• Take-Two Interactive Software: Take-Two Interactive to acquire Borderlands maker Gearbox for $460 million

    U.S. video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software said on Wednesday it would acquire Gearbox Entertainment, best known for the first-person shooter game Borderlands, from Sweden's Embracer for $460 million. The Swedish group is selling the game developer for a steep discount, having bought it in a deal that valued the business at up to $1.4 billion in 2021. In a separate statement, Embracer said the deal with Take-Two would cut its net debt by about 3.2 billion crowns to 3.5 billion crowns...

  • EV startup Fisker slashes prices of Ocean SUV amid debt troubles

    Electric-vehicle startup Fisker said on Wednesday it was cutting the prices of its 2023 electric Ocean SUV model, signaling an attempt by the cash-strapped firm to drum up demand and ease concerns regarding its uncertain future. The company slashed the price tag of the entry level version - Ocean Sport - by around 36%, or $14,000, bringing it down to $24,999 from $38,999 earlier. The company said it will reduce the price of the top-end version of the vehicle, called Extreme , by around 39%, or...

  • Sam Bankman-Fried: Dethroned crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced for defrauding FTX investors

    Former crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried faces the potential of decades in prison when he is sentenced Thursday for his role in the 2022 collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for trading digital currency. Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted in November of fraud and conspiracy - a dramatic fall from a year earlier when he and his companies seemed to be riding a crest of success that resulted in a Super Bowl advertisement and celebrity endorsements from stars like quarterback...

  • Donald Trump's Truth Social opens new avenue for conflicts of interest

    When former President Donald Trump's social media company went public this week, supporters and investors betting on Trump's political success helped drive the value of a loss-making firm through the roof. Trump ended the first day of public trading $4.6 billion richer on paper. If Trump is elected president, it may not be the last time the company is used as a vehicle to benefit Trump's pocketbook, experts said. Trump Media & Technology Group -- the owner of Truth Social, the site Trump uses to...

  • Amazon's senior employees may not get a cash pay raise this year

    Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday its senior employees, whose compensation includes more stock-related awards than cash, may not receive a cash pay raise this year. For this year's compensation cycle, we are prioritizing cash base pay increases for employees whose compensation is weighted more heavily in base pay as opposed to stock, an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Some of these top employees' compensation, however, will meaningfully exceed that of last year due to growth...

  • Elon Musk says X users with over 2,500 verified followers to get Premium service for free

    Elon Musk on Thursday announced that X users with over 2,500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium services for free, while those with over 5,000 followers will be able to access Premium+ services free of charge.The subscription plans provide an ad-free experience and enable users to edit their tweets, among other features. The Premium+ service will also allow users to access GrokAI, Musk's ChatGPT-style chatbot.Musk also confirmed earlier this week that GrokAI will be accessible to...

  • Aakash Chaudhry won’t return to Byju’s; Alteria’s Rs 1,550 crore Fund-III

    Happy Thursday! Talks between Aakash Institute promoters and Byju’s on Aakash Chaudhry’s return to helm the coaching firm have failed. Details on this and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.Also in this letter:■ LAMs to dominate AI landscape■ Databricks CEO on India plans■ US, UK approval on trading of crypto securitiesExclusive | Chaudhry unlikely to return to steer Aakash Institute 108833708Aakash Chaudhry, cofounder, Aakash InstituteAakash Chaudhry, the promoter of Aakash...

  • Behind London Stock Exchange's move to list crypto ETNs in May

    After the US’s financial regulator allowed trading of cryptocurrency securities this year, the UK has become the second financial market to follow suit. The London Stock Exchange, on Monday, notified the launch of a market for bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded notes (ETN) on May 28.While the issuer applications will still require the UK regulator’s approval, acceptance of crypto instruments in traditional financial markets is a powerful driver of positive investor sentiment,...

  • Exclusive: Chaudhry unlikely to return to steer Byju's-owned Aakash Institute

    Byju's-owned Aakash Institute-where Manipal group chief Ranjan Pai owns a 40% stake-has dropped plans for any potential return of Aakash Chaudhry - the promoter of the coaching business unit, multiple sources briefed on the matter said. The board and management council of Aakash along with Pai is likely to now steer the ship ahead for the business and appoint a new chief executive, people briefed on the plans said. This is a significant departure from the earlier stand of the promoters being in...

  • Ali Ghodsi: AI company Databricks finds India on a different trajectory, invests more

    San Francisco-based data and AI company Databricks is allocating the largest chunk of its global investments in India to expand customer base, build core engineering teams and enable Indian startups to train language models on quality datasets, cofounder and CEO Ali Ghodsi told ET in his first ever interaction with Indian media.“Many parts of the world are in this intermediate recessionary state. India is the only one that just seems to be on a different trajectory. I think it will become a...

  • Large action models gearing up to turn AI’s promise into action

    Imagine you're going on holiday. Would life be simpler if, instead of having to navigate through multiple apps on your phone to book a flight, check into a hotel, make restaurant reservations and so on, an AI could do it for you? Large action models (LAM) - the 'next big thing' in the AI landscape, according to experts - can do just that, and more.With the world's first LAM-powered device, Rabbit's R1, set to start shipping in a week and tech biggies like Microsoft and Salesforce investing in...

  • Alteria Capital logs final close of Fund-III at $195 million

    Venture debt firm Alteria Capital announced the final close of its third fund at Rs 1,550 crore (about $195 million). Along with the venture debt scheme, the Mumbai-based firm, which has backed startups such as Rebel Foods, BlueStone, OneCard, Ather and Captain Fresh, has opened for subscription a shorter duration scheme as part of the fund. On an aggregate basis, the fund size is expected to be $250-300 million, it said.Through the venture debt fund, Alteria Capital will back startups that have...