Mark Zuckerberg's philanthropic organization has made its first acquisition: Meta, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to help scientists parse through scientific papers.
Why now? Science and medicine are some of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's main areas of focus, so Meta's technology will help it with its goals to improve research and curing diseases. Meta's tools will become free to scientists, the company said in an announcement.
How it's possible: While the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has philanthropy as its core, the organization itself is a limited liability corporation, not legally registered as a non-profit or foundation. As Zuckerberg explained when he first introduced the organization, this structure gives it much more flexibility in how it spends the billions of dollars Zuckerberg is donating to it. For example, it can acquire a venture-backed technology startup, as it just did with Meta.
Yahoo and Verizon haven't given up on the pending acquisition, but they're now expecting the deal to close in the second quarter of 2017 instead of the first, Yahoo said in its latest earnings report.
Though Yahoo blamed the delays on "work required to meet closing conditions" without adding more details, it's not hard to guess that its two recent security0breach disclosures (affecting 500 million and 1 billion accounts respectively) are likely the main reason. Following Yahoo's disclosures, rumors immediately circulated that Verizon would seek a discount on the $4.8 billion it originalyl offered to pay for Yahoo's Internet business.
Hugo Barra, a VP at the Chinese mobile device maker, announced on Sunday he'll be leaving the company next month and moving back to Silicon Valley after 3.5 years. Hiring him away from Google was considered a big get for Xioami at the time.
The Wall Street Journal's Aruna Viswanatha and Robert McMillan report that the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into whether Yahoo erred in how it disclosed two major data security failures to investors.
Why it matters to Washington: There's been political pressure on the SEC to open an investigation into Yahoo's behavior. The SEC's actions could sharpen years-old guidance on how companies need to disclose data breaches, experts told the Journal.
Why it matters to Wall Street: The breaches raised questions about Verizon's proposed purchase of Yahoo's main web assets, and a formal SEC investigation piles on new doubts about the deal.
What they're saying: Very little. Verizon and the SEC declined to comment. A Yahoo spokesman noted that the company said in a November filing that it was cooperating with authorities looking into one of the breaches, including the SEC.
On his boss' first day as President, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer assailed the media for allegedly misreporting inauguration turnout numbers
