Techmeme
October 14, 2023, 12:05 AM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft completes its Activision Blizzard acquisition after a 20-month battle with regulators in the UK and the US; Bobby Kotick will remain CEO through 2023  —  The Verge exclusively reported last week that Microsoft was planning to close today, and now it's official.
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft has spent $170B+ on acquisitions under Satya Nadella, per Dealogic, helping to nearly triple revenue and become central in sectors like AI and gaming  —  Companies completed the deal—the largest in Microsoft's nearly 50-year history—after regulators' concerns were addressed
Samuel Tolbert / Windows Central:
The UK CMA approves Microsoft's $68.7B Activision Blizzard acquisition, after Microsoft reformed the deal to sell some Activision cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft  —  The final roadblock has been removed.  —  What you need to know  — UK regulatory authority the CMA granted Microsoft approval to purchase Activision Blizzard.
Jo Marchant / Nature:
A student wins a contest to read the text inside a carbonized Roman scroll, which had been unreadable since a volcanic eruption in AD 79, using an ML algorithm  —  A 21-year-old computer-science student has won a global contest to read the first text inside a carbonized scroll …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
A look at Microsoft's deal with Ubisoft, which now gets the cloud gaming rights for Call of Duty and current Activision games outside of the EU for 15 years  —  Microsoft's giant Activision Blizzard deal is complete, and it means Ubisoft has now obtained cloud streaming rights for Call of Duty …
Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:
Filing: the US NLRB alleges that X illegally fired an employee in November 2022 in retaliation for her posts challenging the company's RTO policy  —  Elon Musk's X Corp. illegally fired an employee in retaliation for her internet posts challenging its return-to-office policy …
New York Times:
As China-linked Bitcoin mines open across the US, officials raise national security concerns, like about a Wyoming mine that is close to a nuclear missile base  —  Microsoft reported one site in Wyoming because of its proximity to a data center and nuclear missile base.
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
CD Projekt used AI to recreate the voice of Miłogost Reczek, a Polish voice actor who died in 2021, for Cyberpunk 2077's new Polish DLC, after asking his family  —  Gamemaker says it consulted with family of the late Miłogost Reczek  —  Polish video game developer CD Projekt SA …
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Tether promotes long-time CTO Paolo Ardoino to CEO, starting in December, and plans to become a “tech-centric organization”; the current CEO will be an advisor  —  - Stablecoin issuer Tether promoted its long-time CTO Paolo Ardoino to CEO as it envisions becoming a “tech-centric organization.”

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More News

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New York Times:
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Earlier Picks

Ian King / Bloomberg:
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Sarah Wynn / The Block:
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: