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| Here's a look at today's tech briefing: - Walmart is buying Vizio for $2.3B to bolster its ad business.
- A Neuralink human patient was able to control a computer mouse with thoughts.
- Wyze breach exposed 13,000 users' camera feeds.
- Sony could launch a PS5 Pro this year.
- U.K. issues guidance for schools seeking to ban phones.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Walmart is acquiring smart TV maker Vizio for $2.3B in an all-cash deal that will bolster its ad business through Vizio's SmartCast Operating System. The smart TV system, which supports free ad-supported streaming on TVs, marks Walmart's entrance into the growing connected TV advertising space, competing against Amazon, Roku, and YouTube. 
Details: Walmart will acquire Vizio for $11.50 per share, a 54% premium over Vizio's share price before news of the deal broke last week. While Walmart is one of the top sellers of Vizio televisions, its main interest lies in the latter's data and smart TV operating system, which boasts 18 million active accounts for targeting by advertisers. Vizio's Platform Plus business, which makes up most of the company's profits, also claims over 500 direct advertiser partnerships. What it means: The deal gives Walmart's Connect ad division new ways to reach customers via in-home media. For Walmart, it's an investment in streaming revenue and customer data, as first-party data on users' shopping habits is growing in value. The retailer also said it could offer new "innovative television and in-home entertainment and media experiences" once the deal closes. The acquisition still needs regulatory approval and can be terminated within 45 days if Vizio receives a better offer. |     | |
| 2 | | The first human recipient of a Neuralink brain chip can now control a computer mouse using their thoughts, according to founder Elon Musk. Speaking at an X event on Monday, Musk said "progress is good" and the patient appears to have "made a full recovery with no ill effects that were are aware of." More: - In January, Neuralink used a surgical robot to successfully implant the device into the human patient.
- The recipient, who was not identified, is now able to move a mouse cursor on a computer screen "just by thinking," Musk said.
- Neuralink is also working to add the ability for patients to move a mouse in different directions and hold down a button, he explained.
- "We're trying to get as many button presses as possible from thinking," he said.
Zoom out: - After overcoming FDA concerns about chip overheating, Neuralink received approval last May and began recruiting for its first human clinical trial in the fall.
- The brain implant, called Telepathy, will initially help people who have lost limb function, Musk has said.
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| 3 | | Smart home company Wyze admitted that a Friday breach allowed 13,000 customers to view images and, in some cases, videos from cameras not owned by them. The users were able to see thumbnails from other users' cameras, with 1,504 of those customers tapping to view enlarged images or videos, according to Wyze. More: - Wyze said the "security incident" happened after a Friday service outage attributed to Amazon Web Services.
- After the nine-hour outage, Wyze cameras that came back online mistakenly reconnected to the wrong users.
- The company blamed the breach on a third party's caching client library that was recently integrated into its system.
- Wyze notified all customers on Monday, noting that 99.75% of accounts were unaffected.
Zoom out: - In 2019, another data breach exposed the data of 2.4 million Wyze customers, including usernames, emails, WiFi, and health information, for over three weeks.
- Last fall, The Verge reported that a web caching issue led to some Wyze customers inadvertently accessing others' live camera feeds via the Wyze web portal.
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| 4 | | Sony is expected to launch a PlayStation 5 Pro this year, ahead of Grand Theft Auto VI's release in 2025, analysts told CNBC. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, said there is a "broad" industry consensus that Sony will release the refreshed console in the second half of 2024. More: - Sony wanted to ensure it had "a great piece of hardware ready" when the highly anticipated GTA VI game launches next year, Toto added.
- While Sony made a slight upgrade to the PS5 last year, the PS5 Pro is expected to offer a much bigger improvement, CNBC reported.
- It will serve as a mid-cycle refresh for the original PS5 released in November 2020.
Zoom out: - The news comes a week after Sony reduced its sales forecast for the PS5 to 21 million units from 25 million for the fiscal year ending in March.
- An executive said Sony expects a gradual drop in sales moving forward.
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| 5 | | The U.K. government has issued guidance telling schools to ban or regulate student use of mobile phones during the day. The guidance is non-statutory, meaning school officials can still set their own policies, ranging from outright bans to collecting phones upon arrival, or telling students to store them in lockers or bags. More: - While some U.K. schools already have no-phone policies, the guidelines are meant to promote a more consistent approach, according to the government.
- The goal is to "minimize disruption and improve behavior in classrooms," it said.
- Under the guidance, teachers can also search students for phones.
- The government suggests that schools educate students about the negative effects of phones, and advises parents to contact their children through the school office rather than directly.
Zoom out: - According to UNESCO, fewer than a quarter of the world's countries have school smartphone bans.
- France banned cell phones in schools in 2018, and China banned phones without written parental consent in 2021.
- Italy outlawed phones during school lessons in 2022, as did the state of Florida in 2023.
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| 6 | | OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has finalized a deal that raises its valuation to $80B or more — a threefold increase in 10 months, the New York Times reported. As a result, OpenAI could become the world's third most valuable tech startup, after TikTok owner ByteDance at $225B and SpaceX at $150B, per CB Insights data. More: - Under the deal, OpenAI will sell existing shares in a tender offer led by the VC firm Thrive Capital.
- OpenAI employees will be able to cash out their shares, differing from a traditional round of fundraising.
- Bloomberg reported that the tender offer values OpenAI at $86B.
Zoom out: - The deal comes almost a year after OpenAI closed a $300M share sale, valuing the company at $27B to $29B. In that tender offer, Thrive, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and K2 Global agreed to purchase OpenAI shares.
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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 publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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