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The Big Story
Microsoft-Activision deal gets green light from UK
Microsoft’s restructured $69 billion deal to buy video game developer Activision Blizzard isinching closer to approval by British competition regulators.
The preliminary approval from the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority helps ease a final global hurdle to pave the way for the massive tech transaction to be finalized, The Associated Press reported (AP).
The Competition and Markets Authority said the revamped proposal “substantially addresses previous concerns” that were raised about stifling competition in the cloud gaming market.
The British regulator said the revamped proposal “opens the door to the deal being cleared.”
Background:
Last month Microsoft revamped the deal to help appease U.K. regulators.
The update gave video game developer Ubisoft the ability to distribute games through
cloud streaming and then compensate Microsoft for the cloud streaming rights to Activision Blizzard’s games.
Since announcing the deal in January 2022, Microsoft has received approval from antitrust authorities that cover more than 40 countries, including the 270-nation European Union, AP reported.
“We are encouraged by this positive development in the CMA’s review process,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said on X, the platform formally known as Twitter.
“We presented solutions that we believe fully address the CMA’s remaining concerns related to cloud game streaming, and we will continue to work toward earning approval to close prior to the October 18 deadline,” he added.
Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Rebecca Klar and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
The Supreme Court on Friday extended a temporary pause to an appeals court order restricting the Biden administration’s role in social media companies’ content moderation while it considers whether to halt the ruling. Justice Samuel Alito, who handles emergency requests from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, extended a brief pause of the injunction until Sept. 27. The order is not an indication of how Alito will vote when …
Two Black former workers of video-sharing platform TikTok have filed a federal class action complaint alleging they faced racial discrimination and ultimately were fired from the company when they took the matter to human resources. Nnete Matima and Joël Carter claim in their Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint that they were treated worse than their white peers while at TikTok, which has more than 150 million …
A North Carolina woman sued Google for negligence Tuesday after her husband drove off a collapsed bridge and died while following directions from Google Maps. Alicia Paxson’s husband, Philip Paxson, drove off Snow Creek Bridge in Hickory, N.C., last September, as he returned home from their daughter’s birthday party. The bridge had collapsed nine years earlier but was never repaired or barricaded, according to the lawsuit. …
News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
Apple update patches spyware vulnerabilities
Just days after releasing iOS 17, Apple has put out a security update to patch several bugs that were used to plant spyware on the phone of an Egyptian presidential candidate, TechCrunch reports.
Amazon to place ads on Prime Video next year
Amazon will begin showing ads on Prime Video next year, while also rolling out a more costly ad-free option, The Verge reports.
TikTok tests integrating Google Search results
TikTok is looking at integrating Google Search results into the app’s search feature, Mashable reports.
On Our Radar
Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration will hold a hearing titled “AI and the Future of our Elections” on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
In Other News
Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
What’s streaming now: Doja Cat, ‘Sex Education,’ ‘Spy Kids,’ ‘The Super Models’ and ‘Superpower’
The return of Netflix’s “Sex Education” with Gillian Anderson, Sean Penn’s documentary about Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a docuseries that charts the rise of the first supermodels are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you Among the offerings …
The Energy Department has announced a $325 million investment in new battery types that can help turn solar and wind energy into 24-hour power. The funds will be distributed among 15 projects in 17 states and the Red Lake Nation, a Native American tribe based in Minnesota. Batteries are increasingly …
The White House on Friday said President Biden would veto a pair of funding bills presented by House Republicans as the conference looks for a way … Read more
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) urged his wife not to text or email about missing payments from Will Hana, the Egyptian American businessman with whom the … Read more
