Author: Andy Josh

AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company renowned for developing a COVID-19 vaccine, has entered into a collaboration with Absci, a U.S.-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) biologics firm, to pioneer an antibody for cancer treatment. The partnership, involving an investment of up to $247 million by AstraZeneca, aims to leverage a zero-shot generative AI model. This model is designed to facilitate the creation of new antibody therapeutics for cancer and enhance existing treatments, although the specific cancer types were not disclosed in the Financial Times report on December 3. Absci, known for its AI capabilities screening “billions of cells” weekly, boasts an expedited process,…

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, issues a stark warning about the potential dangers of unchecked superintelligent AI, suggesting that even Mars may not be safe if such technology turns against humanity. Buterin emphasizes that AI has a “serious chance” of surpassing humans to become the next “apex species” and highlights the fundamental difference of AI compared to other inventions. He argues that unlike climate change or nuclear war, a rogue AI could lead to human extinction, particularly if the AI perceives humans as a threat to its survival. https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1729251808936362327 Citing a survey of machine learning researchers estimating a 5–10% chance…

In a groundbreaking move, Microsoft has introduced the Azure Maia AI Accelerator, a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip aimed at revolutionizing AI tasks and generative AI. The launch, accompanied by the debut of the Azure Cobalt CPU tailored for cloud workloads, marks a significant stride for the tech giant in fortifying its infrastructure systems. Termed the “last puzzle piece” for Microsoft’s infrastructure, these chips are slated for an early 2024 release, with initial deployment in Microsoft’s data centers. Their primary role will be to bolster the Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service, enhancing the computational prowess of these services. Scott Guthrie,…

In a strategic move back in 2018, Binance acquired TrustWallet in a deal that combined cash and BNB tokens, valued at $14.80 at the time. However, recent developments have seen TrustWallet’s native token, TWT, take a 7% dip as Binance, the very exchange that absorbed TrustWallet, launched its own Web3 wallet, intensifying competition in the crypto space. As of the latest data from CoinMarketCap, TWT is currently trading at $1.49, reflecting its recent 7% decline over the past 24 hours. The acquisition of TrustWallet in 2018 was quite the cocktail, involving a blend of cash, Binance stock, and a portion…

OpenSea, a prominent non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, has announced a significant workforce reduction, with plans to lay off half of its employees as part of a broader restructuring effort. CEO Devin Finzer took to Twitter to reveal the company’s intention to undergo substantial changes and shift its focus towards a new iteration, OpenSea 2.0. He mentioned that OpenSea was transitioning to a smaller team while building a new foundation and expressed gratitude to the departing employees, acknowledging that such transitions are always challenging. Finzer emphasized that these changes are being made with the OpenSea community in mind and to better…

Robby Yung, CEO of Animoca Brands and co-founder of The Sandbox, emphasized that investing in Web3 gaming projects has become more selective and cautious during the ongoing crypto winter. Speaking at the European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona, Yung highlighted the need for rigorous due diligence, even as the cryptocurrency market faces challenges. He mentioned that Web3 gaming investments now require a combination of passionate teams with specific skill sets and product ideas that clearly meet market demands. Yung pointed out that in the current economic downturn and crypto winter, investors have the luxury of being selective due to the scarcity…

Yann LeCun, Chief AI Scientist at Meta, has weighed in on the ongoing debate about the existential risks associated with AI technology. In an interview with the Financial Times, he emphasized that labeling AI as an existential threat to humanity is “premature” and even “preposterous.” LeCun’s statements challenge the growing concerns about AI’s potential to harm humanity. The interview, conducted on October 19, quoted LeCun as expressing his concerns about premature AI regulation, which he believes could inadvertently bolster the dominance of major tech companies while stifling competition. He argued that regulating AI research and development can be counterproductive and…

