Techmeme: The UK CMA blocks Microsoft's $68.7B Activision acquisition, citing competition and innovation concerns in the UK cloud gaming market; Microsoft plans to appeal (Competition and Markets Authority)

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April 26, 2023, 3:45 PM

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Competition and Markets Authority:

The UK CMA blocks Microsoft's $68.7B Activision acquisition, citing competition and innovation concerns in the UK cloud gaming market; Microsoft plans to appeal — The CMA has prevented Microsoft's proposed purchase of Activision over concerns the deal would alter the future …

More: Bloomberg, BBC, The Verge, Activision Blizzard King, New York Post, GOV.UK, GamesIndustry.biz, Disconnect, The Guardian, Windows Central, New York Times, Financial Times, CNBC, Reuters, ZDNet, Ars Technica, Fortune, HotHardware, MacRumors, Financial Times, PCWorld, Eurogamer.net, SiliconANGLE, Axios, New York Times, Livemint, The Hill, Associated Press, Wired, ExtremeTech, Video Games Chronicle, GameSpot, TNW, City A.M., TechPowerUp, GamesIndustry.biz, Variety, Polygon, TweakTown, GeekWire, WinBuzzer, Neowin, MobileSyrup, UKTN, TechRadar, SlashGear, Forbes, PCMag, American Economic …, Watcher Guru, Coinspeaker, The Guardian, iPhone in Canada Blog, Game Developer, Los Angeles Times, TrueAchievements, KitGuru, Push Square, OnMSFT.com, DatacenterDynamics, Tech Startups, 9to5Google, Wccftech, TechSpot, The Register, gHacks Technology News, Gameranx, Digital Trends, Dot Esports, AppleInsider, CNN, Press Start, VentureBeat, Gizchina, Insider, GamingBolt, Appuals.com, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Engadget, The Information, Techaeris, Silicon Republic, Pocket Gamer.biz, Computerworld, IGN, Thurrott, Dow Jones Newswires, PC Gamer, BigTechWire, Associated Press, Gizmodo Australia, Android Authority, Destructoid, BGR, Gizmodo, Neowin, Club386, Kotaku Australia, GLITCHED, Gamereactor UK, Pure Xbox, Dexerto, Deadline, MCV/DEVELOP, TechCrunch, Twinfinite, Nintendo World Report Updates, Barron's Online, Windows Report, Mobilegamer.biz, Blue's News, Slashdot, and Investor's Business Daily

New York Times:

A look at the mounting US legal pressure on Binance: the DOJ's money laundering division leading a criminal investigation, CZ hiring Latham & Watkins, and more — The scrutiny on Binance, the giant cryptocurrency exchange, has sent new tremors through a market that is still bruised by the implosion of FTX.

More: Decrypt, PYMNTS.com, CNBC, Coinspeaker, and CryptoSlate

Tweets: @silvermanjacob, @molly0xfff, @flitteronfraud, @smdiehl, and @bitfinexed

Yueqi Yang / Bloomberg:

Voyager Digital says Binance.US terminated an agreement to acquire the bankrupt crypto broker for $1B, less than a week after the US abandoned stopping the deal

Brian Fung / CNN:

US senators unveil a bipartisan bill that bans kids under 13 from joining social media and requires tech companies to get parental consent for teens' accounts — A new federal bill unveiled Wednesday would establish a national minimum age for social media use and require tech companies …

More: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, The Verge, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz …, Engadget, NBC News, PetaPixel, HuffPost, Daily Mail, NBC Connecticut, CNBC, and Washington Post

Tweets: @garretthaake, @arthurdelaneyhp, @b_fung, and @senatorshoshana

Victoria Song / The Verge:

Amazon shuts down its health-focused Halo division, discontinues its Halo Band, Halo View, and Halo Rise devices, and plans to lay off portions of the team — Amazon has decided to shutter its health-focused Halo division, The Verge has learned. Amazon has stopped selling its three Halo products …

Angus Loten / Wall Street Journal:

PricewaterhouseCoopers plans to invest $1B in generative AI over the next three years, working with Microsoft and OpenAI to automate some of its US operations — Multiyear investment in U.S. business includes accessing ChatGPT maker OpenAI's language model, training staff in AI capabilities

More: Forbes, VentureBeat, and BigTechWire

Tweets: @angusdav and @jeremydaltonxr

Allison Johnson / The Verge:

Lenovo announces the $699 Lenovo ThinkPhone by Motorola, with ThinkPad-compatible productivity features, available to enterprises now and unlocked on April 28 — The Lenovo ThinkPhone by Motorola is available in the US starting today for $699, offering a suite of productivity features designed to work with ThinkPad laptops.

