Here are today’s top trending news from the world of technology. News that we feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
It’s Official: Elon Musk all set to buy Twitter for $44Bn
The Elon Musk-Twitter saga finally reached a climax on Monday after the microblogging platform agreed to sell the company for a whopping $44n. This is perhaps the biggest acquisition deal in the social media industry till date. The deal also opens the possibility of Twitter soon becoming a private limited company, which means that it can delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in the coming months. According to media reports, Musk has promised that under his ownership Twitter will continue to respect freedom of speech. But bear in mind, Musk’s own personal track record on Twitter in bearing criticisms and negative comments has always been very poor.
2)
Facebook owner Meta to soon open its first-ever Physical Store
Facebook’s parent company Meta is all set to open its first ever offline store. Meta will open a 1,550 square feet shop in California where it plans to sell all its virtual reality and augmented reality products. This bold move is obviously part of Meta’s ongoing efforts to invest heavily in the Metaverse platform. Since the past few weeks Meta has been taking decisive steps for building its much hyped up metaverse platform. Barely a week ago the Mark Zuckerberg company announced a pilot project for allowing creators to sell virtual items in the Horizon Worlds, which is the company’s social metaverse platform.
3)
Hackers steal $1Mn NFT from Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Instagram account
The Instagram account of Bored Ape Yacht Club, one of the most popular NFTs in the world, has been hacked. According to media reports, an unidentified hacking group hacked the official Instagram page of the Bored Ape by using a phishing method and stole NFT worth $1Mn from users’ account. The hackers disclosed the information about hacking on Bored Ape’s official Twitter handle. Till date the sale of Bored Ape NFT totals to around $1Bn and its purchasers include high-profile personalities like Justin Bieber, Snoop Dog and Madonna.
4)
OpenSea acquires NFT startup Gem
OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, has reportedly acquired NFT aggregator startup Gem. The terms and conditions of the deal are still not known. NFT startup Gem was recently in news for firing its co-founder Josh Thompson over the allegation of sexual misconduct. Meanwhile, this is OpenSea’s second acquisition this year. Few months back, the NFT marketplace had acquired DeFi wallet startup Dharma Labs for undisclosed amount.
5)
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance hires a new CEO
Popular short video platform TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has hired Julie Gao as the company’s new CEO. Gao currently works as the corporate attorney in a Hong Kong based law firm. Gao will be replacing Shou Zi Chew who stepped down as the CFO in November last year.