Google has taken steps to dismiss a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing it of infringing on the privacy and property rights of millions of internet users through data scraping for AI training. Google filed its motion in a California District Court, emphasizing the importance of using publicly available information to train AI models like Bard. The company argues that the claimants’ assertion that Google is “stealing” publicly shared internet data is based on false premises. According to Google, using publicly accessible information for learning purposes doesn’t constitute theft or privacy invasion. They warn that such a lawsuit would not only affect…

CoinMarketCap, the cryptocurrency data aggregator under the umbrella of Binance, has introduced an innovative plugin that enhances the capabilities of the large-language model (LLM) based AI chatbot, ChatGPT. As of the announcement made on October 11th, users can access this feature by logging into their ChatGPT Plus accounts and simply enabling the plugin. This addition allows users to pose a wide range of cryptocurrency-related queries to the LLM. Importantly, this plugin is available at no extra cost beyond the standard $20 per month subscription fee for ChatGPT Plus. Developers underscored that the base version of ChatGPT is somewhat limited for…

OpenAI, the company known for creating the AI chatbot ChatGPT, is reportedly exploring the idea of producing its own processing chips, considering the challenges posed by the global shortage of these expensive and complex hardware components. According to a report from Reuters on October 5, individuals familiar with the matter have disclosed that OpenAI is actively considering the acquisition of an undisclosed chip-making company as a potential strategy to support its AI chip production goals. It’s important to note that OpenAI has not made a final decision on pursuing such an acquisition and is actively exploring various options to tackle…

Amazon has entered into a substantial $4 billion investment agreement with Anthropic, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup, aimed at advancing the development of high-performance foundation models. https://twitter.com/AnthropicAI/status/1706202966238318670 Anthropic revealed this partnership on social media, emphasizing that the investment will also provide access to Amazon Web Services Trainium and Inferentia chips. In return, Anthropic will offer enhanced support for Amazon Bedrock, a producer of foundation models, ensuring secure model customization and fine-tuning for businesses. Amazon teams will also have the opportunity to leverage Anthropic’s models through Bedrock. Moreover, Amazon is taking a minority stake in Anthropic as part of the deal,…

Amitt Mahajan, one of Farmville’s creators, heads Proof of Play, a company that recently secured a substantial $33 million in funding for its Web3 game development endeavors. Emmett Shear, co-founder of Twitch, is also on board as a member of the company’s board of directors. This funding round was co-led by Chris Dixon from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Neil Mehta from Greenoaks. Notable investors such as Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, and the founders of Twitch also participated. Web3 firms Anchorage Digital, Mercury, Firebase, Zynga, and Alchemy joined in the funding as well. Source: Proof of Play Proof of Play had…

Balancer, an Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has issued a warning to users after its frontend was targeted in an attack. The incident, currently under investigation, has prompted Balancer to advise users against interacting with its user interface until further notice. https://twitter.com/Balancer/status/1704281611326357567 In a tweet, Balancer mentioned that the attack details are being investigated but reassured the community that its vault remains secure. However, independent blockchain security firms, including PeckShield and analyst ZachXBT, estimate that approximately $238,000 worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen at the time of this report. Source: Balancer Several users have reported being prompted to approve a…

In her 2023 State of the Union address, European Union President Ursula von der Leyen introduced a groundbreaking initiative aimed at providing artificial intelligence (AI) startups with expedited access to Europe’s supercomputing resources. Von der Leyen emphasized the significance of AI as a versatile and rapidly advancing technology with applications spanning civilian and military domains. She stressed the urgency of responsibly guiding AI’s development within a limited timeframe. The president articulated her vision for a new global AI framework built on three fundamental pillars: guardrails, governance, and guiding innovation. Under the “guardrails” pillar, she highlighted the EU’s “AI Act” as…

The Milady Maker NFT project, operating on the Ethereum blockchain, has recently fallen prey to a significant exploit involving platform fees and social media accounts. Charlotte Fang, co-founder of the Milady Maker NFT collection, disclosed this incident on social media, announcing that a developer within the Milady ecosystem had managed to divert approximately $1 million in generated fees from Remilia Corporation. Remilia Corporation serves as the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) responsible for the Milady Maker NFT project. The DAO experienced a compromise in its revenue due to actions by Bonkler, an experimental finance art project created in April 2023, as…

