Carlyle to Sell UK Video Games Maker Jagex for £900m; Google Pledges €25m to Boost AI Skills in Europe; Big Tech Meet for AI Opportunity Forum

by Aimee Newell Tarín on 13th Feb 2024 in News

On today’s ExchangeWire digest: Carlyle to Sell UK Video Games Maker Jagex for £900m; Google Pledges €25m to Boost AI Skills in Europe; Big Tech Meet for AI Opportunity Forum

Big deals are on the table in the gaming landscape. Private equity group Carlyle is set to sell UK video games maker Jagex to Europe’s CVC Capital Partners in partnership with US-based Haveni Investments. Jagex is best known for the RuneScape franchise, which has 2.4 million active subscribers and one million free-to-play users. The deal is estimated at around £900m.

Meanwhile, Google has pledged €25m (£21.35m) to boost AI skills in Europe. The sum will go towards helping people learn to use AI and developing their knowledge and confidence with it. Google has opened applications for social enterprises and nonprofits that could help reach those most likely to benefit from the training. The tech giant also plans to run a series of growth academies to support companies using AI to scale their enterprises.

In other AI related news, big tech leaders met at Downing Street for an AI Opportunity Forum. Google, Microsoft, Vodafone, and Barclays, convened on Monday to discuss how to drive the adoption of AI in the private sector. The first meeting focused on incorporating AI solutions into businesses to support economic growth. Yesterday’s session was the first of three planned; the following meetings will take place in April and June. This comes at the same time as the release of the UK government’s Introduction to AI assurance guidance.