【TIMELINE】2023/08#4

According to reports from the foreign media TechCrunch, the AI startup "Hugging Face" has secured $235 million in funding in its Series D round, pushing the company's valuation beyond $4.5 billion.

"Hugging Face" offers a diverse range of data science hosting and development tools, including an AI code repository similar to GitHub, a center for models and datasets, and a web application for demonstrating AI applications. In addition to the enterprise version center that supports software and on-premises deployment, "Hugging Face" also provides a knowledge base for tasks such as dataset processing and model evaluation.

Recently, the leading startup "Inworld AI" in the "AI+ Gaming" sector announced that it has secured $50 million in Series A+ funding. The funding round was led by Section 32 and Intel Capital, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Stanford University, First Spark (co-founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Samsung Next, LG Ventures), and other existing investors. As of now, the company's total capital amounts to $70 million, with a valuation of $500 million. Inworld CEO Gelfenbeyn stated that the new funding will be used for product development and team expansion.

Recently, Zhejiang Xingyao completed ¥66 million B1 round of financing, with investments from Zhicheng Capital, Rui Ta Capital, Yao'an China, and other existing shareholders. Zhejiang Xingyao is an internet industry e-commerce service provider, with its three main businesses involving hassle-free car e-commerce, Xingyao Cloud AI computing center construction, and Xinghua AI digital human mini-model development. Currently, the company provides AI digital human computing services to mainstream MCN companies nationwide and AI mini-model development services for e-commerce MCN companies, assisting traditional e-commerce and entertainment anchors in achieving digital transformation.

Indiana-based startup ConverSight has announced that it has raised $9 million in Series A funding, dedicated to using generative AI to provide enterprises with better and faster data analysis.

The company stated that it will utilize the new funds to advance its listing efforts and expand its product with new features, including the so-called "MarketSpace." So far, ConverSight has raised over $15 million. This funding is significant as many data infrastructure providers are seeking to use AI large language models (LLMs) to make it easier for teams to control, access, and configure their data.

On August 27th, DRiP, an NFT project on the Solana blockchain, successfully raised $3 million in seed round funding. The funding was led by Placeholder and its partner Chris Burniske, along with participation from 6th Man Ventures, Anagram, Collab+Currency, Google Ventures, B+J Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Interlace Ventures, Solana Ventures, ArbVision, and others. DRiP aims to build a Web3 content distribution platform centered around creators and offers digital gifts from renowned creators for free.

According to CoinGecko data, the market capitalization of USDC has fallen below $26 billion, reaching a two-year low, a far cry from its peak of $56 billion in June of last year. Meanwhile, the market capitalization of USDT temporarily exceeded $83 billion, now reporting $82.8 billion.

On August 26th, Doodles announced on their official social media that their limited edition "Doodle Shoes" collaboration with Crocs will be released on August 29th for $120. The shoes will be available for 24-hour pre-sale at a price of $99 for OG holders starting at 00:00 Beijing time on August 29th, and the 48-hour public sale phase will start at 12:00 on the same day.

Mercedes-Benz NFT project "Mercedes-Benz NXT" announced that the first era of their NFT series, "Mercedes-Benz NXT Icons," titled "Era of Luxury," will be released in a Dutch auction on September 6th at 0:00 Beijing time. The NFT series will consist of a total of 2,694 pieces, with a starting bid of 1 ETH and a reserve price of 0.1 ETH. The auction duration is set at 90 minutes. If there are remaining NFTs after the Dutch auction, they will be sold at a fixed price of 0.1 ETH. The NFTs will be revealed 24 hours after the Dutch auction ends.

American fast-food chain KFC has launched a VR game called "Bucketverse VR" in Hong Kong, allowing players to experience a virtual KFC world where they can earn real-world fried chicken by completing virtual tasks.

"Bucketverse VR" immerses players in a delicious world inspired by modern Hong Kong, where their task is to collect virtual fried chicken. The more virtual fried chicken they collect, the more real-world fried chicken they can redeem. According to the company, players also have the chance to receive $60 worth of KFC vouchers as gifts.

Former Head of Product at OpenSea, Nathaniel Chastain, has been sentenced to 3 months in prison and fined $50,000 for insider trading. He has also been ordered to forfeit the ETH obtained from his insider trading activities. Previously, Chastain was found guilty of money laundering and wire fraud.

Mastercard will end its credit card partnership with Binance starting from September 22nd. This decision will impact all four co-branded card projects between Mastercard and Binance in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Bahrain. Mastercard has not disclosed the reasons for this move. Binance stated that less than 1% of users in Latin America and the Middle East will be affected by this decision, and Binance's global accounts will not be affected.

Elon Musk commented on his mother Maye Musk's tweet on the X platform (formerly Twitter), stating that X is a platform friendly to both dogs and Dogecoin (DOGE).

On August 25th, the Spanish government announced the establishment of Europe's first AI regulatory authority, the Spanish AI Regulatory Agency (AESIA). AESIA's mission is to develop AI that is "inclusive, sustainable, and citizen-centered." The agency will regulate algorithm applications, and data usage, and ensure AI systems comply with ethical norms. AESIA's primary task is to enforce the European Union's AI regulations.