Despite calling for the death penalty for drug dealers, president Donald Trump pardoned Ross "Dread Pirate Roberts" Ulbricht, the man behind the seminal online drug marketplace Silk Road,whichfacilitated the sale of over $200 million in illegal drugs and other illicit goods using bitcoin.Now Ulbricht is a free man, and as Protos reports, crypto wallets linked to him have received countless donations as he's become a martyr-like figure.But instead of returning the favor or making a quick buck by selling off a portion of his newfound riches, Ulbricht appears to be honoring a longtime tradition in the world of crypto: losing money on doomed meme coins.According to blockchain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence, the wallets linked to Ulbricht have already lost an estimated $12 million worth of donations on Pump Fun, the infamousmeme coin platform that's often used by celebrities for blatant pump-and-dump schemes.It remains unclear whether Ulbricht was behind the disastrous bets on the platform, or somebody else with access to his wallet keys.The blunder happened when the wallets attempted to sell accumulated $ROSS tokens, a meme coin created to celebrate his pardoning. Whoever's behind the wallet seems to have accidentally sold the tokens at a massive discount and before they could correct their mistake, automated trading bots made the situation far worse, leading to millions of dollars in losses.The screwup serves as a great reminder of the substantial risks involved in trading volatile meme coins lessons that seemingly even the mind behind Silk Road has yet to learn.Ulbricht's personal involvement in the affair remains unclear. The former crypto baron tweeted on January 19 two days before $ROSS was minted that he was "not involved or associated with any meme coin bearing my name. There is no official Ross coin."But an anonymous developer gave wallets linked to Ulbricht half of the supply of the meme coin when it was created, according to Arkham."Ross tried to add single-sided liquidity to sell the coins off passively, but accidentally created a pool with Raydium CPMM (Constant-Product Market Maker) instead of CLMM (Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker)," the blockchain analysis firm tweeted.The faux pas sent the value of the coin plummeting by roughly 90 percent. According to Arkham, Ulbricht still holds roughly $200,000 worth of the coin, "despite losing 40 percent of the supply."The memecoin has since fluctuated wildly, and is up 103 percent over the last day, according to DEX Screener, further highlighting the extremely volatile nature of these crypto assets.Some members of the crypto community were sympathetic following Ulbricht's massive blunder."Wow... welcome to the trenches," one X-formerly-Twitter user tweeted in response."Imagine having such a crappy UX that even Bitcoin OGs can't figure it out, let alone the normies," another user wrote. "Web3 will only become mainstream when we figure out how to improve the UX in a dramatic way."More on meme coins: Trump's Meme Coin Is Down 64 Percent From Its HighShare This Article

We're gonna need a bigger bus.Long BoyIncredible things are happening in China: a company there has announced the release of a 26 meter that's an astonishing 85 feet,for those who struggle with the metric system bi-articulating bus, meaning it has two joints in the midsection like a giant caterpillar.And the best part? It's all electric, baby.The Zhengzhou-based company Yutong revealed photos of the behemoth this week, claiming it was a world first. The bus is set to roll out in Mexico, which is increasingly investing in public transit overhauls under its recently elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum."This bus can not only meet the pressing local demands for large-capacity and low-energy buses, but also fully consider the riding experience of passengers in Mexico," a Yutong-Mexico spokesperson said in a statement to what else? BusNews.com. "It will contribute to the modernization of urban public transport in Mexico and even Latin America in the future."The Story of BusAt 744, Mexico has the fourth-largest fleet of electric buses in Latin America, according to E-Bus Radar, the vast majority manufactured by Yutong.The sale highlights China's push into the economies of both developed and underserved nations across the globe trade, some research has found, that's often associated with a "substantial reduction" in moderate poverty.Yutong's buses fit right in: after packing China to the brim with ebuses thanks in large part to government subsidies the company has turned its attention to global markets, now reportedly supplying over a quarter of all electric buses in Europe. (In a bigger sense, it also illustrates the explosive international growth of the Chinese auto manufacturing sector.)Put it all together, and it's pretty embarrassing to watch from a country like the United States, which has often stifledpublic transit projects in favor of car-friendly infrastructureand moonshot daydreams.Share This Article

