod) and don’t forget to follow our host @passy (https://twitter.com/passy, https://mastodon.social/@passy, and https://threads.net/@passy_). Fancy working with us? Check out https://www.metacareers.com/. Links Rebound: https://github.com/facebookarchive/rebound Origami Studio: https://origami.design/ Timestamps Intro 0:06 Will Bailey 1:14 Early FB iOS app 7:16 Release Trains 11:52 The End of HTML5 13:29 Migration to Native 16:05 Facebook Home 17:02 Design Collaboration 22:03 Instagram 26:33 Slingshot 27:57 Instagram for Android 29:54 Instagram Stories 35:37 Rebound 41:25 Outro 44:41