Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has directed a small team to create a standalone app similar to Polymarket and Kalshi, the New York Times reported Tuesday, citing two employees with knowledge of the plans. The app, known internally as "Arena," would likely run on a video game-style points system rather than real money, though the company reportedly has not ruled out cash betting later. CNBC separately confirmed the project with a source familiar with the plans.

Strategic Reach and User Base

Meta has reach that the competition could only dream of. It can put Arena in front of 3.56 billion daily users. Arena would run on points instead of cash. Sceptics may argue that a prediction market with nothing to win on it is closer to a poll than a trade, and Meta has been here before. Its 2020 app Forecast used the same play-money setup and folded in 2022.

History of Product Experiments

Forecast was not a one-off. Meta has launched and buried a long line of standalone apps, from TikTok clone Lasso to Pinterest-style Hobbi, Cameo-like Super and Substack rival Bulletin, most of them through its New Product Experimentation unit. Threads is the one that stuck.

Market Reaction and Sector Data

META barely budged. The selling hit the incumbents instead. DraftKings Inc. and Robinhood Markets both fell, with investors treating Arena as one more threat to operators leaning into event contracts. DraftKings has shed roughly 30% this year as Polymarket and Kalshi eat into its handle.

The sector keeps setting records regardless, booking $28.4 billion in May volume, a fourth straight monthly high. Bernstein estimates the market may reach $1 trillion in annual volume by the end of the decade. Whether Arena ships is itself close to a coin flip, with insiders calling it experimental. For now, the real downside sits with the names already taking real money.

Meta Platforms, Inc. has paused its internal artificial intelligence training program, the Model Capability Initiative (MCI), following concerns that sensitive employee information was accessible to a wider audience than intended. The tool, launched in April, recorded mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes on work computers to train Meta's AI models using data from U.S.-based employees. The company confirmed the temporary halt while it investigates potential data security issues, though a spokesperson stated there is currently no indication that data was improperly accessed.

The decision to pause the initiative followed the filing of a high-priority internal security incident report. Internal documents indicated that the exposed information included AI prompts, transcripts, private conversations, employee performance-related information, and internal sensitivity classifications. Despite the announced pause, a source noted that the system was still collecting information on Monday afternoon, with the company acknowledging that a complete shutdown would take time.

Recent reports had already raised questions about the program, suggesting it was gathering more information than originally described and storing some data without encryption. Employees involved in internal discussions expressed concern that personal tax and medical information accessed on work computers was at risk. Staff had been assured that data would be protected and used only for legitimate business purposes following "aggressive filtering."

Key Details of the Paused Initiative

Stock Performance

Shares of Meta closed Monday at $563.85, down 2.32%. The stock slipped an additional 0.20% to $562.70 in after-hours trading.