عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Technology

Consortium Led by Saudi PIF Acquires Electronic Arts in Historic Deal

EA (Electronic Arts) Sports logo is seen in this illustration, August 10, 2022. (Reuters)
EA (Electronic Arts) Sports logo is seen in this illustration, August 10, 2022. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Consortium Led by Saudi PIF Acquires Electronic Arts in Historic Deal

EA (Electronic Arts) Sports logo is seen in this illustration, August 10, 2022. (Reuters)
EA (Electronic Arts) Sports logo is seen in this illustration, August 10, 2022. (Reuters)

Electronic Arts Inc, a global leader in interactive entertainment, announced Monday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an investor consortium comprised of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners in an all-cash transaction that values EA at an enterprise value of approximately $55 billion. The transaction positions EA to accelerate innovation and growth to build the future of entertainment, said EA in a statement.

Under the terms of the agreement, the consortium will acquire 100% of EA, with PIF rolling over its existing 9.9% stake in the company. EA stockholders will receive $210 per share in cash. The per share purchase price represents a 25% premium to EA’s unaffected share price of $168.32 at market close on September 25, 2025.

PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners bring deep sector experience, committed capital, and global portfolios with networks across gaming, entertainment, and sports that offer unique possibilities for EA to blend physical and digital experiences, enhance fan engagement, and create new growth opportunities.

The transaction represents the largest all-cash sponsor take-private investment in history, with the consortium partnering closely with EA to enable the company to move faster and unlock new opportunities on a global stage.

“Our creative and passionate teams at EA have delivered extraordinary experiences for hundreds of millions of fans, built some of the world’s most iconic IP, and created significant value for our business. This moment is a powerful recognition of their remarkable work,” said Andrew Wilson, Chairman & CEO of Electronic Arts.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to push the boundaries of entertainment, sports, and technology, unlocking new opportunities. Together with our partners, we will create transformative experiences to inspire generations to come. I am more energized than ever about the future we are building.”

“PIF is uniquely positioned in the global gaming and esports sectors, building and supporting ecosystems that connect fans, developers, and IP creators,” said Turqi Alnowaiser, Deputy Governor and Head of International Investments at PIF.

“PIF has demonstrated a strong commitment to these sectors, and this partnership will help further drive EA’s long-term growth, while fueling innovation within the industry on a global scale.”

“This investment embodies Silver Lake’s mission to partner with exceptional management teams at the highest quality companies. EA is a special company: a global leader in interactive entertainment, anchored by its premier sports franchise, with accelerating revenue growth and strong and scaling free cash flow,” said Egon Durban, Co-CEO and Managing Partner of Silver Lake.

The transaction was approved by EA’s Board of Directors, is expected to close in Q1 FY27 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals and approval by EA stockholders. Following the close of the transaction, EA’s common stock will no longer be listed on any public market.

The transaction will be funded by a combination of cash from each of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners as well as roll-over of PIF’s existing stake in EA, constituting an equity investment of approximately $36 billion, and $20 billion of debt financing fully and solely committed by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., $18 billion of which is expected to be funded at close. Each of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners plan to fund the equity component of the financing entirely from capital under their respective control.

Upon completion of the transaction, EA will remain headquartered in Redwood City, California and continue to be led by Andrew Wilson as CEO.

Most Viewed

 
 
Technology

'Tech Debt Coming Due': AI-found Flaw Signals Chaos Ahead

Michael Daniel is president of the Cyber Threat Alliance and was a White House cybersecurity coordinator under former US president Barack Obama. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
Michael Daniel is president of the Cyber Threat Alliance and was a White House cybersecurity coordinator under former US president Barack Obama. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
TT
TT

'Tech Debt Coming Due': AI-found Flaw Signals Chaos Ahead

Michael Daniel is president of the Cyber Threat Alliance and was a White House cybersecurity coordinator under former US president Barack Obama. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
Michael Daniel is president of the Cyber Threat Alliance and was a White House cybersecurity coordinator under former US president Barack Obama. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP

Companies and government agencies rushed this week to patch two critical flaws in PHP, the programming language that runs a large share of the world's websites.

The vulnerability to potential hackers was found by using a powerful model from OpenAI in one of the most high-profile demonstration of AI's cyber capabilities.

AFP spoke with Michael Daniel, president of the Cyber Threat Alliance and a former White House cybersecurity coordinator under former US president Barack Obama, about what the episode means as AI tools find software flaws faster than ever.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What does the PHP episode tell us?

