Why Microsoft had to relinquish Activision’s cloud-gaming rights outside Europe

October 13, 2023
Microsoft has finally done it — nearly two years after first revealing plans to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard in a mammoth $68.7 billion deal, it has managed to secure the final regulatory clearance required to make Activision a fully-fledged subsidiary. But with one notable caveat. For the next 15 years, Microsoft is relinquishing cloud-streaming […]

Meta says it’s prioritizing livestreaming checks during Israel-Hamas war

October 13, 2023
Following a content moderation warning from European Union regulators earlier this week, Meta has published an overview of how its responding to risks on its social media platforms stemming from the Israel-Hamas war. Its blog post covers what it frames as “ongoing efforts”, with some existing policies and tools for users rehashed. But the company […]

The Download: a new brain atlas, and using maths to make sense of nature

October 13, 2023
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Scientists just drafted an incredibly detailed map of the human brain Scientists have unveiled the most compete atlas of the human brain ever created. The work, part of the National Institutes of Health…

This mathematician is making sense of nature’s complexity

October 13, 2023
It takes Gábor Domokos about an hour to pick his way up into the hills that rise over Budapest. He stops along the way to look for lizards and rescue a beetle that had gotten stuck on its back. If he were to keep going, he’d soon reach a tower with a panoramic view of…

Tradeshift co-founder accused of sexual assault by company, allegations he denies

October 13, 2023
Tradeshift, a late-stage fintech startup that has raised over $1 billion in venture and debt, has dismissed its co-founder Christian Lanng, citing “serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment” and “gross misconduct on multiple grounds,” according to a company statement posted on Tuesday. Lanng has vehemently denied the allegations. Tradeshift appointed former chief revenue officer […]

Devialet’s Gemini II are the most luxurious wireless earbuds you can get

October 13, 2023
Devialet isn’t like any other tech company — its products are at the intersection of audio engineering and luxury. That’s why its new wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation don’t look like other earbuds. This isn’t a mass market product. When I covered the product launch at the Paris Opera, the French company’s CEO Franck […]

Microsoft’s $68.7B Activision acquisition clears final hurdle as UK approves restructured deal

October 13, 2023
It has been a long time coming, but Microsoft’s near-two year attempt to buy gaming giant Activision is finally happening, after the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) accepted a restructured proposal that addresses the CMA’s concerns about Microsoft dominating the cloud gaming market. Microsoft announced its plans to buy Activision in a gargantuan $68.7 […]

Indian state government fixes website bug that revealed Aadhaar numbers and fingerprints

October 13, 2023
A security researcher says a bug on an Indian state government website inadvertently revealed documents containing residents’ Aadhaar numbers, identity cards, and copies of their fingerprints. The bug was fixed last week after the security researcher disclosed the bug to local authorities. Sourajeet Majumder found the bug in the West Bengal government’s e-District web portal […]