Welcome to Silicon UK Pulse – your roundup of the latest tech news and developments impacting your business for the week ending 04/08/2023.
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ARM Targets $60 Billion Valuation For IPO
Owner Softbank seeks valuation of $60 to $70 billion for September IPO of British chip designer ARM Holdings
CMA Publishes Microsoft Arguments In Activision Case
UK Competiiton and Markets Authority publishes Microsoft arguments in reconsideration of Activision-Blizzard deal, calls for public comment
Tech Investors Flee China As Political Tensions Worsen
Private capital fundraising in Asia-Pacific on track for 10-year low as VC funding in China drops nearly 55 percent, report finds
AMD To Invest $400m In India Over Five Years
US chipmaker AMD confirms big investment in India, plus construction of largest design centre, as New Delhi continues charm offensive
Campaign Finance Charge Against FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Dropped
Federal prosecutors drop another charge against FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, due to extradition agreement with Bahamas
Samsung Extends Chip Production Cuts After $7 Billion Loss
Electronics giant extends production cuts of memory chips after $7 billion loss in first half of 2023, but says the worse is over
Listed US Firms Must Disclose Cyber Breaches In Four Days
US financial regulator adopts new rules to require publicly traded companies to disclose hacking incidents in just four days
Alphabet CFO Steps Aside, As Q2 Profit Beats Expectations
CFO Ruth Porat to take charge of Google's 'Other Bets' portfolio, as second quarter profit beat expectations
Microsoft Signals Heavy AI Spending, Amid Healthy FY23 Results
Software giant beats Wall Street Q4 expectations, as firm details heavy spending to meet demand for AI services
CMA Publishes Microsoft Arguments As It Denies Bowing To Pressure
CMA publishes Microsoft's arguments for reconsideration of Activision Blizzard deal after FTC court defeat
FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Sued For More Than $1Bn
FTX files lawsuit against former CEO, seeking to recoup more than $1 billion, and alleging funds were used to cover his legal defence
Microsoft, Activision Extend Deal Deadline To Secure UK Approval
Microsoft continues to pull out all the stops to secure its $69 billion acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard, as deal is extended
UK Clears Broadcom’s $61 Billion VMware Purchase
Acquisition of VMware by Broadcom will not weaken competition - the UK's CMA provisionally rules this week
Sony, Microsoft Agree To 10-Year Deal For Call Of Duty
Sony, Microsoft agree to 10-year deal keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation as FTC tries to block Activision Blizzard takeover
Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Arrested, Charged
Alexander Mashinsky, founder and CEO of bankrupt Celsius Network has been arrested and charged by US authorities
Microsoft Blow As FTC Files Activision Appeal
FTC files rare appeal against court ruling, allowing Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard to go ahead
FCA CEO Warns Of AI Disruption To Financial Services Sector
Head of financial regulator warns of threat posed by AI for online fraud and cyber risk, as UK seeks leadership for AI rules
Elon Musk Launches AI Startup xAI
AI startup known as xAI from Elon Musk seeks to challenge OpenAI's ChatGPT with a 'pro-humanity' alternative offering
Europe Gives Conditional Blessing To Broadcom’s $61bn VMware Deal
European Commission conditionally approves Broadcom's proposed acquisition of VMware, after concessions delivered in May
Nvidia In Talks To Be Anchor Investor In ARM – Report
GPU powerhouse reportedly in talks with British chip designer ARM, ahead of its September floatation in New York
Judge Declines FTC Injunction In Microsoft Activision Blizzard Purchase
Federal judge in San Francisco denies FTC preliminary injunction to halt Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard by 18 July
Anthropic Opens Rival AI Chatbot To Public
Challenge to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Bard, after Anthropic debuts Claude 2 AI chatbot, and opens it to public
Foxconn Abandons Indian Chip Joint Venture, Seeks New Project
Blow to India? Taiwan's Foxconn abandons $19.5 billion chipmaking joint venture with Vedanta, but seeks local incentives for new project
Elon Musk Sues Law Firm Over Twitter Buyout Fees
Musk seeks recovery of $90m in fees law firm received from Twitter board for defeating Musk's attempt to walk away from acquisition
BT Chief Executive Philip Jansen To Step Down
BT Group chief executive Philip Jansen confirms he will step down within the next 12 months, as search begins for replacement
Samsung Warns Of 96 Percent Q2 Profit Plunge
Ongoing glut in chips sees Samsung warn that its second quarter profits are likely to plunge a staggering 96 percent
Microsoft-Backed Chatbot Maker Inflection AI Raises $1.3bn
Nvidia, Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt in round that values Inflection at $4bn as year-old start-up seeks to outpace OpenAI
CMA Begins Phase Two Probe Of Adobe’s Figma Acquisition
UK regulator deepens investigation into Adobe’s ‘transformative’ deal to buy collaborative design start-up Figma
Salesforce Invests $4 Billion In UK Amid AI Push
CRM giant Salesforce confirms it will invest $4bn in its UK business over the next five years, in the face of strong demand for AI