Microsoft’s head of gaming understands why Bungie, arguably the most acclaimed game studio in Xbox history, left the tech giant to go independent many years ago, but he thinks his company might have been able to retain them today.
Driving the news: Some fascinating what-if scenarios about Bungie and Xbox are top of mind going into next week, thanks to some major releases.
The largely successful U.S. effort to hobble China's Huawei has benefitted a host of other tech companies — from smartphone makers such as Apple and Xiaomi to chipmakers like Qualcomm to network vendors including Nokia and Ericsson.
Yes, but: The massive disruption to the industry furthered an industry wide mismatch between supply and demand, exacerbating the global chip shortage.
The percentage of the global population using the internet surged from 54% to 63% between 2019 and 2021, with hundreds of millions of people logging on for the first time during the pandemic, according to the UN's International Telecommunication Union.
Breaking it down: Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's a big divide globally between residents of urban (76%) and rural (39%) areas. 15- to 24-year-olds (71%) are also more likely to use the internet than older people (57%).
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a global initiative aimed to prevent authoritarian governments from using technology for surveillance and human rights abuses, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: Many authoritarian governments rely on imported technology to implement state surveillance networks.
The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the chip supplier Nvidia's $40 billion acquisition of U.K. chip designer Arm, arguing the deal would give Nvidia too much control over the technology and designs its competitors rely on.
Why it matters: Arm's chip designs are used in phones, tablets, game consoles and by companies including Apple, Samsung and Qualcomm.
Hackers breached the personal information of 400,000 Planned Parenthood patients in Los Angeles between Oct. 9 and Oct. 17, according to a spokesperson for the organization.
Why it matters: In letters sent out to victims of the breach, the reproductive health center said hackers gained access to files containing their names and "one or more of the following: address, insurance information, date of birth, and clinical information, such as diagnosis, procedure, and/or prescription information."
Jack Dorseyhas stepped down as CEO of Twitter, which means he can concentrate his attention on ... changing the name of the other company he runs. Square, Inc. is rebranding as "Block," the company announced Wednesday.
What they're saying: “I see this as the emergence of a true Late Dorsey aesthetic, similar but distinct from what we would call Middle Zuck: protean, abstract, and endlessly self-referential,” says Tim Hwang, editor of the California Review of Images and Mark Zuckerberg.
Activist movements promoting conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination lies are increasingly becoming the most dangerous spreaders of misinformation, according to researchers, often causing more real-world harm than state or government-backed groups.
Why it matters: Informal movements tend to rely on tactics — like coordinated harassment of health officials, journalists and influencers — that are hard to police without violating individuals' speech freedoms.
The U.K.'s move to unwind Facebook's Giphy acquisition raises the prospect of a new world in which many different international regulators can block tech deals.
Why it matters: It's the first time a foreign competition authority has ordered a Big Tech company to sell off an asset.
A coalition of news outlets including the Washington Post is supporting Stephen Bannon's campaign for the release of documents related to his contempt of Congress charges, WashPost reported Wednesday.
Why it matters: WashPost, the New York Times, CNN, NBC, the Wall Street Journal's parent company and others filed a motion arguing that a proposed protective order seeking to prevent the documents from being released violates the First Amendment, per the Daily Mail, which first reported on the news.
