Human Capital announces the winners of its Delta fellowship program

Today, in the first interview of Disrupt 2020, Human Capital’s Baris Akis and investor Michael Ovitz announced the winners of its Delta Fellowship program.

Human Capital launched in 2016 with a mission to become a talent agency for engineers in the same way that CAA, founded by Michael Ovitz, was a talent agency for entertainers.

Human Capital helps engineers find great positions at great companies, and fosters their careers well beyond that, including helping them switch jobs, ask for raises and promotions, and more. Human Capital also has an investment arm that seeds these same entrepreneurs with funding when they’re ready to start on their own project.

The fellowship program is an extension of Human Capital’s commitment to people over metrics, explained Michael Ovitz, who invested in the company earlier this year. Sixteen fellows were selected from more than 1,300 applications across 20 countries and more than 200 universities.

Interestingly, the Delta fellowship application process did not include a request for a business proposal, but rather evaluated the people themselves.

“We’re here to partner with founders,” said Akis. “We get to know the people behind the ideas. We consider ideas in the context of the people driving them.”

Delta Fellows include:

● Abu Qader, a Cornell junior who developed a low-cost mammography tumor detection platform after seeing the challenges of healthcare firsthand in Afghanistan as a teenager
● Katie Mishra, a Stanford junior who published three books by the time she was 16 and started a nonprofit to teach middle schoolers the design, logic, and engineering behind computer science
● Eeshan Tripathii, an MIT sophomore who built a prototype for a low-cost ductless air filtration system and reverse engineered a $20,000 prosthetic glove into a $550 working prototype

Ovitz and Akis walked us through the details of the fellowship program in an interview today, which you can watch from start to finish below.

Disrupt 2020 officially kicks off tomorrow at 9 am PT and there’s still plenty of time to register for a pass. Speakers include Dropbox’s Drew Houston, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Doudna, Roelof Botha and Kevin Hart. See you there!

Oracle boots out Microsoft and wins bid for TikTok, reports say

Enterprise provider Oracle is said to have won the bidding war for the U.S. operations of TikTok, a chase in which Microsoft was booted out earlier today. TikTok and Oracle did not immediately respond to TechCrunch for comment.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Oracle will be announced as TikTok’s “trusted tech partner” in the United States. Additionally, the Journal cites that a person familiar with the matter says the deal is “likely not to be structured as an outright sale.”

Oracle’s alleged purchase of TikTok’s U.S. operations would put an end to the unclear fate of the app within the country. The app’s reported buy comes days before September 20, the day that the Trump administration set for a ban on TikTok’s operations if the company doesn’t reach an agreement with a buyer.

On Sunday, Microsoft said its bid for the U.S. operations of TikTok has been rejected by the app’s parent company, ByteDance.

“We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests,” the statement read, stating that Microsoft would make “significant changes” around security, privacy, online safety, and disinformation.

“We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas,” the statement ended.

Issues and fears around TikTok’s security has been a flagship issue for the app. TikTok was banned in India, along with 58 other apps, due to “national security and defence” issues. India was TikTok’s biggest overseas market. In addition to Microsoft, a number of prominent tech companies have rumored to be in the market for TikTok’s U.S. operations such as Twitter, Google, and Walmart. But, as our Ron Miller pointed out, there’s some reason toward why a company like Oracle would crave an app like TikTok: marketshare.

Oracle has grown out of its database roots and made its way into marketing automation and cloud infrastructure. The company is not just a database maker and provider. It’s a massive operation, that monetizes off of data. Earlier in this pandemic, the enterprise data provider teamed up with Zoom. If Oracle was to bring the same kind of partnership to fruition with TikTok, it would be landed a huge client.

Holger Mueller, an analyst at Constellation Research, told TechCrunch Oracle’s scoop of TikTok “will add plenty of load to their infrastructure service.”

“That’s what matters to them with viral loads preferred. If Microsoft gets TikTok it could boost their usage by between 2% and 5%, while for Oracle it could be as much 10%,” he said.

Oracle’s reported buy, thus, could be a boost that actually makes sense. But a dramatic one, nonetheless.

 

Nvidia confirms $40B purchase of Arm, bringing together two chip giants

After weeks of on-and-off speculation, Nvidia this evening confirmed that it intends to buy chip design giant Arm Holdings for a total of up to $40 billion from existing owner SoftBank, which bought the company for $32 billion in 2016. The boards of all three parties have approved the outline of the deal.

SoftBank could make, gasp, a profit on its expected sale of Arm for $40B

The deal has a couple of intricacies. SoftBank will immediately receive $2 billion in cash for signing the deal. From there, it will receive another $10 billion in cash and $21.5 billion of stock in Nvidia at closing. That stake will be likely just a bit shy of 10% of the company. In addition, SoftBank is slated to earn $5 billion in a mix of cash and stock as a performance-based earn-out. Conditions or timing for that earn-out were not disclosed.