More: Android Authority, PhoneArena, CNET, 9to5Google, Android Central, ZDNet, Digital Trends, XDA Developers, Gizmodo, Android Police, Liliputing, and WRAL TechWire

Damilare Dosunmu / Rest of World:

A look at the crypto hype waning in Africa, as consumer trust fades, regulators push back, startups shutter, and Web3 workers reconsider their careers after FTX — Trust is fading, startups are shutting down, and Web3 workers are reconsidering their career choices. — • LAGOS, NIGERIA

More: WeeTracker, The Overspill, and Disrupt Africa

LinkedIn: Dámiláre Dòsùnmú. Tweets: @restofworld, @theadeyanju, @mvzelenks, and @anupkaphle

Theo Wayt / The Information:

Sources: Andy Jassy picks 14-year Amazon veteran Eric Rimling as his technical adviser, a coveted two-year position; Jassy was Bezos' adviser in the early 2000s — Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has picked Eric Rimling, a 14-year veteran of the company's fulfillment operation, as his new technical adviser …

More: CNBC and GeekWire. Tweets: @theo_wayt

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

Q&A with Lightspark CEO David Marcus on the current crypto winter, Lightning as a Layer 2 protocol, raising ~$175M, Libra, Nostr, Bitcoin, regulations, and more — Crypto has a lot of haters these days. The former Facebook exec is trying to prove them wrong with his Bitcoin startup.

More: CryptoGlobe. Tweets: @rjcc, @davidmarcus, and @rjcc

Yaling Jiang / Wired:

Experts say that China's mostly government-led metaverse efforts are more about supporting the economy, health care, and industry than about consumer services — The government wants the metaverse to be less about having fun and shopping and more about health care and industry.

More: TechCircle. Tweets: @peterguest

Christine Hall / TechCrunch:

Mexico-based Clara, which sells corporate spend management tools in Latin America, raised a $60M Series B+ led by GGV, after a $70M Series B in December 2021 — Clara, a Mexico-based spend management company, closed on $60 million in equity in a round led by GGV Capital.

More: Reuters and Contxto

Aisyah Llewellyn / Rest of World:

TikTok Shop is thriving in Indonesia, TikTok's second-biggest market with an estimated 110M users; Data.ai: Shop Seller has had ~5.5M downloads in the country — TikTok Shop, the controversial app's ambitious next phase, has caught fire in Indonesia. “This is truly the year of TikTok,” says one seller.

More: Search Engine Land. Tweets: @shiraovide, @cengizyar, and @juokaz

Edward Ludlow / Bloomberg:

Bosch plans to acquire US chipmaker TSI Semiconductors and invest $1.5B+ in its Roseville, California foundry to produce silicon carbide chips there from 2026 — Robert Bosch GmbH is acquiring US chipmaker TSI Semiconductors and plans to invest more than $1.5 billion in its California foundry …

More: TechCrunch, Reuters, Livemint, Bosch Media Service US, and Electrek

Monica Chin / The Verge:

Hands-on with Asus' ROG Ally, a handheld Windows gaming PC launching on May 11 that could take on the Steam Deck, depending on the price, software, and battery — I had a fun time testing this device, but everything's going to come down to price. … Basically everything written about Asus …

More: Thurrott, PC Gamer, Techlusive, Game Rant, Laptop Mag, KnowTechie, GameSpot, IGN, Android Authority, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, and Engadget

Tweets: @lemire, @iamdcinvestor, @matpiscatella, @lemire, and @okami13_

New York Times:

The US Commerce Department outlines plans to fund next-generation chips via its new National Semiconductor Technology Center; the CHIPS Act devoted $11B to R&D — The Biden administration announced its strategy for the National Semiconductor Technology Center, a string of facilities aimed at propelling U.S. innovation.

More: NIST, Semiconductor Industry …, and Nextgov

Tweets: @commercegov and @nist

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Some users say Microsoft Edge sends URLs of visited pages to Bing API's site; a developer says Edge's creator follow option, on by default, may be the culprit — Microsoft's Edge browser appears to be sending URLs you visit to its Bing API website. … Microsoft tells The Verge it's investigating the reports.

