Nvidia in $40bn acquisition of Arm; Oracle won contest for TikTok’s US business

With the acquisition Nvidia is catapulted directly into the technology arms race between the US and China more than it already was. Arm has a lucrative business in China and the Chinese regulators could block that part of the acquisition as a key technology transfer from a more neutral country such as Japan to an American technology company could be viewed as a threat in Beijing.

Dusty database company Oracle gets social media flavour

Microsoft was long thought to end up being the winner in the bid to acquire TikTok’s US business which was forced by the White House to find an alternative operational model in the US. However, over the weekend Oracle announced that it had won the bid for TikTok’s US business by offering a partnership model instead of an outright purchase. Oracle will become a ‘trusted tech partner’ according to source whatever that means. Oracle has so far not released a press release so we do not know what the framework is other than the news says that the solution will be ‘secure’ for Americans. Oracle shares are up 9% in pre-market trading showing how a little sprinkle of social media can suddenly change the appeal for investors. We still find it weird that one of the most laser-focused enterprise software businesses in the US suddenly wants to enter the social media arena.