Amazon's "Transformer" Phone: Can It Succeed Where Fire Phone Failed? 
Meta Ties Executive Pay to Aggressive Stock Price Targets in Major Retention Push 
Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Sends Memory Chip Stocks Tumbling 
Asian Currencies Stay Muted as Dollar Holds Firm Amid Iran Uncertainty 
AWS Bahrain Region Disrupted by Drone Activity Amid Middle East Conflict 
Chinese Universities with PLA Ties Found Purchasing Restricted U.S. AI Chips Through Super Micro Servers 
Brown-Forman and Pernod Ricard in Merger Talks to Create World's Largest Spirits Giant 
Palantir's Maven AI Earns Pentagon "Program of Record" Status, Reshaping Military AI Strategy 
Makemation: a Nollywood movie that shows AI in action in Africa 
Nanya Technology Shares Surge 10% After $2.5 Billion Private Placement from Sandisk and Cisco 
ICE Arrests Colombian Journalist in Tennessee, Trump Administration Says She Will Receive Due Process 
Cybersecurity Stocks Tumble After Anthropic's Claude Mythos AI Leak Sparks Market Fears 
Elon Musk Announces Terafab: SpaceX and Tesla to Build Dual AI Chip Factories in Austin, Texas 
Oil Prices Climb as Iran Reviews U.S. Peace Proposal Amid Middle East Tensions 
EU and CPTPP Nations Push for Landmark Digital Trade Agreement 
Reflection AI Eyes $25 Billion Valuation in Massive $2.5 Billion Funding Round 
Iran Allows Oil Tankers Through Strait of Hormuz Amid U.S. Negotiations 
The first pre-trial hearing in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) case against Microsoft over its $69 billion bid to take over Activision Blizzard has been set for Jan. 3.
The FTC, which enforces antitrust law, asked a judge to block the transaction earlier this month as the merger would allow Microsoft's Xbox to get exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Nintendo consoles and Sony's PlayStation out in the cold.
Microsoft argued that the deal would benefit gamers and gaming companies alike. It also offered to sign a legally binding consent decree with the FTC to provide rivals, including Sony, with Call of Duty games for a decade.
The case is a sign that the Biden administration is seriously enforcing anti-trust regulations.
Antitrust experts say the FTC faces an uphill battle to convince a judge to block the deal as Microsoft’s voluntary concessions allay fears it could dominate the gaming market.
