Facebook announced on Thursday that it had canceled the “in-person component” of its annual F8 conference due to “growing concerns” over the coronavirus. The major event was set to take place in San Jose in May, however the tech giant said on Thursday, “In light of the growing concerns around COVID-19, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of F8 this year, in order to prioritize the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on,” according to a statement. Facebook said it will replace the in-person event with “locally hosted events, videos and live-streamed content.” The company, which reportedly has roughly 45,000 employees, also shot down plans for its Global Marketing Summit scheduled for March 9 in San Francisco due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