See at ESPN Watch La Liga soccer in the US from $11 a month ESPN Plus See at ESPN See more details See at ExpressVPN Best VPN for streaming ExpressVPN See at ExpressVPN See more details See at Premiersports Watch La Liga in the UK from 8 Premier Sports See at Premiersports See more details See at TSN Carries La Liga matches live TSN Plus See at TSN See more details See at BeIn Sports Watch La Liga games from AU$15 per month BeIn Sports See at BeIn Sports See more details Table of Contents Real Madrid will look to maintain their four-point advantage over Atletico Madrid at the top of Spain's La Liga as they travel to Catalonia to take on struggling Espanyol.Los Blancos come into this match after registering a comfortable 3-0 victory over Brest in their final match in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday to confirm their place in the play-off stages of that tournament.Meanwhile, Espanyol are one point from safety in 18th place in the standings. While unbeaten in their last six games, the Periquitos have won just one of those fixtures.Espanyol takes on Real Madrid at the RCDE Stadium in Barcelona on Saturday, Feb. 1. Kickoff is set for9 p.m. CET local time, making it a 3 p.m. ET and 12 p.m. PT start in the US, an 8 p.m. GMT start in the UK and a 6 a.m. AEDTSunday kickoff in Australia.Below, we'll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the game as it happens, wherever you are in the world. Rodrygo scored a double in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over French team Brest on Wednesday in the Champions League. Damien Meyer/AFP/Getty Images How to watch Espanyol vs. Real Madrid in the US without cableThis match is available to stream in the US via ESPN Plus, which has live English and Spanish-language broadcast rights for La Liga in the US. ESPN Plus ESPN's standalone streaming service costs $11 a month or $110 for an annual subscription.Read our ESPN Plus review. See at ESPN How to watch La Liga from anywhere with a VPNIf you find yourself unable to view La Liga matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the games -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins. With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this. Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions. James Martin/CNET 2024 Latest Tests DNS leaks detected, 25% speed loss in 2024 testsNetwork 3,000 plus servers in 105 countriesJurisdiction British Virgin Islands ExpressVPN isour current best VPN pickfor people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month.Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. 61% off with 2yr plan (+4 free months) See at ExpressVPN Livestream Espanyol vs. Real Madrid in the UK Premier Sports is showing a minimum of five live matches per week from Spain's top league on its Premier Sports 1 and 2 channels, as well as its dedicated La Liga platform. This game will be shown exclusively live on La Liga TV and Premier Sports 2. Premier Sports A subscription to just Premier Sports' dedicated La Liga channel costs 8 a month.You can also get the channel via a full subscription to Premier Sports, giving you access to all of the networks' channels, which have the UK broadcast rights to Scottish Premiership matches, BKT United Rugby Championship and Investec Champions Cup rugby, plus NHL and NASCAR.A full Premier Sports subscription costs 10 per month for Sky and Virgin TV customers. You can also get Premier Sports through Amazon Prime Video as an add-on for 15 a month. See at Premiersports Livestream Espanyol vs. Real Madrid in CanadaTSN is the rights holder for live coverage of La Liga matches in the region, with select fixtures being shown on its linear channels and a wider selection of games being shown on its TSN Plus streaming platform. This match is set to be shown on TSN Plus. TSN TSN Plus is a direct-streaming service that costs CA$8 a month and also offers coverage of PGA Tour Live golf, NFL games, F1, NASCAR and the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. See at TSN Livestream Espanyol vs. Real Madrid in AustraliaFooty fans down under can watch La Liga fixtures live on BeIn Sports, which holds the live broadcast rights in Australia for Spanish top-flight matches. This match is set to be shown on BeIn Sports 2. BeIn Sports BeIn Sports is available in Australia for AU$15 a month or a yearly commitment of AU$130. See at BeIn Sports Quick tips for streaming La Liga using a VPNWith four variables at play -- your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN -- your experience and success when streaming La Liga matches may vary.If you don't see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the "search for city or country" option.If you're having trouble getting the game after you've turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs -- like Roku -- don't have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you'll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you're using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network's sports app, you'll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.Remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you're using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommendBrave.

