Facebook was launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg as a social networking platform for Harvard students and later expanded publicly. It provides free services that allow users to share photos, personal information, messages, and videos. Facebook became the fastest company to reach $250 billion in market value in 2015. It has over 1.65 billion monthly active users as of 2016. Facebook is working on new technologies like virtual reality platforms, internet access via solar-powered planes and satellites, and artificial intelligence research to connect more people globally.