【TIMELINE】2023/09#2
◉Financing in the Metaverse sector
Enfabrica, a Silicon Valley-based startup focused on AI data center network chips, has recently announced a capital injection of $125 million via venture capital. Nvidia has joined as a strategic investor. Co-founded by former executives from Broadcom and Alphabet, Enfabrica has developed a networking chip designed to connect various parts of a data center in novel ways. This innovation allows GPUs to source data from multiple locations, thereby enhancing their efficiency.
On September 7, Inceptive, a startup employing AI for mRNA vaccine development, disclosed that it had raised $100 million in a Series A funding round. The capital will be directed towards strengthening the AI platform and molecular design capabilities. This round's investors include top venture capital firms such as a16zBio+Health, NVentures, Obvious Ventures, and S32. The founder is Jakob Uszkoreit, one of the creators of the Transformer model and a former Google Brain scientist.
On September 11, Google introduced the "Digital Futures Project" aimed at supporting AI researchers and public policy solutions. As part of this endeavor, Google's philanthropic arm Google.org will establish a $20 million fund. The fund aims to support organizations worldwide, not just those based in the United States.
According to a report on September 11, Cyber Manufacture Co., an AI startup founded by Lv Cheng, a former Raven Tech founder, has secured millions of dollars in an A+ funding round led by South Korean internet giant Kakao.
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Massive Funding Round for Zhongdiao Technology to Advance Product Development and Big Model Upgrades
On September 11, Shanghai Zhongdiao Information Technology Co., Ltd. announced the completion of its A2 and A3 funding rounds, with a total capital of tens of millions of RMB. The funds will be mainly used for product iteration, upgrading big models, and expanding sales.
On September 12, metaverse avatar tech company Genies announced a $500,000 digital fashion fund. The company will also launch The Workshop, a platform containing 3D design tools and creative prompts for digital artists to create digital clothing.
◉NFT & Blockchain
On September 12, Italian fashion titan Diesel, in collaboration with Web3 culture and music platform PublicPressure, introduced Metamorph, a limited edition of 300 digital collectibles minted through Polkadot and Polygon networks. Holders can attend upcoming fashion shows and mingle with buyers, editors, and influencers.
Sportswear giant Adidas is amplifying its investment in Web3. On August 31, the company launched its first-of-its-kind residency program, aiming to nurture and promote the works of Web3 artists.
Roblox recently announced its social and gaming app will launch on Sony’s PS4 and PS5 in October, providing PlayStation players with full access to the “Roblox experience.”
◉VR & XR & AR
On September 13, Weike Technology officially announced new wearable AI technology, launching the "World's First AI Dashboard" and "GPT AI 2.0". Established in 2015, Weike is a holistic wearable ecosystem and a solution provider for smart health big data services.
◉Top
Recently, UNESCO issued guidelines on the application of generative AI in the educational and research sectors, urging governments to standardize its use through legislation and teacher training. The guidelines also recommend a minimum age of 13 for classroom AI tool usage and call for related teacher training.
Research firm Omdia estimates that the generative AI market will grow from $6.2 billion in 2023 to $58.5 billion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 56%. Consumer, media, and entertainment industries are projected to be the largest markets.
On September 11, Meta plans to launch a new open-source model that will rival the performance of GPT-4. It is said that this new model will be several times more powerful than Llama 2 and will offer text, image generation, and analysis features.
On September 11, OPPO Mobile Communications Co., Ltd. applied for the trademarks "AndesGPT" and "AndesAI". They recently announced that a large-scale testing event will be conducted for their new assistant, which will have big-model AI capabilities.
On September 9, G20 leaders expressed agreement with the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding cryptocurrency assets and market regulation. Discussions on the roadmap will continue in October 2023.
According to a recent report by Forrester, generative AI will replace 2.4 million jobs in the United States by 2030, mainly affecting white-collar jobs such as technical writing, social science research, proofreading, and copywriting.
◉Open
On September 14, OpenAI announced the establishment of an office in Dublin, Ireland, to expand its influence in Europe. They plan to form a new team to focus on operations, trust and safety, marketing, security engineering, and legal services for European users.
On September 14, according to analytics company Similarweb, ChatGPT has seen a continuous three-month decline in website traffic and user engagement. In August, global desktop and mobile visits to the ChatGPT website decreased by 3.2%, to 1.43 billion.