A: This is the beginning of a pretty chaotic period, given the abilities of the advanced models. I've been saying for years that the logical conclusion of these AI models being able to find vulnerabilities at speed and at scale is that there's going to be a flood of these vulnerabilities.

Rob Joyce [former cybersecurity director at the US National Security Agency] has referred to it as the great cleansing forest fire of old software. I've talked about our tech debt coming due.

The incentives have been for people to keep software as long as possible, and we don't really factor these risks into the cost of having the software. You're not incurring a direct cost on your books for this old software, but in reality you are, only it's an implicit cost until something like this happens.

Q: What should organizations be doing?

A: Preparing to get your software updated, be prepared to keep it updated, and be prepared to implement patches when they come out.

There's going to be a flood of vulnerabilities, a flood of patches and a flood of mitigations, and not all of them will be created equal.

For a lot of smaller organizations that don't have a lot of internal capacity, what you've got to do is shift your organization to be able to accept the vendor updates as fast as you can.

Q: Is every flaw dangerous?

A: Historically, the exploitation rate for vulnerabilities has been five or six percent, and there's no indication that number is going up. But now when bad guys exploit a vulnerability, they're able to do so much more quickly.

It used to take a month or two for a proof of concept to come out, and then another month or two for it to show up in exploit kits (used by bad actors). That's now measured in hours or days.

Q: What does that mean for large companies?

A: Most businesses essentially ran a zero-risk tolerance for breaking things, so they would test the hell out of a patch before they put it into production. Now they don't have that time.

If the risk of breaking something by putting this patch into place is one percent, but the risk of being attacked could cost me 50 million dollars...now I've got an interesting trade-off.

Q: Are advanced AI tools reliable at finding real flaws?

A: There's a lot of noise. The PHP one is a prime example of a real one, but there's an awful lot out there that are either not real or are on software that's never exposed to the internet. We've got to improve our triage system.

Q: Where does this lead us in two or three years?

A: We're going to turn these AI tools on software that hasn't been deployed yet, so one would hope we start to deploy software that has fewer vulnerabilities to begin with. You burn out all the old stuff, and it makes way for new growth that's more secure from the beginning.

It's not like this solves our cybersecurity problem, but it does change the nature of it going forward.

Technology

CEO: Amazon Cloud Capacity Sold Out Through 2027

FILE PHOTO: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an Amazon Devices launch event in New York City, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an Amazon Devices launch event in New York City, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
TT
TT

CEO: Amazon Cloud Capacity Sold Out Through 2027

FILE PHOTO: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an Amazon Devices launch event in New York City, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an Amazon Devices launch event in New York City, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on Friday that Amazon Web Services' cloud computing capacity is largely sold out through 2027, with significant commitments extending into 2028, on growing demand for AI infrastructure.

In a video podcast with Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz and general partner Erik Torenberg, Jassy said Amazon is struggling to keep pace ⁠with the insatiable ⁠demand from AI labs and enterprises.

Earlier this year, Amazon had said it would spend about $220 billion in capital expenditure for 2026.

According to Reuters, Jassy said the ⁠company "could invest a lot more and it wouldn't be a bad use of capital," considering cloud-computing capacity for 2026 is already sold out.

"2027 is largely sold out. We always leave a certain amount for on demand and our inference service bedrock, or EC2, but largely sold out ⁠all ⁠the big chunks. A good chunk of 2028 is sold out," he said.

EC2 is an AWS service that provides cloud servers for running applications, while Bedrock gives customers access to AI models to build generative AI applications.

Amazon is scheduled to report third quarter results on October 29.

Technology

New ‘Scentronic’ Technology Can Detect and Transmit Aromas Remotely

Ohio State University researcher Chunyu Yang wears a prototype odor generator device which is part of a technology called Scentronic that can detect scents and transmit them remotely, at Columbus, Ohio, on June 13, 2025, in this image released October 21, 2026. (Shaoru Cheng/Handout via Reuters)
Ohio State University researcher Chunyu Yang wears a prototype odor generator device which is part of a technology called Scentronic that can detect scents and transmit them remotely, at Columbus, Ohio, on June 13, 2025, in this image released October 21, 2026. (Shaoru Cheng/Handout via Reuters)
TT
TT

