Techmeme
January 19, 2022, 1:00 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: in recent weeks, CEO Bobby Kotick suggested Activision Blizzard make an acquisition, including of trade publications like Kotaku and PC Gamer  —  After a lawsuit and a Journal report, the company's stock was falling, board members were getting anxious—and the tech giant was ready to take a gamble
Bloomberg:
Sony's stock fell 13% on Wednesday, its biggest drop since October 2008, wiping $20B off its valuation, after Microsoft announced its Activision Blizzard deal  —  Sony Group Corp. shares fell 13% in Tokyo on Wednesday, their biggest drop since October 2008, after PlayStation rival Microsoft Corp. announced …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Activision Blizzard tried to find other buyers, including Meta, while weighing a potential Microsoft takeover after the WSJ's exposé in November  —  Late last year, as Activision Blizzard Inc. and Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick were reeling from accusations that Kotick knew …
Microsoft:
Peter Kafka / Vox:
CNBC:
Apple and Google warn of harmful consequences to user privacy and security from two proposed Senate antitrust bills scheduled to be considered this week  —  - Apple warned in a letter on Tuesday that antitrust bills being considered in the Senate would increase the risk of security breaches to iPhone users.
Carly Page / TechCrunch:
Password management service 1Password raises a $620M Series C led by Iconiq Growth at a $6.8B valuation and says it now has 100K+ paying customers  —  Password management platform 1Password has closed a massive $620 million Series C funding round that raises the company's valuation to $6.8 billion.
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Democratic lawmakers unveil the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act, which would ban targeted ads but allow broad location-based and contextual ads  —  It could reshape the entire tech industry  —  On Tuesday, Democrats introduced a new bill that would ban nearly all use …
Steve Dent / Engadget:
Opera unveils Crypto Browser Project, a beta browser for Windows, Mac, and Android, with a crypto wallet, access to crypto/NFT exchanges, dApps, and more  —  Opera has launched its Web3 “Crypto Browser” into beta with features like a built-in crypto wallet, easy access to cryptocurrency/NFT exchanges …
NBC News:
Snapchat's friend recommendation feature will no longer suggest users under 18, unless they have a certain number of friends in common, to curb drug dealing  —  Exclusive: Snapchat executive on company's efforts to stop sale of counterfeit pills  —  Snapchat's parent company announced Tuesday …
Wall Street Journal:
AT&T and Verizon temporarily restrict 5G expansion near US airports, but a few airlines will still suspend some flights on Wednesday amid Boeing's guidance  —  Flight suspensions occur even as AT&T and Verizon agree to limit signals within 2 miles of runways to address air-safety concerns
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
South Africa-based mobile games publisher Carry1st raises a $20M Series A extension led by a16z, the firm's first investment in an Africa-headquartered startup  —  Carry1st has raised $20 million in funding from marquee investors for its mobile game publishing platform targeted at unlocking demand in the African market.
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
Ambient.ai, which uses AI to process live video footage from security cameras and alert users of breaches, raises $52M led by a16z  —  Security — as in “hey you, you can't go in there” — quickly becomes a complex, arguably impossible job once you get past a few buildings and cameras.
Andrew Asmakov / Decrypt:
Crypto.com halted withdrawals on Monday and required users to sign back in and reset 2FA; research shows it lost 4,600+ ETH, worth ~$15M, in a presumed hack  —  The crypto exchange has reportedly lost at least $15 million in Ethereum, and security experts believe the true losses could be much higher.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Filmhub, which lets filmmakers distribute their work to over 100 streaming channels, including Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV, raises a $6.8M seed led by a16z  —  As the streaming market grows, so has the demand for content.  But even though it's now easier than ever for filmmakers to create …
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
The US OCC and Federal Reserve approve SoFi's bid to become a bank holding company via its Golden Pacific Bancorp acquisition; SoFi stock jumps 16%+ after hours  —  - San Francisco-based SoFi got approval from its two key regulators to become a bank holding company.
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Chinese government data shows domestic smartphone shipments grew 15.9% YoY to 342.8M units in 2021, below the 371.7M smartphones shipped in 2019  —  - China domestic smartphone shipments jumped 15.9% year-on-year in 2021 to 342.8 million units, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).
Katie Roof / Bloomberg:
Handshake, a diversity-focused recruitment network aimed at college students, raises a $200M Series F at a $3.5B valuation, up from $1.5B in May 2021  —  Handshake, a job network for recent college graduates, reached a valuation of $3.5 billion after a new round of financing.
More: Yahoo FinanceThanks:@mayajvarma
Keith Romer / New York Times:
AI tools can generate an optimal poker strategy, balancing bluffing and playing it straight, which some professional players are using to augment their play  —  Good poker players have always known that they need to maintain a balance between bluffing and playing it straight.  Now they can do so perfectly.

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Featured Podcasts

The Upstarts Podcast:
Mutiny's Jaleh Rezaei: Walking Away From Millions In Software To Grow Even Faster With Sales AI
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
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Hard Fork:
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Access:
The billionaire paying AI researchers to stay out of Big Tech
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
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Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
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More News

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Earlier Picks

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Frank Chaparro / The Block: