Biden nominates Arati Prabhakar as top S&T advisor; Google ends French dispute, Germany probes Maps; Matrix to raise $450 mln India fund

US President Joe Biden yesterday announced his intent to nominate Indian American engineer, Dr Arati Prabhakar, to serve as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and once confirmed to this position, also as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. Google ended a two-year fight against France, agreeing to a fine and stipulations over deals with news publishers. Notes:  US President Joe Biden yesterday announced his intent to nominate Indian American engineer Dr Arati Prabhakar to serve as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). And once confirmed to this position, also as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, according to a statement by the White House. In this capacity, Dr Prabhakar will be the President’s Chief Advisor for Science and Technology, a co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and a member of the President’s Cabinet. Google agreed to negotiate license deals fairly with a broader array of news publishers in France, to end a dispute with French regulators and avoid further fines, Wall Street Journal reports. The deal comes after the French regulator fined Google 500 million euros, equivalent to about $525 million, last year, for not negotiating deals with publishers in good faith. As part of the deal, Google has dropped its appeal against the fine. DocuSign CEO Dan Springer is stepping down effective immediately, the company announced on Tuesday, CNBC reports. The decision comes after the e-signature software maker lost more than 60 percent of its value year to date, CNBC reports. Springer became CEO in 2017 and took the company public in 2018. Ericsson, a leading telecom equipment maker, said on Tuesday, it expects global 5G mobile subscriptions to surpass 1 billion in 2022, helped by higher adoption in China and North America, Reuters reports. A weaker global economy and the uncertainties caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine lowered its estimate for 2022 by around 100 million, the Swedish company said in its biannual Mobility Report. Stashfin, a Singapore-based fintech startup that offers credit cards to lower-income users in India, has raised $270 million in new funding round, to expand to Southeast Asia and other South Asian markets, TechCrunch reports. The startup has raised $70 million against equity and $200 million as debt as part of its Series C funding round, Stashfin said. Matrix Partners India, a US VC firm that has invested in several Indian startups, is looking to raise $450 million for its fourth India fund, according to an SEC filing. It is joining several other VC investors who have recently announced large India-focused funds. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds