Plus, the U.K.’s competition regulator will review how it inspects big mergers. And Bitcoin hits a fresh record high. Belle Lin hosts.
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[00:00:00] Exchanges, the Goldman Sachs podcast featuring exchanges on the forces driving the markets and the economy. Exchanges between the leading minds at Goldman Sachs. New episodes every week. Listen now.
[00:00:16] Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Thursday, November 21st. I'm Belle Lin for The Wall Street Journal.
[00:00:23] Tools for Humanity, a startup co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has appointed a former X Executive as its policy chief. Nick Pickles is the latest exec from the company formerly known as Twitter to join the startup.
[00:00:42] In the newly created role, Pickles will liaise with governments and regulators at a time when the startup's world network venture is facing scrutiny.
[00:00:52] World Network scans people's eyes in exchange for cryptocurrency tokens. The addition of Pickles to the team underscores efforts from the startup to invest in compliance.
[00:01:05] The UK's Competition and Markets Authority plans to review how it inspects big mergers, and whether more can be cleared without forcing businesses to sell their assets.
[00:01:16] Some of CMA's high-profile merger investigations have pushed the regulator into the spotlight in recent years. That includes its review of Microsoft's $75 billion takeover of the video game company Activision Blizzard.
[00:01:32] The review will look at when so-called behavioral remedies might be appropriate for a deal to ease the regulator's concerns and to move faster to discussions on remedies.
[00:01:45] The regulator said it would also set up a new outreach program to hear more feedback from investors and startups on its deal reviews.
[00:01:54] And Bitcoin hit a fresh record high and could soon reach $100,000.
[00:02:01] That's on optimism over Donald Trump securing a second term as U.S. president.
[00:02:07] That's according to the financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown.
[00:02:11] Investors are closely watching for signs of regulatory clarity, with speculation that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler could step down and pave the way for a friendlier stance on crypto, an analyst at the firm said.
[00:02:28] For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Friday's Tech News Briefing podcast.