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AnonTechie [soylentnews.org] writes:

The explosive popularity of prediction markets, spearheaded by Polymarket and Kalshi, has shocked experts, who are warning of a surge in gambling [theguardian.com] addiction. The platforms have massively lowered the barriers to entry for problem betting, allowing practically anybody to wager their hard-earned cash on events ranging from the outcomes [yahoo.com] of deadly wars to who will win the World Cup [futurism.com] .

Given all that controversy, maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — who excels [yahoo.com] at bringing out the absolute worst [yahoo.com] of humanity — has directed his staff to create a similar betting app of their own, dubbed "Arena."

As two employees with knowledge of the matter told the New York Times, users wouldn't be wagering real money, relying instead on a "video game-like points system." That makes it an even more baffling endeavor, considering the promise of getting rich quick is the only real reason prediction markets have become as popular as they are now.

[...] Meanwhile, Meta's graveyard of ill-conceived products has become crowded, from a botched cryptocurrency and paying celebrities millions of dollars to turn them into AI chatbots to cartoonized "metaverse" worlds filled with screaming children.

Beyond gambling, Meta is also trying to get an AI photo generating app off the ground, according to the NYT's sources. But whether there's any appetite left for even more slop apps is dubious at best.

Will this be successful or another disaster, as predicted ??

[Source]: yahoo!tech [yahoo.com]

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