Techmeme
December 20, 2021, 12:25 PM

Top News

Nick Statt / Protocol:
Microsoft's Phil Spencer says the success and growth of games like Minecraft show the ingredients required for the metaverse to shed its dystopian roots  —  When Phil Spencer thinks about the tech and gaming industries' newfound obsession with the metaverse, the Xbox chief's mind goes to Minecraft.
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Oracle will acquire electronic medical records company Cerner for $28.3B, or $95 per share, in an all-cash deal  —  - Enterprise software giant Oracle will acquire electronic medical records company Cerner.  —  Enterprise software giant Oracle will buy electronic medical records company Cerner …
New York Times:
Investigation details China's social media propaganda machine, which uses private contractors to generate content to spread on Facebook and Twitter  —  Register accounts on foreign social media platforms  —  按月报单 价  —  境外.交平 …
Ben Bowman / The Streamable:
YouTube TV reaches a deal with Disney to bring back 17+ channels including ABC, Disney, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic  —  After one day of being dark, YouTube TV and Disney have reached a deal which will see more than 17 Disney-owned channels, including local ABC affiliates, Disney Channel, and ESPN return to the service.
Eleanor Olcott / Financial Times:
Alibaba suspends China's biggest shopping celebrity Huang Wei from Taobao after she was fined ~$210M for tax evasion, in a blow to Alibaba's livestream shopping  —  Alibaba hit hard after Viya fined $210m for under-reporting income from internet promotions  —  China's biggest online shopping …
More: Protocol
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Turing, which uses AI to source, evaluate, hire, onboard, and then manage engineers remotely, raises an $87M Series D, valuing the startup at $1.1B  —  When it comes to engineering talent in the world of tech, demand continues to outpace supply, a predicament so acute that by 2030 …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Bangalore-based Razorpay, a top payment processor in India whose products resemble Stripe's, raises a $375M Series F at a $7.5B valuation, up from $3B in April  —  Razorpay has more than doubled its valuation to $7.5 billion from $3 billion in April as one of India's largest fintech giants …

Sponsor Posts

Niantic Spatial:
World models need real-world data  —  Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics.  Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.
Zoho:
Meet Zoho Books MCP: Bring AI-powered accounting to your business  —  Isn't change the only constant?  And that holds true for accounting too.  For years, accounting software has helped businesses manage their finances …
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.
Anuma:
The Private AI That Remembers  —  Anuma is the all-in-one AI platform with private, portable memory.  Chat, text, create, build, and solve across every model.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's User Growth Miss, Musk vs. Altman, Prediction Market Ban
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Training Data:
OpenAI's Greg Brockman: Why Human Attention Is the New Bottleneck
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Runway's Cris Valenzuela: Building The Hollywood-Friendly Video AI That OpenAI Couldn't
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.
Hard Fork:
OpenAI's Big Reset + A.I. in the Doctor's Office + Talkie, a pre-1930s LLM
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.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'Food and Beverage Director', With MG Siegler
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:25 PM ET, December 20, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Anton Shilov / AnandTech: