Thursday, April 14, 2022

Filing: Elon Musk delivers a non-binding proposal to acquire all of Twitter's outstanding stock for $54.20/share in cash, in a deal worth $43B; TWTR jumps 10%+ (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Filing: Elon Musk delivers a non-binding proposal to acquire all of Twitter's outstanding stock for $54.20/share in cash, in a deal worth $43B; TWTR jumps 10%+  —  Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, according to an updated 13D filing, Bloomberg News reports.



Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $41 billion

Billionaire Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for about $41 billion, just days after rejecting a seat on the social media company's board. https://ift.tt/qC82wKl

A look at AI tools built by sales and customer service software companies like Uniphore and Sybill to detect human emotions, as Zoom unveils Zoom IQ for Sales (Kate Kaye/Protocol)

Kate Kaye / Protocol:
A look at AI tools built by sales and customer service software companies like Uniphore and Sybill to detect human emotions, as Zoom unveils Zoom IQ for Sales  —  Virtual sales meetings have made it tougher than ever for salespeople to read the room.  So, some well funded tech providers …



Unreal Engine 5: 10 key features you should know about

https://ift.tt/R0qBH7w

Sources: Sequoia India's Shailendra Singh leaves fashion marketplace Zilingo's board, amid a probe into its accounting methods and suspension of CEO Ankiti Bose (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Sources: Sequoia India's Shailendra Singh leaves fashion marketplace Zilingo's board, amid a probe into its accounting methods and suspension of CEO Ankiti Bose  —  Sequoia Capital India's Shailendra Singh has stepped down from the board of troubled Zilingo Pte following questions …



Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Apple CEO Tim Cook says that the company is continually fighting for this fundamental human right

Tech giant Apple's CEO Tim Cook has used his IAPP Global Privacy Summit keynote speech to discuss privacy and trust in the digital economy. https://ift.tt/uNOEh7U

Meta's plan to take up to a 47.5% cut of each virtual transaction on Horizon Worlds draws criticism from NFT proponents; OpenSea takes a 2.5% cut (Daniel Van Boom/CNET)

Daniel Van Boom / CNET:
Meta's plan to take up to a 47.5% cut of each virtual transaction on Horizon Worlds draws criticism from NFT proponents; OpenSea takes a 2.5% cut  —  Meta, previously known as Facebook, is figuring out how to monetize the metaverse. … It's been nearly six months since the company formerly known …



Salsify, which helps e-commerce brands manage inventory, raises a $200M Series F led by TPG at a $2B valuation and says it has 1,200 customers (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Salsify, which helps e-commerce brands manage inventory, raises a $200M Series F led by TPG at a $2B valuation and says it has 1,200 customers  —  E-commerce is booming, but it's become increasingly apparent over the years that the businesses that are able to capitalize on that trend …



This UPI move by CoinSwitch Kuber and WazirX may not be good news for crypto investors in India

India has spent years on a law to ban or regulate cryptocurrencies, with its central bank backing a ban over their threat to financial stability, but a recent decision to tax income from them suggests acceptance by authorities. https://ift.tt/lvnWZQP

Google says it will invest $9.5B across 2022 to build US offices and data centers, with plans to create 12,000 jobs, up from the $7B announced in 2021 (Giles Turner/Bloomberg)

Giles Turner / Bloomberg:
Google says it will invest $9.5B across 2022 to build US offices and data centers, with plans to create 12,000 jobs, up from the $7B announced in 2021  —  Google said it will invest $9.5 billion in offices and data centers in the U.S. over 2022., putting money behind its bid to get more workers back in its buildings.



OpenAI's DALL-E 2 and other AI models' ability to generate new content at zero marginal cost has major implications for the metaverse, social networks, and more (Ben Thompson/Stratechery)

Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
OpenAI's DALL-E 2 and other AI models' ability to generate new content at zero marginal cost has major implications for the metaverse, social networks, and more  —  Last week OpenAI released DALL-E 2, which produces (or edits) images based on textual prompts; this Twitter thread from @BecomingCritter …



Tuesday, April 12, 2022

IAB: US digital ad spend rose 35% YoY to $189B in 2021, the largest gain since 2006; 10 publishers and platforms took 78.6% of the total, up from 78.1% in 2020 (Megan Graham/Wall Street Journal)

Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:
IAB: US digital ad spend rose 35% YoY to $189B in 2021, the largest gain since 2006; 10 publishers and platforms took 78.6% of the total, up from 78.1% in 2020  —  Advertising has followed shopping online during the pandemic at a breathless rate.  The ad spend was concentrated—78.6% …



Global PC shipments declined 5.1% in Q1: Report

The global shipments of traditional PCs declined 5.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 but exceeded earlier forecasts, says a new report. https://ift.tt/kF3DUqf

Nokia to pull out of the Russian market

Telecoms equipment maker Nokia is pulling out of the Russian market, its CEO told Reuters, going a step further than rival Ericsson, which said on Monday it was indefinitely suspending its business in the country. https://ift.tt/cpFH0yR

Sources: Singapore-based fashion marketplace Zilingo suspends CEO Ankiti Bose, after attempts to raise $150M-$200M led to an investigation over its accounting (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Sources: Singapore-based fashion marketplace Zilingo suspends CEO Ankiti Bose, after attempts to raise $150M-$200M led to an investigation over its accounting  —  Zilingo Pte, one of Singapore's highest-profile startups, has suspended Chief Executive Officer Ankiti Bose after an effort …



A profile of SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, who transformed the Japanese tech conglomerate into a global investment group and is criticized for high-risk investments (Lionel Barber/Financial Times)

Lionel Barber / Financial Times : A profile of SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, who transformed the Japanese tech conglomerate into a global...