Canada sees a big opportunity in drawing tech talent north of the U.S. border and is making moves to seize it at every turn.
What's happening: Canada’s approach to immigration laws, increasing government support and a polarized U.S. have helped lead the Great White North into a tech boom.
Several major game studios and the largest organization for international game developers explicitly or implicitly criticized today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling removing federal protections for abortion in America.
Why it matters: The games industry is showing an increasing willingness to make political statements — and deal with the pros and cons of taking a stand.
Buyout firms Hellman & Friedman and Permira this morning announced a $10.2 billion deal to buy Zendesk, a San Francisco-based customer engagement software provider that's been under pressure from activist investor Jana Partners.
The big picture: Silicon Valley is full of stories about companies that boldly reject takeover offers, only to see their values subsequently skyrocket. This isn't one of them.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday detailed advances in audio that he says will allow a concert in the metaverse to really sound like one is at a music venue. The same goes for making sound that resembles a living room or other more intimate space.
Why it matters: While much is made of the need to improve the visual quality of VR headsets, how the metaverse sounds is just as important to how well it is accepted, especially when it comes to mainstream consumers.
Congress' delay on passing key funding for chips could jeopardize a big opportunity to keep one of America's few tech manufacturing industries.
Why it matters: It's expensive to build semiconductors — a vital input for wide swaths of the economy — and other countries have already outpaced the U.S. in incentivizing manufacturing on their shores.
