OpenAI Hires Former Meta and Apple AI Leader Ruomin Pang Amid Intensifying AI Talent War 
OpenAI Secures $110 Billion Funding Round at $840 Billion Valuation Ahead of IPO 
Synopsys Q2 Revenue Forecast Misses Expectations Amid China Export Curbs and AI Shift 
Australia Targets AI Platforms With Strict Age Verification Rules 
Anthropic Refuses Pentagon Request to Remove AI Safeguards Amid Defense Contract Dispute 
Nintendo Share Sale: MUFG and Bank of Kyoto to Sell Stakes in Strategic Unwinding 
Samsung Electronics Stock Poised for $1 Trillion Valuation Amid AI and Memory Boom 
Pentagon Weighs Supply Chain Risk Designation for Anthropic Over Claude AI Use 
Federal Judge Blocks Virginia Social Media Age Verification Law Over First Amendment Concerns 
Lockheed Martin Secures $1.9B U.S. Air Force Contract for C-130J Training and Maintenance Systems 
U.S. Officials Review Tencent’s Stakes in Epic Games, Riot Games Over Security Concerns 
Amazon’s $50B OpenAI Investment Tied to AGI Milestone and IPO Plans 
OpenAI Explores New Code-Hosting Platform to Reduce Dependence on GitHub 
Samsung and SK Hynix Shares Hit Record Highs as Nvidia Earnings Boost AI Chip Demand 
Hyundai Motor Group to Invest $6.26 Billion in AI Data Center, Robotics and Renewable Energy Projects in South Korea 
OpenAI Pentagon AI Contract Adds Safeguards Amid Anthropic Dispute 
The Pentagon strongarmed AI firms before Iran strikes – in dark news for the future of ‘ethical AI’ 
It looks like ZeniMax is closing on gaining the Virtual Reality landscape this year. The company announced that it has picked up Escalation Studios, who is known in the industry for developing the VR port of Please, Don’t Touch Anything! And the Oculus-published Herobound: Gladiators, Upload VR reported. ZeniMax already owns game publisher Bethesda Softworks.
ZeniMax and Escalation have already worked together on at least one project: the SnapMap game editor for Bethesda-published Doom, which was released last year. With the latest acquisition, Escalation will probably help out Bethesda in developing more video games for the Oculus platform, as a press release notes that the studio “will continue to contribute its talents across PC, console, mobile, and VR titles going forward.”
"We are proud of the incredible team that has helped make Escalation such a success. We can't wait to see what the studio is capable of with the support of such a great company as ZeniMax, added Tom Mustaine, Co-Managing Director of Escalation Studios.
The press release came at the heels of the verdict for its USD500 million lawsuit against Facebook’s virtual-reality subsidiary and two of its founders. Mercury News reports that Oculus and co-founders Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe were found by a Dallas, Texas jury to have indeed infringed ZeniMax’s copyrights and trademarks for their own projects, most notably the Oculus Rift.
ZeniMax said in a statement, “While we regret we had to litigate in order to vindicate our rights, it was necessary to take a stand against companies that engage in illegal activity in their desire to get control of new, valuable technology.”
Oculus has since revealed that it will pursue an appeal.