Loyalty Marketing, a Japanese company boasting a staggering 100 million users, is poised to usher in the era of Web3 to its vast user base, according to Nick Mussallem, Head of Product at Ava Labs. This strategic move unfolds as the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain platform, Avalanche, anticipates a substantial surge in transactions, with an estimated 5 million to 10 million transactions occurring on a subnet. Andrew Fenton at the Korea Blockchain Week 2023 event in Seoul, South Korea, Mussallem elaborated on the partnership between Ava Labs, blockchain services provider PlayThink, and Loyalty Marketing. The primary goal is to seamlessly onboard…

Nigeria is reaching out to a diverse pool of experts, including scientists of Nigerian heritage and globally renowned specialists with experience in the Nigerian market, to participate in the development of its National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy. Announced by Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, via X (formerly Twitter), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has embarked on crafting a comprehensive National AI Strategy. This initiative is poised to revolutionize the way the government tackles its most pressing national challenges through technology. As a result, the government is embracing a collaborative approach by convening a…

Imperial College London has forged a strategic alliance with AI startup FluidAI to address critical challenges in the cryptocurrency market, with a particular focus on liquidity aggregation.The collaboration between Imperial College London and FluidAI aims to enhance the tokenized market for institutions, trading platforms, and retail investors. FluidAI, led by CEO Ahmed Ismail, considers liquidity aggregation as one of the most pressing issues in the cryptocurrency space. Ismail emphasized that traditional financial solutions for market aggregation rely on low-latency technology, enabling swift delivery of the best prices. However, such a solution does not exist in the crypto market due to…

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly gearing up to approve multiple applications for Ether futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) simultaneously, marking a significant development in the cryptocurrency investment landscape. According to sources familiar with the matter cited by The Wall Street Journal, the SEC has been inundated with applications from various investment firms since July, with some of these requests combining futures strategies for both Bitcoin and Ether. Notably, the SEC has refrained from instructing these firms to withdraw their applications, a notable departure from its actions in 2021 when similar requests were met with such directives.…

According to reports, Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX US, intends to establish a start-up that will develop crypto trading software for large investors.A former high-ranking executive is reportedly looking for investors to start a crypto startup, just a month after the controversial demise of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange and 130 associated businesses. According to The Information, Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX US, is looking for $6 million in funding to start a start-up that will build crypto trading software for big investors. The valuation for Harrison’s next round of funding would be $60 million. More than…

The 26% capital additions assessment will be forced on digital money exchanging benefits bigger than 2,000 euros ($2,062). According to budget documents released on December 1, Italy intends to tighten regulations on digital currencies in 2023 by expanding its tax laws to include cryptocurrency trading. According to Bloomberg, plans to levy a 26% tax on cryptocurrency trading profits greater than 2,000 euros (or $2,062) are included in its budget for 2023.Because they were regarded as “foreign currency,” digital currencies have historically benefited from lower tax rates. Taxpayers will have the option to declare the value of their digital asset holdings…

The “alarming fraud,” liquidity shortage, and bankruptcy of crypto exchange FTX were cited by the committee chair as examples of financial risks that the Treasury and regulators should address. “In the wake of FTX’s implosion,” Sherrod Brown, chair of the United States Senate Banking Committee, has urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to collaborate with lawmakers and financial regulators on comprehensive crypto legislation. In a Nov. 30 letter to Yellen, Brown mentioned the Depository secretary coordinate with controllers to address crypto in light of proposals from the Monetary Steadiness Oversight Advisory group, or FSOC. The “alarming fraud,” liquidity shortage, and bankruptcy…