See at Paramount+ Carries the 67th annual Grammy Awards Paramount Plus See at Paramount+ See more details See at Tv.youtube Carries the 67th annual Grammy Awards YouTube TV See at Tv.youtube See more details David Becker/Getty ImagesMusic's biggest night is back. The Grammy Awards will return to Los Angeles for their 67th annual ceremony, and it's sure to be a night to remember.Emmy-winning comedian and former Daily Show host Trevor Noah is back to host the event for the fifth time. Beyonc heads into the ceremony way ahead of the pack, with a total of 11 nominations, making her the most-nominated musician in Grammys history to date, she's racked up a career total of 99 nominations. Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish and Charli XCX are tied at seven nominations each. Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter round things out with six nominations each.This year's Grammys will feel slightly different, considering the recent wildfires that devastated the Los Angeles area. However, the celebration of the year's best music will still happen. The awards event will also support the communities impacted by the disaster through partnerships with relief organizations MusiCares, DirectRelief, the Pasadena Community Foundation and the California Community Foundation."In addition to raising money for music people, we are proud to add these three incredible partners who are supporting the Los Angeles region in other ways to maximize our efforts of aiding those impacted by this crisis," Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement.Read on to find out how to watch the 2025 Grammy Awards.Read more: Paramount Plus Review: Nostalgia-Rich Streaming Service That Can't Beat Netflix Billie Eilish Francis Specker/CBS via Getty ImagesHow to watch the 2025 Grammys without cableThe 67th Grammy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The show will air exclusively on CBS, but we also have the streaming details. Paramount Plus will air the ceremony live for subscribers to the Paramount Plus With Showtime tier which costs $13 per month or $120 per year via the live feed of their local CBS station. The streamer also has a seven-day free trial for folks interested in watching the event live. Customers with the Paramount Plus Essential plan ($8 per month or $60 per year) must wait until the following day to watch.There are other ways to watch the Grammys. Live TV streaming services such as YouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TV and Fubo offer access to CBS without cable. James Martin/CNET Apart from the addition of Showtime programming, there are a few key differences between Paramount Plus Essential and Paramount Plus With Showtime. You won't see as many ads if you have the Showtime plan, and the offering also lets you stream your local live CBS station and download titles for offline viewing.Read our Paramount Plus review. See at Paramount+ CNET YouTube TV carries 78 of the top 100 networks, including CBS. This means subscribers can watch the Grammys live. The service charges $83 a month, due to its channel library and solid DVR option, which includes unlimited storage and a 4K streaming upgrade for an extra $20 monthly fee.For a limited time, new subscribers can get the first six months of the service's Base Plan for $70. Check out our YouTube TV review for more info. See at Tv.youtube

A new report now suggests that some BioWare staff "loaned" to other EA studios will not be returning. Read more

MultiVersus players who bought $100 Founder's Pack feel "scammed" by game's closure"Anyone saying consumers deserve to be defrauded because it says tokens, not characters, is insane."Image credit: Warner Bros. News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Feb. 1, 2025 MultiVersus players who bought the premium Founder's Pack have hit out at Warner Bros. Games for cancelling its free-to-play live-service fighting game before they had a chance to redeem all of their rewards.After learning yesterday that MultiVersus' fifth season will be its last, some players who stumped up $100 for MultiVersus' Founder's Pack have taken to social media saying they've been "scammed" given they'd paid for 30 character tokens and 2500 Gleamium that they've yet to use.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Xbox Developer Direct - four promising games also coming to PlayStation.Watch on YouTubeWhilst some point out that, with the arrival of Aquaman and Lola, there will be 35 characters in the roster, some founder players said that "Gold was a lot more generous back [during the beta]" so they'd been able to redeem characters via the in-game currency, which is why they have character tokens left over.Others say they were keeping their tokens for "future updates" and that as six of those 35 fighters were given away freely - Banana Guard, Jason, Shaggy, Wonder Woman, Lola, and Aquaman - many Founder Pack owners may have unused credits (thanks, TheGamer)."23 characters were already unlocked before purchasing Premium Founders," the OP explained. "They still charged despite that. Means they promised the purchaser that they would be able to use all 30 of those tokens knowing that they bought it even after unlocking everything that was released at that moment."Did I Just Get Scammed? Got Founders Around when Marvin Came Out. Only 12 characters came after. byu/RockmanBN inMultiVersusTo see this content please enable targeting cookies."That's not how it works. they promised 30 tokens and you were given 30 tokens," countered another."Anyone here saying consumers deserve to be defrauded because it says tokens, not characters, is insane," opined one unhappy player."The concept of the item has to then be useable, if a product is unusable or is described improperly at time of purchase, the consumer is due a refund."At the time of writing, there has been no formal word from Warner Bros. Games or developer Player First Games if they will refund some or all of the cost of Founder's Packs.In a post to players yesterday, the MultiVersus team confirmed Season 5 will end on 30th May, although the game will still be available offline "for the foreseeable future".

