Share

Facebook Founder Gives Pope a Drone During Vatican Visit

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, alongside his wife Priscilla Chan, met with Pope Francis on Monday and gave him exactly what you would expect from a tech CEO: a drone.

Advertisement

“We also discussed the importance of connecting people, especially in parts of the world without internet access”, he added.

Zuckerberg gave the Pope a model of Aquila, Facebook’s solar-powered unmanned plane that will extend Internet connectivity to parts of the world that don’t have it. Aquila has been created to give access to internet connectivity in places in the world that don’t now have it.

Zuckerberg says he hopes to have a demo of the project available sometime next month, and credits a lot of the AI’s success to his engineering team at work.

The social media entrepreneur’s tour of Italy also included a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in the aftermath of the Amatrice natural disaster which left 281 dead. Zuckerberg is also hosting a town hall at a Rome university.

On Monday, Zuckerberg and his wife met with the Pope ways to use technology to alleviate poverty.

Facebook communities in Italy and the world are united in wanting to help Italy after last week’s devastating quake, FB founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said after meeting Premier Matteo Renzi in his office in Rome Monday. Zuckerberg said through voice control, it can manipulate the temperature, lights and gate to the house. After events like earthquakes, hurricanes, or bombings, people let friends and family know they’re OK with Facebook’s Safety Check feature.

“The real pain and the real rebuilding happens over a long period of time”, he said.

Zuckerberg’s last stop was by an Express WiFi stand in Lagos, that makes it possible for entrepreneurs to set up a internet hotspot to help their community access apps and services built by local developers.

Advertisement

He honeymooned with Chan in the city and has studied Latin and Classical history, according to CNN Money.

Pope Francis shakes hands with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during a meeting at the Vatican