The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil approved the law, which legalizes cryptocurrency as a method of payment. However, before it can be implemented, the law still needs to be approved by the executive branch. Although Brazil has not made Bitcoin BTC tickers down $16,852 legal tender like El Salvador did last year, the country in South America has passed a law that makes crypto payments legal everywhere in the country. A set of rules has been approved by Brazil’s federal legislative body, the Chamber of Deputies, to make cryptocurrency use as a payment method legal in the country. Although this…

During COVID-19, LBRY claims that Apple forced it to censor certain terms. In response to Elon Musk’s complaint about Apple’s declining Twitter advertising, the crypto company LBRY discussed its own issues with Apple and censorship. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the blockchain-based file-sharing and payment network LBRY has claimed that Apple, the tech giant, forced it to filter out certain search terms in apparent opposition to free speech. LBRY claims that it was asked to censor anything related to COVID-19, particularly vaccines and the virus’s human origins, in a Twitter post on Nov. 28 or risk having its apps removed from…

As ecosystems collapse, Congressman Tom Emmer expressed concerns regarding the SEC chair’s crypto oversight strategy. The massive decline of major exchanges and ecosystems over the past year — FTX, Celsius, Voyager, and Terra LUNA tickers down $1.59 — casts doubt on the effectiveness of crypto regulations in the United States, despite the fact that regulations frequently aim to safeguard citizens from undesirable actors. Tom Emmer, a member of Congress, expressed concerns regarding Gary Gensler’s oversight strategy for the crypto ecosystem at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Gensler’s “indiscriminate and inconsistent approach” to crypto oversight has been strongly criticized…

A survey of the continent’s central banks reveals optimism about greater efficiency and inclusion, but a number of drawbacks remain; BIS report: uneven progress, differing motivations in African CBDC adoption Nigeria already has a retail CBDC that is working. According to a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report that was released on November 24, mobile money has been a strong competitor to central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Africa. However, many central bankers on the continent have greater faith in CBDC. According to the BIS, central bankers in Africa also saw CBDC as more useful for implementing monetary policy than…

A new bill that confirms the government’s plan to raise $1 billion and invest it in the construction of a “Bitcoin city” was introduced by the Bukele government. El Salvador finally took a decisive step toward putting its ambitious “Bitcoin bonds” project into action despite the downturn in the cryptocurrency market. The Pastor of the Economy, Maria Luisa Hayem Brevé, presented a bill affirming the public authority’s arrangement to raise $1 billion and put them into the development of a “Bitcoin city.” El Salvador’s lawmakers are urged to develop a legal framework for the use of digital assets in public…

The digital rupee is not intended to replace the current payment system; rather, it is intended to supplement it. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is getting ready to carry out the retail pilot of the “digital rupee” after evaluating the wholesale application of its central bank digital currency (CBDC).Within a month, the pilot ought to go live. The RBI is nearing completion of preparations for the retail digital rupee pilot, according to the Economic Times of India. State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC…

On November 10, prior to FTX Group’s bankruptcy filing in the United States, the Financial Services Agency of Japan requested that the exchange suspend business orders. FTX Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, reportedly intends to resume withdrawals by the end of 2022. NHK, a Japanese news outlet, reported on November 21 that FTX Japan has been preparing to resume withdrawals. On November 10, prior to FTX Group declaring bankruptcy in the United States for more than 130 associated companies, including FTX Japan Holdings, FTX Japan, and FTX Japan Services, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) requested that…

FTX debt holders are in converses with finserv firm Perella Weinberg Accomplices for different deal or redesign endeavors. In any case, the commitment of PWP is dependent upon the chapter 11 court’s endorsement. As a feature of the new liquidation recording, the outdated crypto trade FTX, alongside 101 of the 130 subsidiary organizations, declared the send off of an essential survey of their worldwide resources. The survey is an endeavor to boost recoverable incentive for partners. FTX, at the time drove by President Sam Bankman-Broiled (SBF), petitioned for Part 11 liquidation on Nov. 11 in the wake of being found…