Chipmaker Renesas goes deeper into autonomous vehicles with $6.7B acquisition – TechCrunch

Japan-based semiconductor firm Renesas — one of the world’s largest supplier of chips for the automotive industry — is scooping up U.S. chip company IDT in a $6.7 billion deal that increases its focus on self-driving technology. Renesas produces microprocessor and circuits that power devices, and automotive is its core focus. It is second only to NXP…

Alibaba goes big on Russia with joint venture focused on gaming, shopping and more – TechCrunch

Alibaba is doubling down on Russia after the Chinese e-commerce giant launched a joint venture valued at around $2 billion with one of the country’s leading internet companies. Russia is said to have over 70 million internet users, around half of its population, with countless more attracted from Russian-speaking neighboring countries. The numbers are projected…