New ‘Scentronic’ Technology Can Detect and Transmit Aromas Remotely

Ohio State University researcher Chunyu Yang wears a prototype odor generator device which is part of a technology called Scentronic that can detect scents and transmit them remotely, at Columbus, Ohio, on June 13, 2025, in this image released October 21, 2026. (Shaoru Cheng/Handout via Reuters)
Ohio State University researcher Chunyu Yang wears a prototype odor generator device which is part of a technology called Scentronic that can detect scents and transmit them remotely, at Columbus, Ohio, on June 13, 2025, in this image released October 21, 2026. (Shaoru Cheng/Handout via Reuters)

People can readily share images and sounds digitally, as evidenced by the billions of smartphones in use globally that often overload the human senses of sight and hearing. But smell generally remains missing from remote communication. That could soon change.

Researchers have developed technology that features an electronic nose that recognizes certain smells, like the distinctive aroma of coffee, and then instructs a small and wearable remote device to release scent molecules matching it. The digital communication can take place at any distance, from across the room to around the world.

"In simple terms, it connects 'smelling something here' with 'recreating the corresponding smell somewhere else,'" said Chunyu Yang, an Ohio State University doctoral student in materials science and engineering and lead author of a study describing the technology published in the journal Science Advances.

"The idea is to add smell to the visual and audio information we already share remotely, making those experiences more engaging," Yang said.

The researchers call this latest development in the field of digital scent technology "Scentronic."

"What makes Scentronic ‌different is that ‌it brings odor sensing and generation together for remote sharing. To the best of our knowledge, ‌our ⁠study is the ⁠first to explore this integration in a compact platform for remote odor sharing," Yang said.

The researchers created an e-nose, a device that uses an array of gas sensors to detect chemical compounds associated with different odors. A machine-learning model then classifies odors that the e-nose has been trained to recognize — cake, coffee and oranges.

The technology uses an online platform to transmit the odor information to a scent generator, which then releases fragrances to recreate the aroma at the receiving end. The scent molecules themselves are not transmitted over the internet.

The e-nose device is roughly 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter and is portable, though not designed to be worn. The researchers developed several versions of ⁠the odor generator, including wristband, necklace and handheld designs.

'EVERYDAY ODORS'

At this point, the e-nose recognizes ‌just the five scents.

"We chose these because they are familiar everyday odors with ‌different scent profiles, making them useful examples for demonstrating the system. We have not yet expanded beyond those categories," Yang said.

"A broader scent library ‌is possible in principle, but an unlimited repertoire is far beyond what we have demonstrated. Recognizing an odor and accurately reproducing ‌it are separate challenges. Covering a useful range of everyday scents is a more realistic goal, although that would still require substantial development," Yang said.

The receiving device cannot recreate every smell Scentronic encounters.

"To support additional odors, we would need to train the electronic nose to recognize them and provide corresponding scented liquids in the odor generator," Yang said.

The researchers see various potential applications for the technology.

"For example, someone could share the scent of ‌a meal with family or friends who live far away. Other potential applications include more immersive virtual and augmented reality experiences and online shopping that allows customers to sample selected scents remotely," ⁠Yang said.

'A RESEARCH PROTOTYPE'

The research ⁠was conducted and the devices developed without the involvement of a company, Yang said.

"At present, this is a research prototype. Moving toward commercialization would require a larger, more diverse training dataset and reliable odor recognition under real-world conditions, where smells often occur in mixtures," Yang said.

"The odor generator would also need further development to support more scents while remaining compact and convenient to use. Other considerations include scent fidelity, refillability, durability, manufacturing costs and the safety of repeated exposure to the scented mist," Yang said.

Smartphones are becoming increasingly capable. Could they in the future incorporate scent technology so that, for instance, a person at a tailgate party before an Ohio State football game could call a friend and share video, audio and the aroma of hot dogs on the grill?

"In principle, a smartphone could connect to a scent-generating accessory. Integrating everything into the phone itself would be more challenging because the scent reservoirs, electronics and atomizers all take up space and add weight. Miniaturization and convenient refilling would be important considerations," Yang said.

"The tailgate example illustrates the idea well. A future system could potentially combine video and audio with a corresponding scent, provided it could recognize the relevant odor and the receiver had a suitable scent formulation available. Our current system has not demonstrated the transmission of a grilling-hot-dog scent or the exact mixture of smells at a tailgate party," Yang said.