Welcome to the Tech Meam ride home for Tuesday, May 16th, 2023 I'm Brian McCullough today.

The EU actually approved the Microsoft Activision acquisition acquisition so what now?

The IRS might finally allow us to file our taxes online for free.

The EU passes the first

regulatory regime but questions are being asked about their forthcoming

digital euro experiment and an interesting raise allows us to take our first

look at the open source versus centralized debate when it comes to AI.

Here's what you missed today in the world of tech.

EU regulators yesterday approved Microsoft's 69 billion dollar

Activision Blizzard acquisition after Microsoft made concessions to keep rivals

access to call of duty and other franchises available, quoting the New York Times.

Even so, the blockbuster acquisition which has become a test of

weather regulators around the world will approve a tech mega merger amid concerns

about the industry's power still faces an uphill climb. American and British

regulators have each moved to stop the acquisition in recent months, arguing that the combination

of the Xboxmaker with the company behind the call of duty franchise would hinder competition.

Microsoft is fighting both actions. The deal has

revealed fractures among regulators about how to crimp the power of the world's

biggest technology companies. Opposition to the acquisition has centered in part

on so-called cloud gaming, a relatively new technology

that lets people stream games on phones, tablets, and other devices, potentially eliminating

the need for hardware like consoles.

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