That $40 billion purchase price also includes $1.5 billion in equity compensation for existing Arm employees, which currently number more than 6,000 according to the company. All together then, SoftBank is looking at a $38.5 billion payout assuming its earn-out comes through.

Nvidia is buying all of Arm’s product groups except for its Internet of Things division, which was one of several areas where Arm has striven in recent years to expand as it attempts to grow outside of its core mobile chip design business.

Owing to the complex ownership structure and the multiple countries involved, closing is expect to take one and a half years, and will require regulatory and antitrust approvals in the U.S., the United Kingdom where Arm is headquartered, China, and the European Union.

Nvidia’s statement made clear that it intends to double down on the United Kingdom as a core part of its engineering efforts, a positioning that almost certainly is designed to placate concerns emanating from Downing Street about the competitiveness of the British economy in tech services following the country’s departure from the EU as it completes Brexit later this year.

Nvidia said that Arm’s offices in Cambridge will expand, and that the company intends to “[establish] a new global center of excellence in AI research at Arm’s Cambridge campus.”

The deal will provide some immediate cash relief to SoftBank, which has been working hard to clean up its balance sheet after a string of high-profile losses. The heavy Nvidia stock component of the deal will see SoftBank returning as a major investor in the company. The Japanese telco had previously held a 4.9% stake in Nvidia in its Vision Fund, which was disposed of in 2019 for a return of $3.3 billion.

Samsung is holding yet another Unpacked Event on September 23

One thing I’ll say for in-person events: they compelled companies to cram in a lot of news. After all, if you’re going to ask an auditorium full of people to travel from around the country — or world — you want to give them a lot of bang for their buck.

Samsung did manage that with its Galaxy Note event in early August. We got a new phone, new earbuds, new watch, new tablet and a preview of an upcoming foldable. A couple of weeks ago, the company devoted an entire second event to the new Fold. And now here we are, a couple of weeks later, staring down yet another event.

Samsung’s new Galaxy Fold arrives September 18 for $2,000

The September 23 event will likely focus on the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition that’s been floating around in leaks for a few months now, the way Samsung devices tend to. I’m not saying there won’t be a bunch of other news at the event as well, but the Fold event lowered my expectations a bit with regard to what the company deems worthy of a standalone event in 2020, versus, say, issuing a press release or something.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review

Anyway, the so-called “Fan Edition” finds the company picking up a long-abandoned trend of issuing lower-cost alternatives to flagship devices (notably, a refurbished version of the Note 7).

Here it seems to be a lower-priced take on Samsung’s primary flagship, the Galaxy S20. From the sound of it, the device is essentially a rebranding of its “Lite” line — the latest take on an already confusing approach to its budget flagship offerings.

We’ll find out more September 23 at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET.

Analysis of Nvidia's purchase of Arm, which will impact nearly every chip market segment, with statements from NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Arm CEO Simon Segars (Patrick Moorhead/Forbes)

Patrick Moorhead / Forbes:
Analysis of Nvidia's purchase of Arm, which will impact nearly every chip market segment, with statements from NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Arm CEO Simon Segars  —  I talked today with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Arm CEO Simon Segars on the largest and what I consider the most important semiconductor acquisition- ever.

Source: Oracle has won the bidding for the US operations of TikTok as a "trusted tech partner"; the deal will likely not to be structured as an outright sale (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
Source: Oracle has won the bidding for the US operations of TikTok as a “trusted tech partner”; the deal will likely not to be structured as an outright sale  —  Deal is likely not to be structured as an outright sale  —  Oracle Corp. won the bidding for the U.S. operations …

Nvidia reportedly to acquire ARM Holdings from SoftBank for $40 billion

Enlarge / Components manufactured by ARM Holdings Plc sit inside a demonstration ARMmbed parking meter on display on the second day of Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. A theme this year at the industry's annual get-together, which runs through March 2, is the Internet of Things. Photographer: Pau Barrena/Bloomberg via Getty Images (credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images)

SoftBank is set to sell the UK’s Arm Holdings to US chip company Nvidia for more than $40 billion, just four years after its founder Masayoshi Son bought the chip designer and said it would be the linchpin for the future of the Japanese technology group.

Multiple people with direct knowledge of the matter said a cash-and-stock takeover of Arm by Nvidia may be announced as soon as Monday, and that SoftBank will become the largest shareholder in the US chip company.

The announcement of the deal hinged on SoftBank ending a messy dispute between Arm and the head of its China joint venture, Allen Wu, who earlier rebuffed an attempt to remove him and claimed legal control of the unit.

