Trump says no to any Chinese ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok, Microsoft acquires ZeniMax Media, and Hackers leak data on thousands of Belarusian police officers.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Tuesday, September 22, and I’m your host Baneet Braich.
Trump has said that ByteDance can’t keep control of TikTok in the Oracle deal. With the initial deal ByteDance may still end up owning around 80% of TikTok Global, which would include operations in the US and the word but excludes China. Now Trump says that Oracle and Walmart will have “total control” over TikTok. “If we find that they don’t have total control, then we’re not going to approve the deal.” Oracle will get full access to review TikTok’s source code and updates to ensure the Chinese parent company is not spying on 100 million American users, according to Bloomberg. [LinkedIn thread]
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Microsoft to Acquire ZeniMax Media and Its Game Publisher Bethesda Softworks from technology
The gaming industry will be worth more than $200 billion in annual revenue in 2021. And Microsoft is leveraging the gaming potential with its recent decision to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, one of the largest, privately-held game developers and publishers in the world with best-sellers like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Microsoft will acquire Zenimax for $7.5 billion in cash. Microsoft will then grow from 15 to 23 creative studio teams and also add Bethesda’s franchises to Xbox Game Pass so Xbox fans, be ready for new opportunities coming your way.
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Hackers leak data on 1,000 Belarusian police officers from technology
Hackers have leaked data on 1,000 Belarusian police officers in retaliation for a crackdown on street demonstrations against the president. Nearly 390 women were detained for protesting this past weekend. The leaked data includes names, dates of birth, and the officers’ departments and job titles. The data was given to an independent news organization which is encouraging the public to send in more information about the police officers such as mistresses, car numbers and more. The government says they will prosecute the hackers, however, the news agency said that, “If the detentions continue, we will continue to publish data on a massive scale and that no one will remain anonymous.“
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Baneet Braich, thanks for listening.