Why have thousands of datasets disappeared from Data.gov?Credit: Sean Gladwell / Getty ImagesSince President Trump was sworn into office, almost three thousand datasets have disappeared from Data.gov, the U.S. government's repository of open data. According to 404 Media, online archivist communities discovered since Trump took office on Jan. 21, the number of datasets on Data.gov has decreased to 305,564 from 307,854 datasets. Screenshots of Data.gov's homepage archived in the Wayback Machine show the number of datasets one day before (Jan. 20) and nine days after (Jan. 30) the Trump administration began. RedditThe outlet spoke with digital archivists who are working to identify what was deleted and why. But the answer is more complex than straight up propagandist data scrubbing. "While some of the deletions are surely malicious information scrubbing, some are likely routine artifacts of an administration change, and they are working to determine which is which," said the investigation. Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!The reason for why datasets have disappeared could be link rot, i.e. links that no longer work because the URL has been changed, or data has been migrated somewhere else. There isn't a regulated system for how federal agencies archive their data in the repository, and some agencies might have simply archived datasets on their own sites instead. Changes in presidential administrations have led to datasets being deleted in the past, either on purpose or by accident. When Biden took office, 1,000 datasets were deleted according to the Wayback Machine, via 404 Media's reporting. That said determining whether deletions were done on purpose or as a collateral effect of changing administrations is an arduous process that requires manual research of each archive. But what was scrubbed is, in itself an indication of the government's plans. During President Trump's first presidency, the administration removed or changed large chunks of climate change information. And in his current presidency, he instructed federal agencies in an executive order to delete information about gender identity and DEI initiatives part of Trump's promise to end "wokeness." The outlet reports that deleted datasets "disproportionately" come from environmental science agencies like the Department of Energy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). TopicsDonald TrumpGovernmentCecily MauranCecily is a tech reporter at Mashable who covers AI, Apple, and emerging tech trends. Before getting her master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she spent several years working with startups and social impact businesses for Unreasonable Group and B Lab. Before that, she co-founded a startup consulting business for emerging entrepreneurial hubs in South America, Europe, and Asia. You can find her on Twitter at @cecily_mauran.

Welcome back to Week in Review. This week were looking at DeepSeeks major boost in the U.S.; Elon Musk admitting he was wrong about FSD; teens losing trust in Big Tech; and more! Lets do it.DeepSeek went viral this week after its AI models led Wall Street analysts and technologists to question whether the U.S. can maintain its lead in the AI race and whether the demand for AI chips will sustain. DeepSeek even claims that its R1 reasoning model performs as well as OpenAIs o1 model on key benchmarks. Theres a lot of moving parts surrounding DeepSeek, so weve put together everything you need to know right here.Perplexity has been sued in federal court for allegedly violating another companys trademark. Attorneys representing a company called Perplexity Solved Solutions accuse Perplexity of infringing on its trademark rights by using the brand Perplexity. The Texas company alleges that AI startup Perplexity began infringing on its trademark in or around August 2022 to promote its AI-powered search engine.Google is issuing a voluntary exit program for Android, Chrome, and Pixel employees this week, according to an internal memo sent by Google SVP Rick Osterloh. The voluntary severance program arrives less than a year after Google merged the separate teams into a single Platform and Devices division, overseen by Osterloh.This is TechCrunchs Week in Review, where we recap the weeks biggest news. Want this delivered as a newsletter to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.NewsImage Credits:Kirsten KorosecWaymo goes Hollywood: Waymos driverless robotaxis are heading to the Los Angeles freeway system. The company will begin testing on Interstates 10, 110, 405, and 90 without a human safety operator behind the wheel. Read moreFacebook returns to the past: Mark Zuckerberg teased a return to OG Facebook as part of his key goals for 2025 in Metas Q4 earnings call. While the company didnt say what changes were in store, its clear that Meta needs younger Facebook users in order to sustain itself for the next generation. Read moreA non-Amazon way to buy e-books: Bookshop.org now has its own e-book platform making it easier for readers to avoid padding Jeff Bezos pockets. The new capabilities allow readers to buy e-books and support their favorite independent bookstore (shoutout to my new local bookstore, Restoried). Read morePerplexity submits another bid for TikTok: Perplexity AI submitted a revised proposal to merge with TikTok in a deal that would give the U.S. government up to 