Top News of the Week:
DoJ sues Google for multiple antitrust violations (link)
PayPal to offer crypto to 346M users, 26M merchants (link)
PayPal in talk to acquire crypto startups like BitGo (link)
Microsoft, SpaceX partner to take on AWS in space (link)
Streaming service Quibi shuts down 6 months after launching (link)
Weekly Synthesis:
This week’s biggest news in tech were the DoJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Google and PayPal’s big push into Bitcoin and crypto. After a year-long investigation, the DoJ finally sued Google for its “grip on distribution” by paying billions of dollars to companies including Apple to render it impossible for other search engines to compete. This will be long, drawn out case and could have far reaching consequences for big tech including Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon. Meanwhile, PayPal announced its big entry into Bitcoin and crypto, as it’ll make bitcoin and crypto buying, selling, and commerce available to its 346 million users and 26 million merchants worldwide—and according to Bloomberg, PayPal is on an acquisition spree in crypto starting with crypto custodian BitGo. As a result, bitcoin went up 15% in the last few days to $13,000.
Lastly, I found this video from Facebook particularly interesting on how experimental electromyography tech will one day enable people to interact—such as type emails—without a keyboard, mouse, or device:
Artificial Intelligence & Autonomous:
AV software startup Applied Intuition valued at $1.25B (link)
IBM, Pfizer say AI can predict Alzheimer’s with 71% accuracy (link)
Fintech:
Chase takes on Square with contactless payment system (link)
Freelance banking startup Lili raises $15M
New cap table management startup raises $10M from Stripe (link)
ShopUp raises $23M to digitize mom-pop shops in Bangladesh (link)
Blockchain & Crypto:
U.S. Fed is in no rush to issue a digital currency (link)
China users not impressed with digital currency pilot (link)
Franklin Templeton invests in crypto custodian Curv (link)
Consumer Tech:
Alibaba to compete with Walmart in China with $3.6 investment (link)
Apple’s shifting supply chain creates boomtowns in Vietnam (link)
Ex-Google CEO: Social networks are ‘amplifiers for idiots’ (link)
VC’s views on AR/VR opportunities in 2020 (link)
Enterprise Tech:
Retool raises $50M at $1B valuation from Sequoia (link)
Anyscale raises $40M from NEA, a16z (link)
Ex-Tesla CIO raises $150M for car dealer software (link)
M&A:
Intel sells NAND flash memory business for $9B (link)
NEA is exploring a minority stake sale (link)
Travis Kalanick buys $130M+ in property for cloud kitchens (link)
Splunk acquires Plumbr and Rigor (link)
Things I’m Involved In / Tracking:
Rally launches crypto with major soccer star, esports team (link)
PoolTogether launches v3, raises new funding (link)
About Synthesis
Synthesis is a weekly newsletter of the top tech and innovation news for busy executives. Stay up to date, and save time. Delivered every Friday.
About the Author
I’m Ian. I’ve been in the venture and corporate innovation space for the last 10 years and helped build and operate investing, venturing, and innovation units at IDEO, Citigroup, and Deloitte. You can find me on Twitter here, mostly rambling about the latest in decentralization and crypto.
Get in Touch
🚀 Working on a crypto startup? I’d love to hear about it. Ping me here.
👍 If you have content you want to share in this newsletter, fill out this form.