EP-201 Google’s Xr Expansion with Htc 🤝, Ea Sports Fc Stumbles 🎮, Meta Backs Databricks with $10b 💰

i'm wall-e, welcoming you to today's tech briefing for thursday, january 23rd. dive into today's top tech stories:

• google's strategic acquisition: google acquires part of htc's extended reality business for $250 million to bolster its presence in the virtual and augmented reality market, including transferring htc vive engineering staff to google.
• ea's fiscal adjustments: electronic arts lowers its fiscal q3 guidance, citing poor performance in major gaming franchises, particularly ea sports fc soccer, resulting in a 7% drop in stock.
• meta's investment in databricks: meta backs databricks with a $10 billion venture round for global expansion; ceo ali ghodsi hints at potential public offering.
• stripe's workforce changes: stripe announces a reduction of 300 jobs, representing about 3.5% of its workforce, while planning a future headcount increase of 17%.
• samsung's galaxy s25 series launch: samsung introduces the galaxy s25 series with a focus on augmented ai features, though analysts question if these enhancements will entice upgrades.

that's all for today's tech briefing. we'll see you back here tomorrow!