More: 9to5Google, Ars Technica, WinBuzzer, Windows Central, Pureinfotech, MobileSyrup, Tech Startups, gHacks Technology News, Gizmodo Australia, TechSpot, Android Authority, Windows Report, BGR, and WebProNews

Microsoft:

Microsoft reports Q3 revenue up 7% YoY to $52.9B, net income up 9% YoY to $18.3B, Office Commercial up 13% YoY, Dynamics 365 up 25% YoY, and LinkedIn up 8% YoY — REDMOND, Wash. — April 25, 2023 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 …

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Microsoft reports Q3 Intelligent Cloud revenue up 16% YoY to $22.08B, vs. $21.94B est., with Azure and other cloud services revenue up 27% YoY

More: TechSpot, CryptoSlate, Neowin, TweakTown, and Axios

Tweets: @timmisiak and @jordannovet

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:45 PM ET, April 26, 2023.

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.

From Mediagazer

Athena Stavrou / The Independent:

More than 230 media industry professionals, including anonymous BBC staff, sign a letter accusing the BBC of bias favoring Israel in coverage of Gaza

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:

Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt quits as a contributing columnist at WaPo, after abruptly leaving a Post live video event hosted by Jonathan Capehart

Devin Gordon / New York Times:

AI in Hollywood is a tech leap with a vast impact but remains a tool, not a replacement, for creatives; its speed, quality, and cost allow for VFX breakthroughs

More News

Dan Strumpf / Wall Street Journal:

Experts say 5G's next iteration, 5.5G, could help autonomous cars, drones, factories, and more, but consumers may not see many applications beyond faster speeds

Tweets: @adrianweckler and @tcrawford

Madeline Ashby / Wired:

How Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, a fair use case before SCOTUS, could impact how copyright law is applied to what AI tools can do with human-made works

Tweets: @immalgonquin, @touradjebrahimi, @marcusfernandez, @eff, @dcnorg, and @bruceqburke

Bloomberg:

Alibaba Cloud plans to cut its core product costs by 15% to 50% on May 7; Alibaba has 200K+ requests from businesses for the beta of its Tongyi Qianwen AI model

More: South China Morning Post, The Register, Pandaily, and Reuters

Financial Times:

Sources: Tencent is boosting investment in gaming studios abroad, primarily in Europe, to diversify away from China, even as the country lifts tech restrictions

More: Pocket Gamer.biz and PC Games Insider. Tweets: @eleanorolcott

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

India's commerce minister urges e-commerce companies to use their marquee apps to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce or the network will exclude them

More: Inc42 Media, MediaNama, and Moneycontrol

Kim Jaewon / Nikkei Asia:

SK Hynix reports a ~$2.5B operating loss in Q1 2023, its biggest quarterly loss yet, surpassing the ~$1.4B loss in Q4 2022, and revenue down 58.1% YoY to ~$3.8B

More: CNBC, ZDNet, The Korea Herald, Bloomberg, and Reuters. Tweets: @nikkeiasia

Sheila Dang / Reuters:

Twitter says governments globally made ~53K content removal requests in H1 2022, and the company had users remove 6.5M+ pieces of content, up 29% from H2 2021

More: Techdirt, Inc42 Media, The Economic Times, and Twitter

Tweets: @pepesgrandma and @twittersafety

Jay Peters / The Verge:

TikTok appears to be working on a feature that would let users create AI-generated profile pictures, similar to the images that Prisma Labs' Lensa app generates

More: TechCrunch, Metaverse Post, CNN, Social Media Today, Mashable, Gizmodo, Pocket-lint, gHacks Technology News, Engadget, and Gizmodo Australia

Tweets: @mattnavarra, @mattnavarra, and @mattnavarra

Earlier Picks

Glen Cardoza / Counterpoint Research:

Apple took 49% of the global refurbished smartphone market in 2022, as refurbished iPhone sales grew 16% YoY; Samsung had 26%, Oppo 3%, Vivo 3%, and Huawei 2%

More: Ars Technica, Silicon Republic, TechRadar, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacRumors, and DigiTimes

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

News sharing app Artifact adds an AI tool for generating article summaries but notes that users should still read the full text because AI “can make mistakes”

More: Artifact News, The Verge, Neowin, and BGR

Mastodon: @chrismessina@mastodon.xyz. Tweets: @artifact_news