Techmeme
December 20, 2021, 9:20 AM

Top News

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.
Anton Shilov / AnandTech:
Report: chipmakers are on track to spend $152B on new fabs and production equipment in 2021, up 34% YoY, which is the strongest YoY growth since 2017  —  Semiconductor makers have drastically increased their capital expenditures (CapEx) this year in response to unprecedented demand for chips that is going to last for years.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
The case for Apple to offer a 15-inch iPad home hub is made clear by devices like the Portal and Echo Show 15, as well as Apple's ~5% smart speaker market share  —  I've been testing Amazon.com Inc.'s new Echo Show 15.  My takeaway: It's time for Apple Inc. to get serious about the smart home and launch a giant iPad as a new hub.
YLE:
Leaked docs: Facebook has not developed Finnish-language automated moderation for hate speech and other content, and employs just 11 moderators based in Berlin  —  A data leak reveals Facebook is unable to control hate speech in minority languages like Finnish.
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 …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Social gaming startup Rec Room raises $145M led by Coatue at a $3.5B valuation, up from $1.25B in March, and says it has 37M players, up from 2M in March  —  On the heels of Roblox hitting it big with its platform for user-created gaming content, another startup has landed a major round …
Ezra Fieser / Bloomberg:
Bogota-based buy now, pay later service Addi raises $80M in equity and $125M in debt at a $700M valuation and says it is used by 1,000 retailers  —  - Buy now, pay later startup Addi valued at more than $700m  — GIC leads series C round that raises fresh equity and debt

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