Techmeme
January 18, 2022, 11:05 PM

Top 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.
More: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, New York Times, Activision Publishing, CNBC, Kotaku, Bloomberg, VentureBeat, CNBC, Microsoft, TechRadar, Bloomberg, PYMNTS.com, Reuters, Blockworks, Forbes, PR Newswire, Menagerie, the Newsletter, The Signal, Cointelegraph, The Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, TechCrunch, MSPoweruser, EnterpriseAI, Ars Technica, purexbox.com, LinkedIn, Engadget, GameSpot, Reuters, GeekWire, IGN, Polygon, PC Gamer, Windows Central, Dexerto, Neowin, Entechtainment, Digital Trends, CNBC, Input, Dot Esports, Game Rant, thegamer.com, Pocketnow, Coinspeaker, Benzinga, MobileSyrup, Bitcoinist.com, Slate, Protocol, and CNBC
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.
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.
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.
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Democratic lawmakers unveil the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act, which would ban targeted ads by data brokers, but exempt broad location and contextual ads  —  It could reshape the entire tech industry  —  On Tuesday, Democrats introduced a new bill that would ban nearly all use …
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.
Stephen Graves / Decrypt:
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
Jeffrey Knockel / The Citizen Lab:
China's MY2022 Olympics app, mandatory for attendees to report travel and health data, has serious encryption flaws and contains a censorship keyword list  —  Key Findings  — MY2022, an app mandated for use by all attendees of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, has a simple but devastating flaw …
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.
Canalys:
Apple shipped an estimated 22% of global smartphones in Q4 2021, down from 23% in Q4 2020, followed by Samsung at 20%, Xiaomi at 12%, Oppo at 9%, and Vivo at 8%  —  Shanghai (China), Bengaluru (India), Singapore, Reading (UK) and Portland (US) - Tuesday, 18 January 2022
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.
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
Kyle Alspach / VentureBeat:
Banyan Security, which offers a zero trust remote access client and saw a 300% increase in users in 2021, raises a $30M Series B led by Third Point Ventures  —  Banyan Security, which today announced raising $30 million in series B funding, said it saw a 300% increase in users in 2021 …
Joanna Ossinger / Bloomberg:
Animoca Brands, which publishes NFTs and games tied to blockchain platforms, raises $359M led by Liberty City at a $5B valuation, up from $2.2B in October 2021  —  Soros Fund Management and the Winklevoss twins' venture capital firm are among investors in a funding round that's more than doubled …
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
US OCC and Federal Reserve grant SoFi a conditional banking license via its acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp community bank; SoFi stock up 16%+ after hours  —  - San Francisco-based SoFi got approval from its two key regulators to become a bank holding company.
Ashley Rodriguez / Insider:
Social Capital founder and CEO Chamath Palihapitiya says the “ugly truth” is “nobody cares about what's happening” to Uyghurs in China, himself included  —  - Chamath Palihapitiya said “nobody cares about what's happening” to Uyghur Muslims in China.
Charlize Alcaraz / BetaKit:
Financial data and analytics firm Canalyst raises a $70M Series C led by Dragoneer Investment Group, bringing its total funding to over $100M  —  The round brings Canalyst's total funding to over $100 million.  —  Vancouver and New York-based Canalyst has raised $70 million USD …

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