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January 19, 2022, 4:30 AM
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memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Microsoft: |
Microsoft plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7B in cash, or $95/share, in FY 2023; Activision's stock, which closed last week at $65.39, jumps 25%+ — Legendary games, immersive interactive entertainment and publishing expertise accelerate growth in Microsoft's Gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud.
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Bloomberg, VentureBeat, Protocol, Wall Street Journal, Activision Publishing, New York Times, CNBC, Reuters, Kotaku, The Verge, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Financial Times, CNBC, Moneycontrol, Forbes, TechRadar, Microsoft, SegmentNext, TechRadar, Cointelegraph, BBC, Blockworks, PR Newswire, Neowin, The Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, Digital Trends, Game Rant, thegamer.com, Polygon, Bitcoinist.com, PC Gamer, Dexerto, Android Headlines, CNBC, Born's Tech and Windows World, Engadget, purexbox.com, TechCrunch, IGN, Windows Central, The Shortcut, Livy's Newsletter, Washington Post, PYMNTS.com, GameSpot, TechCabal, Reclaim The Net, and EnterpriseAI
Tweets: @dinabass, @xbox, @gregisenberg, @jasonschreier, @charlieintel, @satyanadella, @xbox, @jonerlichman, @zhugeex, @microsoft, @ashleyesqueda, @adriennelaw, @edzitron, @jasonschreier, @damianburns, @kristyt, @pucknorris, @anildash, @wario64, @jasonschreier, @andrewrsorkin, @atvi_ab, @jasonschreier, @aarongreenberg, @mattdpearce, @varunmayya, @scottjohnson, @vahn16, @mkbhd, @mattophobia, @technology, @alexeheath, @technology, @richlightshed, @ldignan, @chrismessina, @technology, @rmac18, @richlightshed, @stopskeletons, @levie, @alexeheath, @eliastoufexis, @reneritchie, @paultassi, @serkantoto, @pkafka, @karlbode, @andrewyang, @thecaptainsauce, @studioanisa, @ericnewcomer, and @snazzyq
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft says Xbox Game Pass has 25M subscribers, up from 18M in January 2021 — Microsoft's all-you-can-eat catalog of games is getting bigger, and now it's adding Activision Blizzard — Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service now has 25 million subscribers.
More:
Xbox Wire, Game Rant, Forbes, The Economic Times, and Polygon
Tweets: @klobrille, @itsjuliahardy, @kiruti, @misterrnx, @grace_dustin, and @majornelson
| 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 … | Peter Kafka / Vox: |
Following several game studio acquisitions, Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal faces a big regulatory hurdle with Lina Khan's antitrust-focused FTC — Microsoft-Activision is like Disney-Fox. Maybe bigger. — Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.
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New York Times, The Economic Times, Bloomberg, The Verge, PC Gamer, and Game Rant
| 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.| 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 …
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Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, eshoo.house.gov, ZDNet, SiliconANGLE, and The Daily Dot
Tweets: @dmarti, @josephfcox, @can, @duckduckgo, @repgosar, @fightfortheftr, @samfbiddle, @motherboard, @samfbiddle, @caitrionafitz, @wolfiechristl, @dmarti, @hypervisible, @neil_chilson, @accountabletech, @dmarti, @jfelixcardoso, @eric_seufert, @repannaeshoo, @leshann, @samfbiddle, @katielmcinnis, @thezedwards, @resilien7, and @kylebrussell
| 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
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Verizon, The White House, United States, BBC, Associated Press, NPR, Airlines For America, Washington Post, New York Times, NBC News, CNBC, Newser, Fossbytes, Bloomberg, PhoneArena, ABC News, and International Business Times
Tweets: @byerussell, @reuters, @hackylawyer, @kpottermn, @mytechmusings, and @k0lwc
| Lauren Feiner / CNBC: |
The FTC and DOJ seek public comment on how to rewrite “the antitrust laws regarding mergers”, signaling a potentially tougher stance toward Big Tech deals — - The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division kicked off a process to rewrite merger guidelines for businesses on Tuesday.| Todd Spangler / Variety: |
YouTube says it's winding down YouTube Originals after six years and will only fund programs that are part of its Black Voices and YouTube Kids Funds — YouTube is getting out of the business of originals: The Google-owned video giant said it is winding down its original productions team after more than six years.
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Benzinga, Protocol, BGR India, and MediaNama
Tweets: @rkyncl, @thafnine, @tweetsauce, @brodyfoxx, @michellemanafy, @tracobuttons, @dfriend, @film_girl, @brodyfoxx, @domsmales, and @rfaughnder
| Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents: |
Ericsson sues Apple over 5G and other patents, following the expiration of the cross-license agreement between the two companies and no renewal deal — Ericsson's patent cross-license agreement with Apple has expired, and no renewal has been agreed upon, which is why infringement litigation became inevitable.
| 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.
More:
PC Gamer, xuanling11's Free Newsletter, The Register, Wall Street Journal, Gizmodo, Bitcoin News, Insider, and Fortune
Tweets: @cryptocom, @peckshield, @kris_hk, @anthony, @cryptocom, @cryptocom, @billym2k, @johnkoetsier, @decryptmedia, @jeffnolan, @calbucci, @egg_dog, @juddlegum, @mathewi, and @grady_booch
| 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 … | Frank Chaparro / The Block: |
OpenSea acquires crypto lending APIs startup Dharma Labs, which will shutter its wallet in 30 days; source says the deal was valued between $110M and $130M — Quick Take — OpenSea confirms acquisition of Dharma Labs — Dharma Lab's Hollander picked for CTO role
More:
OpenSea Blog, CryptoPotato, TechCrunch, and Crypto Briefing
Tweets: @nadavahollander, @dfinzer, @tropofarmer, @chrisblec, @jillrgunter, @xanderatallah, @daltonc, @bkroberts, @farokh, @rleshner, and @altcap
| Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times: |
Survey finds that 76% of Chinese citizens and 68% of Indians say they trust AI companies compared to only 35% in France, the UK, and the US — For many outside the tech world, “data” means soulless numbers. Perhaps it causes their eyes to glaze over with boredom.| 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.
More:
SoFi, Benzinga, Bloomberg, Crowdfund Insider, and OCC
Tweets: @anthonynoto, @ralexjimenez, @carlquintanilla, @sofi, @apompliano, and @socialcapital
| Saritha Rai / Bloomberg: |
Reliance buys a majority stake in Indian startup Addverb, which uses robots to make e-commerce warehouses and energy production more efficient, for $132M — Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd. is buying an Indian robotics startup as the conglomerate scales up automation across …
More:
TechCircle, Livemint, Times of India, The Hindu, Moneycontrol, and cnbctv18.com
Tweets: @tanzaniainsight and @quinnypig
| Andrew Hayward / Decrypt: |
The Metaplex Foundation, developer of an NFT protocol behind 5.7M+ minted Solana NFTs, raises $46M with Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson among 90+ investors — The protocol that powers millions of Solana NFTs finds prominent backers as it looks towards the metaverse and beyond. — In brief| Noah Kirsch / The Daily Beast: |
Internal memo: Better.com CEO Vishal Garg resumes full-time duties over a month after taking time off following his controversial firing of ~900 staff on Zoom — The volatile founder had laid off hundreds of workers in an emotionless webinar, triggering widespread scorn online.
More:
Forbes, CNBC, New York Times, International Business Times, and TechCrunch
| Kenrick Cai / Forbes: |
Ironclad, which helps companies create and manage business contracts, raises a $150M Series E entirely from existing investors at a $3.2B valuation — Jason Boehmig spent two years as a lawyer in Silicon Valley, putting together documents for startups, before he had enough of the clunkiness of the job.
More:
PR Newswire, Fenwick & West LLP, Reuters, and SiliconANGLE
Tweets: @ironclad_inc, @rowghani, @forbes, @mikewhelanjr, @gogwilt, @jboehmig, and @ruthiejsf. Thanks:@pchalker
| Chris Stokel-Walker / MIT Technology Review: |
A look at Tonga's internet blackout following the volcano blast, which initial investigations suggest destroyed the country's single undersea internet cable — The world is anxiously awaiting news from the island—but on top of the physical destruction, the eruption has disconnected it from the internet.
| 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.| Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch: |
Kenya-based Copia Global, which uses proprietary logistics for a mobile-first e-commerce service aimed at unbanked customers in Africa, raises a $50M Series C — Kenyan B2C e-commerce company Copia Global has raised $50 million in a Series C equity round led by Goodwell Investments.Sponsor Posts
ElevenLabs:
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Intel:
5G's most deployed platform — Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN. That's the power of Intel Inside®
5G's most deployed platform — Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN. That's the power of Intel Inside®
Zoho:
Build vs Buy Embedded Analytics: The Decision That Defines Your Product Roadmap — Every SaaS product team eventually hits the analytics wall. Your customers want insights inside your app. Your roadmap has no room to spare.
Build vs Buy Embedded Analytics: The Decision That Defines Your Product Roadmap — Every SaaS product team eventually hits the analytics wall. Your customers want insights inside your app. Your roadmap has no room to spare.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.Featured Podcasts
Hard Fork:
The Future of Addictive Design + Going Deep at DeepMind + HatGPT
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
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Great Chat:
Go touch some grass (but don't tweet about it)
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
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Lenny's Podcast:
An AI state of the union: We've passed the inflection point, dark factories are coming, and automation timelines | Simon Willison
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Access:
The future of AI might be on your finger
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
Axiom's Carina Hong: Solving Math's Hardest Problems With AI, And AI's Problems With Math
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.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
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.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
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