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☆ Tech M&A has been thwarted by regulators, but dealmakers skeptical that election will change much
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Amazon abandoned its $1.7 billion purchase of iRobot in January after the FTC and European regulators raised concerns. Since peaking at $1.5 trillion in 2021, tech transaction volume has plummeted, dropping to $544 billion last year, according to Dealogic. Before the company announced its $27 billion purchase of data analytics software company Splunk last September, he said he viewed the risk as absolutely worth taking. Alphabet's last big deal was its $5.4 billion purchase of cybersecurity company Mandiant in 2022. Microsoft closed its massive $75 billion purchase of Activision in October, but it took 20 months and a protracted fight with U.S. and European regulators.

Persons: Lina Khan, Jonathan Kanter, Khan, Joe Biden, Drew Angerer, Biden, Permira, Thoma, Sen, JD Vance, Donald Trump's, Barry Diller, Reid Hoffman, Kamala Harris, Andrew Luh, Gunderson Dettmer, Figma, Dana Rao, Rao, We've, they've, Juniper, Salesforce, Antonio Neri, Pau Barrena, Neri, Sergio Letelier, hasn't, Letelier, Marc Benioff, It's Benioff's, Slack, Benioff, Derek Idemoto, who's, Idemoto, that's, Splunk, HPE's Letelier, it's, Harris, Trump Organizations: U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Justice, Brookings Institution, U.S, Senate, Getty, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Federal Trade Commission, iRobot, FTC, BlackRock, Thoma Bravo, KKR, Republican, CNBC, Democratic, Trump, Big Tech, Justice Department, DOJ, Apple, Meta, Adobe, European Commission, UK Competition, Markets Authority, Justice Department's Antitrust, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Mobile World Congress, MWC, AFP, Juniper, Markets, DOJ's Antitrust, European Union, EU, Software, Cisco, Activision, Foreign Investment, Regulators, Bloomberg, Tech Locations: Washington, Europe, Barcelona, Pau, Salesforce, United States

☆ Oracle boosts its generative AI capabilities as cloud competition heats up
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Sheila Chiang | In Sheilachiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

(Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP) (Photo by PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images)U.S. cloud infrastructure provider Oracle is boosting its generative AI capabilities as cloud competition intensifies and more companies jump into AI. Oracle has been introducing generative AI capabilities into its cloud infrastructure and applications to complement the traditional AI already embedded in them. The generative AI capabilities can perform tasks such as generating financial reports and drafting job ads, improving productivity and reducing business costs, Oracle said. JPMorgan has said generative AI and AI could drive incremental IT spending and growth across the software landscape. "Generative AI services [are] basically a huge advantage comparing with our competition.

Persons: PAU BARRENA, ChatGPT, Rondy Ng, it's, Ng, Dan Ives, Ellison, Ives, Larry Ellison, Gartner Organizations: Mobile World Congress, MWC, Getty Images, Oracle, CNBC, Wedbush Securities, JPMorgan Locations: Barcelona, AFP, U.S

☆ It might be time to rethink the smartphone — for real this time
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Why do phones need apps? At this year's Mobile World Congress, the future of the smartphone and how we connect were firmly under the microscope. Deutsche Telekom and Brain.ai demoed one such instance at MWC: a smartphone with no apps. It's just an idea for now, but it's prompting an interesting question: Why assume the smartphone of the future has apps at all? But the smartphone industry is slumping, and there's a "need to invigorate the upgrade cycle," Milanesi told BI.

Persons: —, Sam Altman, There's, Altman, Jony, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Carolina Milanesi, Milanesi, Tom Butler, I'm, Butler, Lenovo's Butler, it's Organizations: Service, Congress, MWC, Las, CES, Deutsche Telekom, Brain.ai, Qualcomm, Bloomberg Locations: Carolina, PAU, AFP

☆ How Girona became the unlikeliest challenger in La Liga
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Matias Grez | Patrick Snell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Founded in 1930, Girona plays its football at the modest 14,000-capacity Estadi Montilivi on the outskirts of a city that has a population of just 100,000. Girona was previously promoted to La Liga in 2017, spending only two seasons in Spain’s top flight before being relegated. David Ramos/Getty Images“I tell you what, why not?” Hunter said when asked if Girona can win the league. He’s young, he’s intelligent, he’s ambitious, he’s driven. Fran Santiago/Getty ImagesRegardless, Girona has earned the right to dream and Hunter says upsetting the odds and winning La Liga “would mean everything” to the club and its fans.

