TechCrunch reports: “Training an artificial intelligence agent to do something like navigate a complex 3D world is computationally expensive and time-consuming. In order to better create these potentially useful systems, Facebook engineers derived huge efficiency benefits from, essentially, leaving the slowest of the pack behind.”
VentureBeat reports: “AppsFlyer has raised $210 million in funding to accurately measure mobile ad spending and become a “democratizer” of mobile marketing. Mobile ad spending was expected to hit $165 billion in 2019, according to Warc Data.”
Forbes reports: “Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that Spotify, who as Forbes noted a couple weeks ago, was looking to break into the sports podcast game, is in early talks with Bill Simmons’ latest sports and pop culture project, The Ringer, about a potential acquisition.”
Gamesindustry.biz reports: “Games firms hoping for a significant investment from Tencent may have missed the boat. In a speech to representatives of more than 500 Tencent-backed companies last week, the firm’s president Martin Lau said there are plans underway to increase its investments overseas into other industries, Reuters reports.”
Hypebot reports: “When the “Blurred Lines” decision was handed down – stating that creating a song that had too similar of feel to a preexisting track was infringement, many warned that the precedent would cause problems for the music business, a prediction which Mike Masnick says has been proven correct.”
TechCrunch reports: “Google has inked a deal with India’s third-largest telecom operator as the American giant looks to grow its cloud customer base in the key overseas market that is increasingly emerging as a new cloud battleground for AWS and Microsoft.”
Forbes reports: “The much beloved animated films by the Japanese Studio Ghibli, including Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and My Neighbor Tortoro, which have all now become animated classics, will soon become available to stream on Netflix.”
VentureBeat reports: “Esports has become a billion-dollar industry, but if it is going to get much bigger, then brands have to buy into it in a much bigger way when it comes to sponsorships.”
Hypebot reports: “Bandsintown is reporting another year of strong growth. The top global concert discovery and marketing platform begins 2020 with 55 million registered users and 530,000 artists that sent their fans to 2.5 million shows last year.”
Variety reports: “The mouse has officially killed the fox. In a move at once unsurprising and highly symbolic, the Walt Disney Company is dropping the “Fox” brand from the 21st Century Fox assets it acquired last March, Variety has learned.”
