【TIMELINE】2023/10#1
◉Financing in the Metaverse sector
This round was led by Bond, with participation from CapitalG (an Alphabet fund), Viking Global Investors, Goldman Sachs, and new supporter BAM Elevate. AlphaSense boasts over 4,000 corporate clients encompassing most companies within the S&P 500 index, the largest global banks, investment firms, and consulting firms, as well as leading enterprises across various economic sectors. Notably, the clientele includes tech giants like Google and Microsoft, J.P. Morgan, and BAM Elevate.
- AI digital identity provider, Prins AI, completed a $100 million B round of financing led by AAB VC.
This funding will be utilized for deep learning technology R&D to launch more accurate, natural, and efficient digital identity products; expanding the team, including recruiting more technical talent to bolster product development, and enlarging the marketing and sales teams.
This fund will accelerate the advancement of AI, especially focusing on lightweight GPT solutions in the automotive sector. Li Ka-shing had previously led investments in Kneron in 2018 and 2022.
Move AI, a 3D motion capture application based on large model technology, secured $10 million in seed funding from Play Ventures, Warner Music Group, RKKVC, Level2 Ventures, and Animoca Brands. Move AI plans to launch a single-camera application named "Move One" by September 2023.
A top creator signed a two-year non-exclusive agreement for $5 million, including six hours of working time. These AI characters, primarily appearing as text chatbots on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, will soon have voice capabilities expected to launch early next year.
The round was led by subsidiaries of Shanghai International Group and industrial funds, with participation from multiple new and old shareholders like Tencent, Meitu, and others.
◉NFT-chain & "s"R
In September, the NFT platform OpenSea witnessed a total transaction volume of $73,141,407, marking the lowest since September 2021. Compared to August's over $108 million, the transaction volume in September decreased by 32.7%. Presently, the cumulative transaction volume on OpenSea surpasses $36.18 billion. The most related news link concerning OpenSea's transaction volume for September 2023 delineates that the trading volume plummeted to 60,200 ETH in August, nearly akin to the volume recorded in June 2021. The monthly volume dwindled further to approximately $106 million in August from a soaring $4.87 billion in January 2022. Despite the slump, some top collections on OpenSea defied the overall trend and witnessed growth. The decrease in volume came alongside a decline in user engagement and some policy shifts by OpenSea, including ceasing support for NFT transactions on the BNB Chain and stopping royalty payments on secondary sales.
On September 13, Micro Technology, an AI tech company, unveiled its new wearable AI technology, launching the "world's first AI dial" and "GPT AI 2.0". Established in 2015, Micro Technology is a software-hardware integrated wearable ecosystem platform and a smart health big data service solution provider.
In the second quarter of 2023, global shipments of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) headsets declined by 44.6% year-over-year, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of decline. Multiple factors contributed to the decline, including the global economic downturn suppressing demand, a price increase for the popular Quest 2 headset, and hardware aging from several vendors. IDC estimated the full-year AR/VR headset shipments for 2023 at 8.5 million units. Meta retained its market leader position with a 50.2% market share, yet faced challenges from Sony (27.1% market share) and ByteDance (9.6% market share), both of whom increased their market share in Q2 2023.
Meta will shut down three exclusive games, including VR shooting games "Dead and Buried" (2016) and "Dead and Buried II" (2019), and virtual pet simulator "Bogo" (2019) by March 2024. The company announced via email that support for these games would cease by March 15, 2024, and has already removed them from the store search results, eliminating any purchase or download options.
Meta, in collaboration with Ray-Ban, released Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses earlier and is now launching the next-generation smart glasses Supernova, which has recently passed FCC certification. These glasses reportedly will have built-in AI and the capability for "streaming live" on Facebook.
Xian Shun Technology recently secured investments totaling over ten million yuan from Moody's brand, among others. As an AR smart glasses developer, Xian Shun Technology independently developed a near-eye display optical system, combined with a unique ultra-low-power hardware architecture, providing AR smart glasses to users.
◉Top
A South Korean man in his 40s was sentenced to over two years in prison earlier this year for possessing around 360 AI-generated child abuse images. Luckily, these horrific images were not detailed and reportedly were not disseminated.
A report by Morgan Stanley suggests that AI has already affected a quarter of the US job market, with an economic impact reaching $2.1 trillion, anticipated to surge to $4.1 trillion in the coming years, affecting 44% of the workforce. Concurrently, revenue for software companies adopting AI is expected to substantially grow. Software vendors might occupy a 5% share in the $4.1 trillion labor impact, implying a potential market size of $205 billion.
Reportedly, OpenAI, in deep negotiations with Jonny Ive, known as the "father of iPhone," and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, aims to establish a joint venture to create an AI-centric iPhone. Masayoshi Son, Altman, and Ive discussed forming a company, absorbing talents and technologies from the three corporations, with SoftBank planning to invest over $1 billion in this joint venture.
On September 26, French billionaire and Iliad Telecom Group founder, Xavier Niel, announced an investment of 200 million euros in the field of AI. Iliad Telecom Group will invest in several projects, including a research center in Paris and funding for startups.
UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden mentioned that the existential risks posed by AI are comparable to pandemics and nuclear warfare, necessitating cooperation with China to control such societal-level risks. Dowden addressed the United Nations General Assembly, emphasizing the importance of unleashing AI's potential while mitigating its risks. He noted that this challenge would alter inter-state relations, requiring a "new multilateralism" as some tech firms and non-state actors possess "state-level influence." He stressed that reducing the extinction risks posed by AI should become a global priority, alongside other societal-level risks like pandemics and nuclear warfare.
◉Open
The European Union is in discussions regarding imposing extra restrictions on major AI systems, especially concerning large language models like OpenAI's GPT-4, under the upcoming Artificial Intelligence Act. The negotiations among the EU Commission, European Parliament, and EU member states' representatives are preliminary, with the aim to address the concerns posed by powerful large language models while ensuring that new startups do not face overly burdensome regulation1.
OpenAI is contemplating developing its own AI chips to address the shortage of AI chips it relies on. The move, still unclear if it will be pursued, is seen as a significant strategic step with huge investment implications. It's part of discussions to find various solutions to the chip shortage issue since at least last year234.
AI startup Character.AI is in early-stage financing negotiations aiming to raise several hundred million dollars, which could potentially value the company over $5 billion567.
OpenAI, along with former Apple designer Jony Ive and SoftBank, is in talks to establish a $1 billion joint venture in AI. The negotiation involves forming a company to create an AI-centric iPhone, attracting investment from SoftBank, and pooling talents and technologies from the three parties8910.
Sci-fi author Liu Cixin expressed that AI replacing humanity could be beneficial for Earth's civilization. He believes AI could lead to a more powerful civilization capable of achieving greater technological feats and expanding into the cosmos. Though AI might replace certain human activities, like writing, Liu doesn't foresee a dystopian future of AI-ruled humanity1112.