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| Here's a look at today's tech briefing: - Crypto firm Terraform Labs files for bankruptcy in the U.S.
- Meta to let EU users unlink Instagram, Facebook, Messenger.
- Sony scraps $10B merger with India's Zee.
Thanks for reading! Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Terraform Labs, the company behind the TerraUSD and Luna stablecoins, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Terraform and its co-founder, Do Kwon, were held responsible for the two cryptocurrencies whose collapse wiped out $40B from the crypto market in 2022. More: - Singapore-based Terraform Labs' Pte. digital-asset business filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on Sunday.
- Terraform estimates assets and liabilities ranging from $100M to $500M, with a creditor count of 100 to 199, according to the court documents.
- Terraform said it still plans to keep expanding its Web3 business.
Co-founder arrest: - Kwon, the majority shareholder of Terraform at 92%, is wanted by South Korea and the U.S. following the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna tokens.
- Both cryptocurrencies suffered a $40B loss when TerraUSD broke its $1 peg in May 2022.
- Kwon is now detained in Montenegro for using a counterfeit passport and may be extradited to the U.S. around mid-March to face securities fraud charges in a Manhattan district court.
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| 2 | | Meta is giving users in Europe the option to unlink their accounts, such as Instagram and Facebook, as it works to comply with the EU's new Digital Markets Act (DMA). The company announced the changes in a blog post today, saying it will send out notifications to users in the coming weeks. More: - Meta ysers in the EU will be able to choose if they would like to share their information between Meta's different services.
- For example, Facebook Messenger users can decide if they want to unlink from their Facebook account and keep a separate account for Messenger.
- Instagram and Facebook users with linked accounts can choose to manage them separately and stop sharing information between them.
- Facebook Marketplace and Gaming users can also use the services independently from their primary Facebook accounts, though this could result in reduced functionality, Meta said.
Zoom out: - The changes will apply to Meta's services in the EU, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland.
- The DMA seeks to rein in big tech's EU dominance through measures like interoperable messaging apps, third-party app stores, and alternative in-app payments.
- Other tech giants like Google are also changing their services to comply with the DMA before its March 2024 enforcement.
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| 3 | | Sony Group's Indian unit has canceled its $10B merger with Zee Entertainment, ending a potential deal that would have formed one of India's largest TV broadcasters. Mumbai-based Zee Entertainment Enterprises is India's top media and entertainment company by net sales. 
What happened: The deal, first announced two years ago, would have created a $10B media conglomerate in India, combining over 70 TV channels, Bollywood studios, and a vast film library to compete with domestic rivals and global streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon. However, Sony terminated the merger on Monday, saying that certain closing conditions weren't met by Zee. Sony is seeking $90M in termination fees for alleged merger agreement breaches. While it didn't detail the unmet conditions, media reports suggested tensions between the two companies over the leadership of the combined entity. Related: Sony's decision coincides with discussions between Disney and Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries about merging their Indian media ventures, creating one of India's largest entertainment empires. Ambani's conglomerate would own 51%, with Disney holding the remaining 49%. The merger is expected to be finalized next month. | | | |
| 4 | | Apple analyst Kuo predicts the company sold 160,000 to 180,000 Vision Pro headsets over the weekend, higher than initial production figures, though he believes demand has fallen after "core fans" placed their orders. The $3,500 mixed-reality headset sold out quickly after Friday's pre-order launch and, a few hours later, shipping times for all models were delayed by five to seven weeks. More: - In an online post, Kuo said shipping dates were unchanged 48 hours after pre-orders opened, suggesting a drop in demand after an initial sell-out.
- By comparison, iPhone orders typically see a steady rise in shipping times within 24 to 48 hours after pre-orders, he noted.
- Kuo estimated production figures of 60,000 to 80,000 units for the headset's release on Feb. 2.
- Even at 80,000 units, this is only about 0.007% of Apple's 1.2 billion active users, he added.
- Kuo believes shipping 500,000 Vision Pro units this year "should not be challenging," but uncertainty about demand persists due to its niche market.
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| 5 | | Alphabet's innovation lab, known as X, is undergoing a restructuring that involves staff layoffs, Bloomberg reported. The lab's new structure will allow X's project to spin off "more easily" as independent businesses with backing from Alphabet and external supporters. More: - The X tech lab, formed by Google founders Sergei Brin and Larry Page, has generated "moonshot-based businesses" for Google's parent company Alphabet.
- The Moonshot Factory is now seeking more external investors, including venture capital, to alleviate growing financial pressure and launch projects more quickly, according to Bloomberg.
- While X's moonshots aim to become independent ventures, known as "Other Bets," within Alphabet's umbrella, the concept involves more of them thriving as standalone startups with outside funding.
- The restructuring will result in "dozens of layoffs" among support staff at X, although the exact number was not disclosed.
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| 6 | | TikTok is testing "AI Song," a tool that generates music from text prompts. According to The Verge, AI Song combines lyrics generated by the Bloom language model with pre-saved music from TikTok's catalog. More: - AI Song is geared toward TikTok users and not professionals in the music industry.
- It generates lyrics based on text prompts, matching the lyrics with pre-saved pop, hip-hop, and EDM tracks, a TikTok spokesperson said.
- After the song is created, users can switch between the different genres to edit the song.
- The tool, which is not technically a true AI song generator, will likely be renamed, the spokesperson said.
- As an experimental feature, it is only available to a limited user group. It's unclear if or when AI Song could launch to a wider user base.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for notable publications like USA Today and the Arizona Business Gazette. During her time as a public policy reporter at The Arizona Republic, she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for her collaborative reporting on pension cost increases. Beth also authored a book on the solar photovoltaic industry in 2016. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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