WTF?! When you see an advertisement for a "lifetime" subscription to something, always remember that it rarely means your lifetime. Those who took out lifetime subscriptions to VPNSecure discovered this when the company was taken over by new owners who promptly canceled the subs. Their excuse? They didn't know some customers had them.
What just happened? Samsung and its subsidiary, Harman International, have just signed a $350 million all-cash deal to acquire the consumer audio business of Masimo Corporation, bringing several of the industry's most iconic audio brands under their umbrella. This includes Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio, and Definitive Technology. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approval.
The big picture: If Google really is forced to sell Chrome – as proposed by the DOJ after the company was ruled a monopoly in its antitrust trial – OpenAI could emerge as a potential buyer. The ChatGPT maker has admitted it's interested in acquiring the world's most popular browser and turning it into an "AI-first" experience.
Intel's exit from NAND market marks another strategic pivot to growth areas
What just happened? Intel and SK hynix have finalized an $8.85 billion deal that transfers Intel's NAND flash memory business to the South Korean semiconductor giant, marking the completion of a multi-year transaction that began in 2020. The final phase of the acquisition concluded with SK hynix making a $1.9 billion payment to Intel.
What just happened? Elon Musk has orchestrated another move in his sprawling business empire, announcing on Friday that his artificial intelligence firm, xAI, has acquired X (formerly Twitter). The all-stock transaction values X at $33 billion, including $12 billion in debt, and xAI at $80 billion, creating a combined entity Musk says will "unlock immense potential" and provide "smarter, more meaningful experiences" for users.
The theme of machine dominance would later find its way into numerous works of science fiction
Through the looking glass: In an era when the American Civil War dominated headlines, an English sheep farmer in New Zealand penned a letter that would prove remarkably prophetic. On June 13, 1863, The Press newspaper of Christchurch published a missive titled "Darwin among the Machines," which may contain the first published argument for halting technological progress to prevent machines from dominating humanity.
In brief: It appears that what could have been one of the largest and most disruptive tech acquisitions in history is not going to happen any time soon, if at all. A new report claims that Qualcomm's interest in acquiring struggling Intel has cooled, partly due to the complexities of such a deal.