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What happened: Sega Sammy is nearing a deal to acquire "Angry Birds" maker Rovio Entertainment for $776M. The Japanese gaming giant, known for its Sega Genesis console and the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, is seeking to accelerate its expansion into the mobile gaming market. Details: First released in 2009, Angry Birds was the first mobile game to surpass 1 billion downloads. It spawned multiple sequels, causing Finland-based Rovio's annual revenue to soar from 6.5M euros in 2010 to 317.7M euros in 2022. 
What it means: Even then, Rovio has faced challenges replicating the original success of Angry Birds, potentially making the gaming franchise ripe for a takeover. Mobile game spending also fell from a peak of $86B in 2021 to $79B in 2022, signaling that people are cutting back on their gaming purchases amid a larger drop in discretionary spending. 
Quotable: Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy, said the Angry Birds franchise is known worldwide but "the brand is already past its peak." What's next: That hasn't stopped Sega Sammy, which will reportedly offer 9.25 euros for each share of Rovio, a 19% premium over Friday's closing price. Rovio’s board is backing the tender offer, with an expected bid to launch around May 8. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 
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SpaceX called off the first test launch of its integrated Starship spacecraft this morning, citing a frozen pressurization valve. The company said it will wait at least 48 hours before making another launch attempt from its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. More: - If successful, it would be the first time that the 400-foot Starship cruise vessel takes flight atop SpaceX's Super Heavy rocket.
- The inaugural flight test would propel the system in a “nearly orbital” trajectory over the Gulf of Mexico, with the Super Heavy booster splashing down about 20 miles off the coast of Boca Chica.
- The Starship vehicle would continue on to perform nearly one orbit around the globe before splashing down off the coast of Hawaii.
Zoom Out: - Starship, the most powerful launch vehicle on the planet, is expected to eventually carry cargo and humans to the moon and Mars.
- NASA has hired SpaceX to develop another Starship version for a future crewed mission to the lunar surface.
REUTERS
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 A message from MONOGRAM The $19.4B joint replacement market may be entering a new era, and this company is hoping to lead the way. It is estimated that up to 50% of joint replacements will be robotic by 2030 and Monogram is aiming to have the first active navigated robotic arm on the market. And you can invest in the company ahead of their planned Nasdaq listing. With 100,000 failed joint replacement surgeries every year, we believe that this market has been due for a realignment. Surgeons have been forced to rely on the same technology, like hand saws and generic-sized joint implants for the last 40 years. Monogram’s surgical robots and 3D-printed joint components are hoping to up the ante when it comes to personalization and precision. They’ve already demonstrated how their surgical system works on cadavers in front of 5,000+ live viewers, they have 20 patents filed, and 17,000+ people have previously invested. Join Monogram ahead of their intended NASDAQ listing. Invest Now
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Google is rushing to incorporate AI into its search engine after it was disclosed that Samsung Electronics may replace Google with Microsoft's Bing as the default search engine on its products. The potential switch was first reported by The New York Times, which cited internal messages at Alphabet's Google. More: - Rivals Microsoft and Google have been locked in a race to incorporate AI features into their search and other products.
- In March, Google employees learned that Samsung was considering making the switch from Google Search to Bing as the default search for its devices.
- The reaction was "panic," according to The Times. Google now has more than 160 employees working on AI features under the so-called "Magi" project.
- Google and Samsung are still in negotiations and the top smartphone maker could choose not to switch to Bing, The Times noted.
Zoom out: - Google brings in an estimated $3B annually from the Samsung contract. The company has a similar Apple contract, worth a reported $20B a year, that's up for renewal later on in 2023.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
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Apple may announce new laptops during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The company is said to be working on a 15-inch MacBook Air, an upgraded 13-inch MacBook Air, an updated 24-inch iMac, and a new 13-inch entry-level MacBook Pro, among other hardware. More: - Gurman expects Apple to launch all of the laptops in 2023 or early 2024.
- The new MacBooks are expected to contain processors "in line with" Apple's M2 chip rather than its upcoming next-generation M3 series of chips.
- It's unclear which models Apple could unveil during WWDC 2023, which takes place June 5 through June 9.
- In addition to the new laptops, Apple is expected to announce its macOS 14 operating system and a mixed-reality headset during WWDC.