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https://arstechnica.com

Tune in today at 12pm PDT for an essential Disrupt 2020 Sneak Peak

Are you ready to experience a Disrupt event like no other? Thousands of attendees from around the world, an all-star lineup of tech icons, movers, shakers and unicorn makers. Opportunities around every corner just waiting to be discovered. Are we amped up at the thought of what will transpire over the next five days? Heck yeah!

Okay, we’re switching to decaf. Our point (and we do have one) is that before our very own Matthew Panzarino officially welcomes you to Disrupt 2020 tomorrow morning, we’re inviting you to a pre-show today — the Disrupt Sneak Peek — with Disrupt host and Managing Editor, Jordan Crook.

Today, Sunday September 13, from 12 p.m.-12:30 p.m. (PT), Jordan will show you how to access the different virtual platforms we’ll use throughout the show. Plus, you’ll get a look at the companies competing in the Startup Battlefield, learn more about the TC10 and hear about some of the incredible speakers we have on tap.

It’s a quick but essential overview of what to expect over the course of Disrupt. And who knows? We might even trot out a few surprise guests (spoiler alert: we will).

Come to the Disrupt Sneak Peek today from 12 p.m.-12:30 p.m. (PT), get a handle on the virtual platforms and get pumped up about five days of sharing connection, collaboration and education with the global early-stage startup community.

Any last-minute decision makers out there? You can still buy a Disrupt pass right here but be quick because prices increase tonight!

GitLab, which has an all remote workforce of 1,300+ employees from 67 countries, is advising companies like Twitter on its "radically transparent" working model (Julia Herbst/Fast Company)

Julia Herbst / Fast Company:
GitLab, which has an all remote workforce of 1,300+ employees from 67 countries, is advising companies like Twitter on its “radically transparent” working model  —  As 2020's experiment with working from home turns into something more permanent, GitLab—the world's largest all-remote company …

Sony is hosting a PlayStation 5 event on September 16, could reveal price and launch date of the console

With the 2020 console wars getting spicier with each passing day, Microsoft took the initiative and announced the launch date and price of the Xbox Series X and Series S. It was a loud and clear shot that put the ball squarely on Sony’s court. And, for what it’s worth, we’re getting the return salvo by Sony and it’s scheduled for Wednesday, September 16. The company is hosting a special event centred around the PS5 and the presentation will be about 40-minutes long. We’ve already seen the console, but we don’t know how much it’ll actually cost. That’s what Wednesday’s presentation will hopefully address. 

PlayStation 5 Showcase broadcasts live this Wednesday at 1pm Pacific Time: https://t.co/W4gkVp7pdv pic.twitter.com/Nn33RT0yki

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 12, 2020

Sony has had a habit of pulling off ‘mic drop’ moments at the very last second and could potentially counter the hype of the Xbox Series X with the right pricing for the Sony console. We should also be getting a release date of the PS5 as well. At least, we hope we do. Sony has said that it will showcase more first-party as well as third-party games at the presentation but again, we have our fingers crossed that we’ll get the price and launch date of the console. With the Xbox Series X priced at Rs 49,990 and the Series S coming in at Rs 34,990, we could see Sony undercut Microsoft by lowering the price of the PlayStation 5, but this is just all speculation until Sony official reveals the details. 

The announcement by Microsoft could spur Sony to really get competitive with its PS5 pricing and really get the console wars going again. For older gamers, this is literally our version of the Sega Genesis vs the Super Nintendo all over again. So, stay tuned to Digit as we all eagerly await for Sony’s presentation on September 16. For all you guys who to see how the two consoles stack up against each other, you can head on over here. 

 

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AI ruined chess. Now it’s making the game beautiful again

Enlarge (credit: Dimitri Otis | Getty Images)

Chess has a reputation for cold logic, but Vladimir Kramnik loves the game for its beauty.

“It’s a kind of creation,” he says. His passion for the artistry of minds clashing over the board, trading complex but elegant provocations and counters, helped him dethrone Garry Kasparov in 2000 and spend several years as world champion.

Yet Kramnik, who retired from competitive chess last year, also believes his beloved game has grown less creative. He partly blames computers, whose soulless calculations have produced a vast library of openings and defenses that top-flight players know by rote. “For quite a number of games on the highest level, half of the game—sometimes a full game—is played out of memory,” Kramnik says. “You don’t even play your own preparation; you play your computer’s preparation.”

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https://arstechnica.com

The public's phobia of touching cash amid COVID-19 could help SoftBank popularize mobile payments in cash-addicted Japan; SoftBank has invested $1B+ in PayPay (Wataru Suzuki/Nikkei Asian Review)

Wataru Suzuki / Nikkei Asian Review:
The public's phobia of touching cash amid COVID-19 could help SoftBank popularize mobile payments in cash-addicted Japan; SoftBank has invested $1B+ in PayPay  —  Masayoshi Son zeros in on Japan, where he is ready to lose billions in a battle to conquer cash