Persons: Leicester City’s, Semra Hunter, David Ramos, ” Hunter, they’ve, Atlético Madrid, “, Miguel Ángel Sánchez, Míchel, Fran Santiago, Ignasi, ”, “ It’s, Bagà, CNN Sport’s Patrick Snell, –, that’s, Hunter, Pau Barrena, He’s, he’s, let’s, Yan Couto, Yangel Herrera, Aleix García, Eric García, Artem Dovbyk, Pep Guardiola, Ancelotti, Atlético, Barça, “ It’s David, Goliath Organizations: CNN —, Spanish, Real Madrid, La Liga –, Spain isn’t, La Liga, Premier League, Real, Girona, Getty, Barcelona, Real Sociedad, Champions League, ”, Rayo Vallecano, Rayo, CNN, Atlético, City Football Group, Manchester City, Atletico, Pau, City, SC Dnipro, La Locations: Catalan, Spain, Spain isn’t Barcelona, Girona, La, Madrid, Spain’s, Atlético, Real Madrid, ” Girona, Saudi Arabia, Huesca, Atlético Madrid, Pau, AFP, Ukrainian, Real

☆ Amazon Beefs Up Bottom Line as AI Battle Shapes Up
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Results for Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud-computing division, were more closely watched than normal this quarter. Photo: Pau Barrena/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesAmazon might not yet be the clear winner in the race among tech giants over artificial intelligence. Total revenue of $143.1 billion was up 13% from the same period last year, which exceeded the 11% growth Wall Street was expecting. And operating income soared, hitting a record $11.2 billion compared with $2.5 billion in last year’s third quarter—exceeding analysts’ consensus target by nearly half. That was helped by sharp growth in advertising and third-party seller services—both of which offer superior profit margins compared with Amazon’s more typical retail sales.

Persons: Pau Organizations: Amazon Web Services, Pau Barrena, Agence France

☆ FC Barcelona: How Xavi's defensive revolution brought La Liga title back to Catalunya
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Such has been the Blaugrana’s dominance this season, Xavi’s side clinched the trophy with four games still remaining and his iteration will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest defensive teams in La Liga history. With only 13 goals conceded so far this season, Xavi’s Barcelona is set to obliterate that record. “Not only for me, but for the club and for all Barcelona fans it’s very important to win La Liga,” Barça striker Robert Lewandowski told CNN Sport ahead of the match against Espanyol. I think the first round [of fixtures] was very important, we proved that we can think about winning La Liga. Barcelona fans celebrate Sunday's La Liga success -- the club's first league title since the 2018-19 season.

☆ Microsoft Has Game With or Without Activision
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft’s $75 billion deal to buy Activision was rejected by the U.K.’s antitrust watchdog. Photo: pau barrena/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesMicrosoft will be just fine without Activision Blizzard , though its cloud gaming ambitions might not be. The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority rejected Microsoft’s $75 billion deal to buy Activision on Wednesday morning. The agency, which is the country’s main antitrust watchdog, ruled that the deal would ultimately harm the nascent market for cloud-based videogame services by giving the owner of the Xbox platform control over Activision’s popular game franchises such as “Call of Duty.” In its statement, the CMA said Microsoft “would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service,” thus stifling future competition.

☆ Companies Turn to AI to Avoid ‘Cloud Sprawl’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

One advantage of third-party cloud systems, such as Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services, is that they enable companies to quickly scale up or down computing power as needed. Photo: pau barrena/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesCompanies are turning to artificial intelligence to root out savings in runaway cloud-computing bills, tapping software designed to pinpoint overlapping cloud applications, excess data storage and other inefficiencies across information-technology systems, corporate technology chiefs and industry analysts say. The efforts come as cloud-based tools take over an ever-wider range of operations. That, and the murky economic outlook, is prompting many chief information officers and other enterprise technology leaders to take a closer look at cloud costs—even as they increase overall spending.

☆ China says it's 'puzzled' after report Germany might ban Huawei from parts of 5G mobile network
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Huawei is back in the spotlight in Europe after a report suggested Germany may ban some equipment from the Chinese telecommunications giant in its 5G network. On Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing a government source, that Germany is considering banning certain components from Chinese firms in its mobile networks. The embassy spokesperson claimed that any ban of Chinese equipment in telecommunications networks "violates economic laws and the principle of fair competition." A Huawei spokesperson told CNBC that the company has a "strong security record" in Germany and globally for over 20 years. Any decision to block Huawei from its 5G networks would mark a major shift from 2019 when the country said it wouldn't make such a move.

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