Rise of the (consumer) robots: Why a top Russian tech entrepreneur bets big on robotics

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At SXSW in Austin, Texas, last week, I caught up with one of the most successful Internet entrepreneurs in Russia, Dmitry Grishin. Having founded one of the most-used online services in his homeland, Mail.ru, he’s now pushing into the West with international subsidiary My.com. However, you may not know that he has a personal passion for robotics.

That passion has manifested itself in his investment vehicle, Grishin Robotics. His portfolio includes telepresence firm Double Robotics, quantified pet-feeder startup Petnet (don’t miss our recent feature about them) and

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End Of An Era As VKontakte Founder Durov Sells His Stake To Russian Mobile Giant

Pavel Durov, the elusive founder of VKontakt (VK) — at 100 million users Russia’s biggest social network — has confirmed that he has sold his 12 percent stake to Ivan Tavrin, the CEO of major Russian mobile operator Megafon. The telco’s second-largest shareholder is Alisher Usmanov, one of Russia’s most powerful oligarchs, a man who has long been lobbying to take over VK.

According to Reuters Usmanov and his allies now control some 52 percent of the company, from his 40% stake via Mail.ru and now Durov’s 12%, while another shareholder group owns 48%. So it looks like he’s pretty much got what he wanted.

Russian business daily Vedomosti has reported that the deal was sealed last month, possibly based on a valuation of $3-$4 billion for all of VK, which is heavily based on an earlier version of Facebook.

Via Google Translate, we present for you an edited version of what Durov posted to his personal VK page today:

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Defense bill makes US-based Russian satellite monitoring stations 'next to impossible' due to spying fears

The State Department hoped the building of satellite monitoring stations might soften tempers between the US and Russia, which have flared in the wake of asylum for Edward Snowden and arguments over Syrian politcs. Congressional Republicans, the Pentagon and the CIA, on the other hand, had different ideas, suggesting that US-based stations built to support Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) - the Russian equivalent to GPS - could help the country's spying efforts. And now language included in a defense bill signed by President Obama late last week likely marks the end of the project - for now, at least.

An anonymous Republican aide told The New York Times that, "the idea was to make it next to impossible, if not impossible, to do this," essentially removing the State Department from the process as, "they were the ones who caused all the trouble in the first place." The plan, intended to improve GLONASS's accuracy, would require the director of national intelligence and the secretary of defense to assure Congress that the stations wouldn't be used to spy on the US to get the green light.

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Source: The New York Times

Tags: glonass, gps, russia, satellite, spying Next: IRL: A look back at the original PlayStation Vita .fyre .fyre-comment-divider

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