- The headset for AR and VR experiences could be released to consumers during the 2023 holiday season.
BLOOMBERG
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According to a business filing, Twitter owner Elon Musk has formed an artificial intelligence company called X.AI Corp. The name reflects the new moniker change at Twitter, which is now called "X Corp." AI venture: - The filing shows Musk founded X.AI Corp., an AI company incorporated in Nevada, on March 9.
- Musk is listed as the director and his family office director, Jared Birchall, is named as the company's secretary.
- Last week, it was reported that Musk was assembling a team of AI experts to launch an AI startup that would compete against OpenAI, the research organization he helped co-found years ago.
- The CEO is said to be in talks with some SpaceX and Tesla investors about funding the AI venture.
Twitter as "X": - Meanwhile, legal documents have revealed that Twitter "no longer exists" upon merging with X Corp., a shell firm.
- Musk appeared to confirm the change by tweeting an X, though Twitter has not provided further details about the rebranding or what it might entail.
- In October, Musk announced that his purchase of Twitter might accelerate his plans for creating X, "the everything app."
- While Musk hasn't elaborated on his plans for X, he has previously hinted at launching a social media platform called X.com.
THE VERGE
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OpenAI is not currently developing GPT-5, its next large language model, according to CEO and co-founder Sam Altman. Altman confirmed the news during a recent MIT event, when he was asked about an open letter calling for a pause on large-scale AI systems development. More: - The letter, signed by over 26,000 people, calls for a six-month break or longer on the training of any systems more powerful than GPT-4.
- It cites worries that these projects pose "profound risks to society and humanity."
- However, Altman said OpenAI would not develop GPT-5 "for some time." It released GPT-4 in March.
- Altman still said the letter, signed by figureheads like Steve Wozniak and Elon Musk, was "missing most technical nuance about where we need the pause."
- GPT-4, OpenAI's latest and most advanced large language model, is available to the public through OpenAI's ChatGPT Plus paid subscription.
THE ECONOMIC TIMES
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Community Corner Last week, we asked our tech community, "Do you believe AI can be developed to act ethically and make moral decisions?" Here are some highlighted responses we received: - Jonathan O'Miller (p/jono_miller), Independent Contractor, answered, “Absolutely, I believe it can also be developed in the complete opposite way as well. AI is a tool, it is as morally good or bad as the person who is welding it.”
- Lava Kafle (p/lkafle), Founder at wowdevqa, answered, “AI can be ethical and moral provided we train the logic into it.”
- Ameliaismore Moore (p/Ameliaismore), SheEO at BuzzBuilderBMC Consulting, answered, “Technology is great as a tool yet dangerous as a replacement. Having young people be able to cheat on educational assignments (that develop their character) by not writing it themselves prohibits the brain which is a muscle to exercise properly. How do you develop critical thinking if you are not using your brain to make those decisions? Any athlete knows when it comes to your muscles if you don't use it you lose it! Well, the same is going to happen to the future of mankind. If we allow our youth not to use their brain, also allow them to not establish a strong work ethic based on trial and error instead of having someone or something else do the job ... what are we developing?” You can read her full comment here.
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QUICK HITS - Say goodbye to silos. With Miro, teams can sync, flow, and feel the connection of working side by side, even in remote and hybrid work environments.*
- Apple announced its new high-yield savings account for Apple Card users, who can earn interest on their Daily Cash balance at a 4.15% rate.
- Microsoft has brought its Bing AI chatbot to the SwiftKey keyboard app for iOS and Android.
- More than 70 online children's safety groups and experts have signed an open letter demanding that Mark Zuckerberg cancel plans to allow minors on the "Horizon Worlds" metaverse as it could put them at risk of online abuse.
- The creator of "Stardew Valley" is pausing work on his "Haunted Chocolatier" follow-up game to focus on the former hit farming simulator. Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone said he's planning Stardew Valley update 1.6 with new game content and changes for modders.
- Sales pros worldwide say sales ops is key to productivity. Download the new "Trends in Sales Ops" report to learn more.*
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 |  | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
Surgery won’t look the same in 10 years – invest in Monogram, the robots pioneering more precise procedures. | |
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