TechTaffy

tech:

taffy

Amazon to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion

By TechTaffy Desk

Amazon and Whole Foods Market have entered into a definitive merger agreement, under which Amazon will acquire the grocery chain in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion.

Whole Foods Market will continue to operate stores under the Whole Foods Market brand, with John Mackey as CEO. The company’s headquarters will remain in Austin, Texas.

The acquisition is expected to close during the second half of 2017, subject to customary closing conditions.

[Image courtesy: Whole Foods]

Just in

AI

Generative AI arrives in the gene editing world of CRISPR — NYT

New AI technology is generating blueprints for microscopic biological mechanisms that can edit your DNA, pointing to a future when scientists can battle illness and diseases with even greater precision and speed than they can today, writes Cade Metz.
AI

Estée Lauder, Microsoft to build AI Innovation Lab

The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) and Microsoft Corp. announced the creation of an AI Innovation Lab to expand their global strategic relationship.
Around the web

Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will offer its virtual reality OS to hardware companies, creating iPhone versus Android dynamic — CNBC

Meta will partner with external hardware companies, including Lenovo, Microsoft and Asus, to build virtual reality headsets using the company’s Meta Horizon operating system, writes Kif Leswing. 
IT

Nvidia to acquire Run:ai

Nvidia announced an agreement to acquire Run:ai, a provider of Kubernetes-based workload management and orchestration software.
Around the web

Windows 11 Start menu ads are now rolling out to everyone — The Verge

Microsoft is starting to enable ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11 for all users, writes Tom Warren.