Accenture’s $3B AI investment

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💵 Accenture pours $3B into AI

🎶 Warner Music Group steps into web3 gaming

😢 Reddit crypto communities cry foul over API changes

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Accenture pours $3B into AI [Link]

Another major player in the form of global consulting firm Accenture commits to AI, investing $3B over 3 years into its AI and data practice in the form of new talent, new acquisitions, and the training of its employees.

Part of its AI gameplan are the following:

• Investing into assets, industry solutions, ventures, and ecosystem partnerships across diagnostic, predictive, and generative AI

• Doubling its AI talent to 80K professionals through hiring, acquisitions, and training

• Developing the AI Navigator for Enterprise, a generative AI-based platform that will help clients define business cases, make decisions, and navigate AI journeys

• Creating accelerators for data and AI readiness across 19 industries

Accenture expects AI to be a “mega-trend” transforming industries, companies, and 40% of all working hours.

The news of this mega-investment comes just months after Accenture announced the layoff of 19,000 workers, bringing to the fore the longstanding debate on whether AI will replace jobs or instead drive further human hirings.

Warner Music Group steps into web3 gaming [Link]

Warner Music Group is making sweet music in games publishing with the upcoming release of Invector: Rhythm Galaxy, which it co-developed with Swedish game studio Hello There Games.

Set to launch on July 14 initially on PC, Invector is a narrative-driven rhythm game that will take players to “celestial landscapes” accompanied by the beat of chart-topping hits from musical artists such as Charlie Puth, PinkPantheress, and Duran Duran.

WMG is no stranger to web3 partnerships: investing in Roblox in 2020, launching Rhythm City as “a first-of-its-kind music-themed social roleplay experience” on Roblox, and teaming up with STYNGR to supply game developers with access to pre-licensed tracks from its music catalog.

Harnessing its roster of global artists and recorded music catalog, WMG targets building immersive experiences for fans and new revenue streams for artists, according to its press release.

Reddit crypto communities cry foul over API changes [Link]

Reddit has announced changes to its API pricing, sparking concerns and protests within the community.

In the post titled Changes to Accessing our API, CEO Steve Huffman - also known as u/spez on the platform - emphasized the need for the company to become a self-sustaining business and as a result will implement updated Data API Terms on June 19, 2023.

The changes will impact API access, pricing, content moderation, and 3rd party apps. One prominent app, Apollo, has already announced its shutdown due to the updated API pricing.

Users expressed dissatisfaction and threatened to delete their accounts if third-party apps like Apollo are no longer available. This response centers on the API changes, and it remains to be seen if Reddit will reconsider its approach or proceed as planned.

Rocky Horror Show NFTs drops soon [Link]

Online Blockchain is set to release a collection of Rocky Horror Show NFTs on OpenSea, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the iconic comedy musical's debut.

Key details of TimeWarp NFT: The first collection:

• Available starting on June 19 at 8 am ET

• Features the classic bloody font logo from the show's title sequence

• Price is set at 0.1 ETH, approximately $175 as of press time

• Consists of 49 additional NFTs to be released at random times and prices over a 2-week period

Buyers will be rewarded with a complimentary character pack comprising 10 unique NFTs, each representing a beloved character from the Rocky Horror Show, including Frank-N-Furter, Magenta, Riff Raff, Columbia, Janet, Brad, Rocky, Dr. Everett Scott, Eddie, and The Narrator.

Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• This year, Roblox stock rises up to 37% amid a bullish outlook on its evolution into immersive gaming and metaverse potential. (Link)

• Mythical Games’ hybrid web3 mobile game NFL Rivals, launching in early access a month ago, closes in on 1M downloads. (Link)

• BinaryX ventures into VR and artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC), developing a new GameFi genre of AI-based VR games. (Link)

• Let’s talk technical: Spatial partitioning isn’t the answer to scaling the metaverse. (Link)

• The top 10 programming languages for metaverse game development. (Link)

• Upland Metaverse’s Nowhere is a virtual gathering platform combining video chat and game play. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• Adidas Originals works with 20-year-old artist FEWOCiOUS on the limited-ed, product-linked Trefoil Flower Mint Pass. (Link)

• Brands like Hugo Boss are harnessing AI to automate stock transfers between stores to match forecasted demand. (Link)

• DRESSX “matches” with YouTube and TikTok personality Mackenzie Turner for a digital drop that includes a cotton candy bomber jacket, heart-shaped bag, and Cuties necklace. (Link)

• Italian designer John Richmond tweets a message of solidarity to the Shiba Inu community. (Link)

• Fashion brands are still nervous about setting their IP loose in the metaverse, says BNV founder and CEO Richard Hobbs. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• Real Madrid and Spanish national team goalkeeper Iker Casillas is releasing an NFT collection via NFT marketplace SpaceSeven, giving fans memorabilia and insider access to his world. (Link)

• An AI commentator using the cloned voice of ex-silver medalist and commentator Hannah England, will expand the Eurovision Sport coverage. (Link)

• Meanwhile, NBA 2K is officially the most popular video game in the US. (Link)

• Web3 short video app Chingari forays into the sports business via its team Chingari Gulf Titans in the Global Chess League’s inaugural edition. (Link)

• In South Korea, DeepBrain AI turns pro golfer Kyung-ju Choi into an AI-generated TV analyst. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Photographer Alper Yesiltas leverages AI to cast the next James Bond and shares his two cents on whether AI can replace “true” photography. (Link)

• Snoop Dogg's Arbitrum-based NFT pass lets fans "travel the world" with him virtually. (Link)

• Meta's AI music tool MusicGen was trained using 20K hours of music, including 10K hours of “high-quality” licensed songs and 390,000 instrumental tracks. (Link)

• K/DA, PLAVE, and other virtual K-pop groups blending entertainment and tech. (Link)

• Will Apple Vision Pro turn us all into WALL-E characters, glued to chairs and plugged into constant entertainment? (Link)

🖼 Art

• Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar’s tequila brand launches an NFT loyalty program. (Link)

• Buying art in crypto has seen record-breaking prices followed by a crash, but there are ways to remove the volatility for both artists and buyers. (Link)

• Igniting imagination: Children’s Art Museum of India unveils a children’s art museum experience on Roblox. (Link)

• An AI artist uses the AI tool Midjourney to turn alcoholic beverages into supervillains. (Link)

• Keiken offers AI pearls in new “wisdoms for Neknel” NFT release. (Link)

• The Rare Antiquities celebrates a successful 60-day auction featuring Picasso and Noora Alredhwan. (Link)

🤖 AI

• Ikea bets on remote interior design as AI changes the sales landscape. (Link)

• From rockets to recruitment, Israel's military refocuses on AI. (Link)

• Amazon is using AI to summarize customer product reviews. (Link)

• How AR smart glasses are redefining what’s possible for the visually impaired. (Link)

• This AI-powered robot outshines humans in sustainable gardening. (Link)

• Might these be the biggest misconceptions around AI? (Link)

• Amazon Web Services is considering sourcing new AI chips from AMD. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• France’s Mistral AI blows in with a $113M seed round at a $260M valuation to take on OpenAI. (Link)

• Striveworks snaps up first funding of $33M to build tools for machine learning operations. (Link)

• San Jose, CA-based ML company SiMa.ai raises $13M in additional funding. (Link)

• AjnaLens and MetaStudios partner to create immersive experiences and training programs aiming to upskill global youth and adults. (Link)

• Expert.ai expands its partnership with SS&C Blue Prism to drive enterprise adoption of natural language-based intelligent automation. (Link)

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All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

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