50% ownership of the new entity. Perplexity previously proposed creating a new company by combining it with TikTok U.S. and equity investors. Read moreElon Musk admits he was wrong: After years of promising that Tesla vehicles had the hardware needed to support a self-driving car, Elon Musk admitted that many do not. Musk revealed that some Tesla cars will need an upgrade before they can support the unsupervised self-driving software the automaker is still developing. Read moreMeta AI wants to get personal: Meta is rolling out improvements to Meta AI, its cross-platform chatbot. The bot can now use your Instagram and Facebook data to remember details from conversations like if you love to travel or youre vegan to better tailor future responses to you. Read moreAxing Cruise could save GM $1 billion a year: General Motors expects to save up to $1 billion annually by ending its Cruise robotaxi development program, CEO and chair Mary Barra said during the companys earnings call. The automaker said in December that it would no longer fund its self-driving subsidiary. Read moreGoogle Maps renames the Gulf of Mexico: Google will rename the Gulf of Mexico and Alaskas Denali mountain in Google Maps to comply with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump that changed the names of several American landmarks. Read moreHow to turn off Apple Intelligence: iOS 18.3 automatically opts users into Apple Intelligence, at least for newer devices. But not everyone wants generative AI features enabled by default on their devices, so heres an easy way to switch it off. Read moreAnalysisImage Credits:Daniel de la Hoz (opens in a new window) / Getty ImagesTeens dont trust Big Tech: American teens have lost their faith in Big Tech, according to a new report from Common Sense Media. The organization surveyed over 1,000 teens on whether companies like Google, Apple, Meta, TikTok, and Microsoft cared about their well-being and safety, made ethical decisions, protected their private data, and more. In all cases, a majority of teens reported low levels of trust in these tech companies and nearly half of teens said they had little or no trust that the companies would make responsible decisions about how they use AI. Read more

Tech is upbeat about more companies going public this year, thanks in part to a new presidential administration that has promised to ease regulations and embrace industries like crypto and AI.But there were already early signs of bullishness especially in fintech thanks to the wildly successful 2024 IPO of ServiceTitan, a SaaS platform for the trades.TechCrunch has compiled a chronological list of companies that have either announced that they plan to go public this year or have been reported to have confidentially filed for a 2025 IPO. And weve also included those that filed as far back as 2023 and could finally go public this year.The confidential filing process allows companies to submit their registration documents to regulators without making them public.But companies can delay or even withdraw their filings, depending on market conditions.Filed in 2025eToro: The Israel-based trading platform filed confidentially in January 2025, reportedly seeking a $5 billion valuation.Voyager Technologies: The space and defense tech startup confidentially filed in January 2025 and will likely be valued between $2 billion and $3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company, based in Denver, sells a wide variety of defense and space-based solutions, from propulsion technologies to airlocks.Karman Holdings: Another space and defense startup, Karman confidentially filed to go public in January 2025 and aims to raise up to $100 million in an IPO, it announced. The company, which specializes in missile technology, is based in Huntington Beach, California, and could be valued at $3 billion or more, Bloomberg reported.In the works since 2024Chime: The digital bank confidentially filed to IPO in December 2024 and is looking to go public in 2025. The company, which is based in San Francisco, was last valued at $25 billion in 2021.Klarna: The Swedish buy now, pay later (BNPL) fintech confidentially filed in November 2024 for an IPO thats been a long time in the making, paving the way for it to go public sometime in the first half of 2025. Klarnas valuation rose to $14.6 billion in 2024.Genesys: The AI cloud startup announced its confidential filing in October 2024. The company is based in Menlo Park, California, and was most recently valued at $21 billion in 2021, it said in a press release at the time. The company is eyeing a 2025 IPO that could raise as much as $2 billion, Bloomberg previously reported.Clario: The clinical trial software provider confidentially filed in June 2024 seeking a $10 billion valuation. The company, based in Philadelphia, is looking to go public in 2025, Bloomberg reported.Cerebras: The chip startup that aims to compete with Nvidia confidentially filed to IPO in August 2024, it announced. The company is based in Sunnyvale and is reportedly aiming to roughly double its current $4 billion valuation. The startups plans are facing potential delays due to concerns from U.S. regulators about its close ties to G42, a UAE investor and its main customer, Reuters reported. Fun fact: OpenAI once considered buying Cerebras around 2017.Circle: The New York-based stablecoin provider filed confidentially in January 