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January 18, 2022, 11:05 PM
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| 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, 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
Tweets: @dinabass, @xbox, @gregisenberg, @jasonschreier, @charlieintel, @satyanadella, @xbox, @wario64, @zhugeex, @jonerlichman, @microsoft, @jasonschreier, @damianburns, @edzitron, @ashleyesqueda, @adriennelaw, @scottjohnson, @kristyt, @richlightshed, @pucknorris, @mkbhd, @anildash, @jasonschreier, @atvi_ab, @richlightshed, @andrewrsorkin, @andrewyang, @jasonschreier, @technology, @technology, @technology, @jasonschreier, @mattdpearce, @quantian1, @ibogost, @carnage4life, @varunmayya, @sarafischer, @9_volt_, @kcoxdc, @mrpointyhead, @hownottodraw, @vahn16, @turnernovak, @zhugeex, @tomwarren, @gw_alec, @martinsfp, @mattophobia, @reckless, @alexeheath, @silvermanjacob, @charlieintel, @eric_seufert, @byadamfitch, @tomwarren, @eric_seufert, @alexhern, @swiftonsecurity, @mealoneinmymind, @sarafischer, @laurakbuzz, @tomwarren, @silvermanjacob, @mckkirk, @eric_seufert, @shonaghosh, @ldignan, @chrismessina, @stroughtonsmith, @modestproposal1, @jonporty, @laurakbuzz, @laurakbuzz, @realbengilbert, @laurakbuzz, @pkafka, and @neontaster
| 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.
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Xbox Wire, Forbes, Game Rant, The Information, Engadget, The Economic Times, Dexerto, Windows Central, dot.LA, TechSpot, ExtremeTech, iTnews, Road to VR, Digital Trends, Computerworld, thegamer.com, Android Headlines, MUO, Insider, and Polygon
Tweets: @klobrille, @swiftonsecurity, @itsjuliahardy, @penllawen, @kiruti, and @kylebrussell
| 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 Verge, PC Gamer, PYMNTS.com, TechRadar, Gizmodo, Protocol, and Forbes
Tweets: @farmerdbrown, @garrett_archer, @shiraovide, @cyynapse, @caseynewton, @kellen_browning, @agentbizzle, @xcloudtimdog, and @t1
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: Activision Blizzard tried to find other interested buyers, including Meta, as it weighed a potential Microsoft takeover after WSJ's exposé in November — Late last year, as Activision Blizzard Inc. and Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick were reeling from accusations …
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Wall Street Journal, The Information, NPR, Neowin, purexbox.com, Polygon, and MobileSyrup
| 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.
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Cointelegraph, Los Angeles Times, Gizmodo, The Register, Wall Street Journal, Insider, Fortune, CryptoPotato, CoinDesk, The Hill, New York Post, The Block, Crypto Daily, ZDNet, VICE, and TechSpot
Tweets: @cryptocom, @peckshield, @anthony, @kris_hk, @cryptocom, @cryptocom, @billym2k, @cryptocom, @johnkoetsier, @decryptmedia, @jeffnolan, @calbucci, and @egg_dog
| 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: |
Coinbase partners with Mastercard to let users pay with a credit card in its upcoming NFT marketplace, solve “pain points”, and classify NFTs as “digital goods” — Crypto exchange Coinbase has announced a partnership with Mastercard to simplify the process …
More:
The Coinbase Blog, Mastercard USA, CNBC, Insider, The Block, Crypto Briefing, Cointelegraph, and The Verge
Tweets: @mastercardnews and @jrnycrypto
| 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, NBC News, New York Times, Washington Post, Mashable, USA Today, ABC News, Engadget, Gizmodo, New York Post, Android Central, and Protocol
Tweets: @reuters and @hackylawyer
| 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.| Paul Sawers / VentureBeat: |
Walnut, a personalized product demo and analytics service, raises a $35M Series B and says its ARR has grown 700% since its $21M Series A in August 2021 — In a world where software rules the roost and cloud spending has gone through the roof, SaaS has emerged as the default business model …
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TechCrunch, Tech in Asia, and ReadWrite
| 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
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AppleInsider, Pandaily, iPhone in Canada Blog, Wccftech, The Register, Apple Must, Redmond Pie, TechCrunch, Computerworld, MobileSyrup, and Pocketnow. Tweets: @canalys
| 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, Reuters, and Fenwick & West LLP
| 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, TechCrunch, OpenSea Blog, and Crypto Briefing
Tweets: @nadavahollander, @dfinzer, @tropofarmer, @chrisblec, @xanderatallah, and @farokh
| 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 …
More:
Animoca Brands, The Block, Forbes, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, and Decrypt
| 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.
More:
SoFi, Bloomberg, OCC, and Crowdfund Insider
Tweets: @ralexjimenez, @carlquintanilla, @sofi, @apompliano, @anthonynoto, and @socialcapital
| 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, TechCrunch, and New York Times
| 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.
More:
CNBC, New York Post, and Washington Post
Tweets: @warriorspr, @chamath, @mittromney, @timopg, @cokedupoptions, @guypbenson, @rayhanasat, @senrickscott, @jason, and @candersonmo
| Saritha Rai / Bloomberg: |
Reliance buys majority stake in Indian robotics 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 …
More:
Livemint, Times of India, cnbctv18.com, Moneycontrol, and The Hindu
| 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 … Sponsor Posts
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Zoho:
CIO challenge 5: Can we find an effective solution that also minimizes operational costs? — Welcome to the next and final installment of our CIO series! After what feels like a thousand cups of coffee …
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Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy — Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
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