Google Fined in South Korea and Europe

Google will be fined $4.12 billion in its antitrust suit with the EU, which describes an accusation that Google uses its Android OS to quash competition. However, the fine has been reduced from the original 4.34 billion euros, proposed in 2018, to 4.125 billion euros. This is the third EU fine for Google, the others being a 2.42 billion and 1.49 billion euro fine for skewing search results to disadvantage competitors. Meanwhile, Google and Meta have been collectively fined $71.9 million for violating privacy laws in South Korea. Specifically, for not receiving adequate and proper consent when collecting user information. 

Adobe Acquires Figma in $20 Billion Deal

In a deal that’s double its valuation, collaborative UI/UX startup Figma has been acquired by software giant Adobe. This comes in a year where there has been a drought of high-profile tech IPOs and acquisitions as the markets head towards a potential recession. Wall Street, however, has not greeted the news kindly, with Adobe’s share price dropping over 16% on news of the deal, hitting a over two-year low of $309 at the market’s close. Figma has experienced rapid growth in the past few years, with its valuation increasing from $4 bn to $10 bn between April 2020 and May 2021. The company has roughly 4 million users and is forecast to surpass $400 million in 2022. 

Ethereum Merge Goes Live

Ethereum’s highly-anticipated move from a proof-of-work model to a proof-of-stake one – and its biggest update yet – has been implemented successfully without hiccups. This will drastically reduce the amount of energy used by the Ethereum network – as much as 0.2% of the world’s energy consumption, as tweeted by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. In a report from the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute, the entire network now releases less carbon dioxide than a few hundred US households do in a year. While the news is generally positive for the network, Ethereum’s prices have been dipping since the news as thousands of ETH miners become left in the lurch.