2024. While the exact timing remains unclear, in October 2024, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told Bloomberg it remained very committed to going public despite prior delays. President Trumps embrace of crypto and promise to end government crackdowns on the industry could bolster its chances. The companys valuation is around $5 billion according to stock thats been trading on the secondary market, Coindesk reported.Harrys: The New York-based consumer company, which makes razors and other personal care items for men, has confidentially filed to go public, Reuters reported in March 2024, citing sources that the firm was nearing $1 billion in revenue and is profitable. The firm was last valued at $1.7 billion in 2021.Omada Health: The San Francisco-based diabetes startup confidentially filed in the summer of 2024, Business Insider reported, amid hopes of a warmer IPO market in 2025. It was last valued at $1 billion in 2022.Trying since 2023Shein: The fast-fashion giant confidentially filed to IPO in the U.S. in 2023, but its hopes were dashed over congressional scrutiny of its supply chain and labor practices. It reportedly filed confidentially to IPO in the U.K. in 2024 and is still seeking to IPO as of 2025, although its U.K. foray is also meeting resistance from lawmakers there. Shein, headquartered in Singapore and with operations in China, was last valued at $45 billion in 2024, dropping from a $100 billion valuation in 2022.General Atlantic: The San Francisco-based growth equity investor, which has backed firms like Facebook and Airbnb, confidentially filed to go public in 2023, Bloomberg reported. The firm has $96 billion in assets under management following its acquisition of U.K. PE firm Actis, according to a January 2024 announcement. Theres been no public updates on General Atlantics IPO plans since its 2023 filing, though.Oyo: The SoftBank-backed Indian hotel aggregator confidentially filed in India in March 2023, Reuters reported, after a prior attempt fell through. While that attempt didnt pan out, either, the company is reportedly planning to file again in the first quarter of 2025. Oyo hit a $3.8 billion valuation in 2024.

AvowedObsidianAdam Boyes, VP of third party relations at PlayStation from 2012-2016 was the co-star of the infamous this is how you share games on PlayStation video that targeted Microsofts new Xbox One disc rights policies that they were pummeled into ultimately removing.Now, ten years later, Boyes spoke to Gamertag Radio for a lengthy interview, and is not combative about his former rival, indicating what Xbox is doing seems logical and that there are no victims in its new multiplatform distribution plan for former exclusives.I understand why people have feelings about it and opinions, because their idea is the identity of me choosing a brand and being beholden to that brand is unilateral, and therefore that should be the one source of all content, Boyes said.He believes the current ecosystem of the console/games space has fundamentally changed, and he uses an interesting metaphor to describe it:So if we think about that, the analogy that maybe PlayStation is HBO, Microsoft is Netflix, and Nintendo is Disney, then their job is to get incredibly interactive and engaging entertainment out to as many people as possible.Living room with Microsoft Xbox Series X (L) and Sony PlayStation 5 home video game consoles ... [+] alongside a television and soundbar, taken on November 3, 2020. (Photo by Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images)Future Publishing via Getty Images via Getty ImagesMORE FOR YOUThe metaphor doesnt quite work as all three of these are streaming services, and Netflix is not giving its content to other places, but I get what hes saying. HBO is known for producing high quality original series that air on its service. Netflix pioneered the subscription streaming model in the way Microsoft is trying to do with Game Pass. Nintendo being Disney is kind of an obvious comparison with its mass family appeal.The one thing he does admit is that while Microsofts software strategy makes sense in a lot of ways, there is probably going to be an obvious challenge to continue to make the case for its hardware, where we have seen sales drop precipitously every time new numbers are revealed.As it stands, heres where things are in terms of strategy for each brand:PlayStation: PS console exclusive single player games that launch on PC 2+ years later, multiplayer games that launch same-day on PC (a few on Xbox to come, like Marathon)Xbox: Every game on the table for cross-platform release on PlayStation and/or Switch 2. Depending on the title, this can be same day, time delay or some indefinite point in the future, if ever. Appeal for MS loyalists is same day on Xbox Game Pass launches.Nintendo: Doing what Nintendo always done with beloved first party games. Will get more third party games and some Xbox games with the launch of Switch 2.As you can see, the console war is not what it used to be. Xbox lost, but is trying to be a leader in the subscription space. Nintendo just sold more consoles than they ever have. Sony is still putting out many critical hits but its tough to balance big single player budgets and successful multiplayer releases. Well see where things go from here. Watch the full Boyes interview here:Follow me , and .Pick up my sci-fi novels the and