AI’s legal woes

PUBG creator’s NFT metaverse game, Sotheby’s auction of 3AC NFT art, plus more metaverse stories today

🔮 Metaproof

Metaproof is a media company that covers the business of the metaverse. We keep you informed on how the metaverse and web3 are changing YOUR industry.

✨ Top Picks

The Future, today. In just 3 minutes.

It’s another AI action-rich week, where we navigate the legal battles and pursuits of generative AI and the tech companies powering them.

In Germany, magazine Die Aktuelle has used AI to simulate an interview with ex-Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, whose family is set to pursue legal action. Bannering “the first interview!” with Schumacher since he suffered a serious brain injury in a 2013 skiing accident, the magazine’s April 14 article contains a series of allegedly AI-generated quotes.

California financial regulators aren’t far behind in detecting AI-related irregularities, hitting a number of crypto firms for AI-assisted crypto trading services that are “fraudulent investment schemes.” Two firms are even accused of using actors and AI to impersonate CEOs.

And now with record labels like Universal Music Group making their position clear on generative AI training and copyrighted music (emphasizing “moral and commercial responsibility” to its artists to work to prevent the unauthorized use of their music), the question of how one would even bring a lawsuit against an AI becomes a tough one to answer:

  • Can AI be treated as an author?

  • Can AI be held liable for copyright infringement?

  • Can AI be served with notice of a lawsuit under due process?

South Korean gaming studio Krafton might have hit the jackpot with the breakout battle royale shooter PUBG: Battlegrounds, but it’s not about to rest easy and is in fact entering web3 metaverse gaming with Migaloo - tentatively named as such and set to launch later in 2023.

Some finer details of the venture:

  • As yet another joint push from the Asian market for blockchain and web3 game development, South Korean AR firm Naver Z pours $36.8M into developing Migaloo, with Krafton owning an 85% stake in the North American venture for the project and Naver Z holding the remaining 15%.

  • Migaloo seeks to offer a “create-to-earn” system where users can create, buy, and sell in-game assets as NFTs.

  • In March 2022, Krafton announced a partnership with Solana Labs to develop games on the network, yet neither party has issued any public updates on the plans since then.

Leading auction house Sotheby's sizzles in May as it hosts the auction for the Three Arrows Capital (3AC) NFT Art collection, describing the now-defunct firm’s offering as “an extraordinary digital art collection” comprising “some of the most significant digital artworks ever assembled.”

Called GRAILS, the collection features works from artists like Dmitri Cherniak, Snowfro, and Tyler Hobbs. Primarily formed in 2021, the 3AC GRAILS portfolio emerges as one of the most impressive in the space, involving artists whose works helped bring NFTs and digital art into the mainstream.

Multi-part digital art collection sale starts May 6th in New York, featuring Contemporary & Modern TradArt sales, running through 2023.

An April 20 Pew Research survey involving 11,004 adults in the US offers a sobering take on fears around job displacement by AI. Let’s glean on some of these key numbers:

  • 62% of Americans believe that implementing AI in the workplace will have a major impact on American workers within the next 20 years.

  • 32% predict that AI will equally help and hurt American employees.

  • 71% opposed the idea of AI being used to help make a final decision in the hiring process.

  • 40% cited concern that AI would be used to evaluate their performance.

  • Less than 50% believe AI will treat applicants "better" than hiring managers do, while 15% think otherwise and 15% think it will be the same.

In another report, the consensus is AI won't be stealing our jobs but instead giving us a hand, where machines perform mundane tasks while humans focus on more important undertakings. Healthcare might be safe from automation, but legal and office support may need to watch their backs.

🏃‍♂️ Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

  • Call of Duty & Apex Legends veterans unveil webcomic Kaidro as a web3 game and animated TV series. (Link)

  • Metaverse gaming sales is bound to capture $1,300B by 2033, while the hardware segment accounts for 48% share. (Link)

  • Discover the multiplayer battle arena game Wildcard. (Link)

  • Buildbox wants to bring ChatGPT to making user-generated games. (Link)

  • New game Monster Hunt Now, developed with Pokémon Go creator Niantic, boosts Capcom shares. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

  • Who will put on the clothes of the metaverse? (Link)

  • It’s Zegna x Microsoft, integrating AI into its consumer experience platform for more efficient shopping. (Link)

  • NYX Professional Makeup announces the Dream Vortex NFT collection, the first artist collection for the GORJS beauty DAO. (Link)

  • “This was one of the first times I’ve used AI in my creative workflow.” - Designer Nikki Fuego on their Decentraland set at the 2nd Metaverse Fashion Week. (Link)

  • Metaverse Eikonikos is bound to release its AVRA collection of 3,248 wearable NFT collectibles. (Link)

  • By 2028, digital clothing is expected to be a $2.5B global space. (Link)

🏀 Sports

  • Meta opens Horizon Worlds VR to under-18s in the US and Canada, enabling them to access sports-themed experiences. (Link)

  • Big Tech’s entry into the sports market compounds one of the core issues affecting the sports landscape: fragmentation. (Link)

  • The new Cupra DarkRebel is an electric sports car that will be honed in the metaverse. (Link)

  • Sinclair’s John Zeigler talks about bringing the camaraderie of stadium sports into your home with the metaverse. (Link)

  • Unibet Arena is set to be a metaverse of sports and casino game challenges. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

  • Checkpocalypse arrives: Twitter removes blue checks from legacy users. (Link)

  • Crypto entertainment company X World Games challenges music titans Tencent Music and NetEase Cloud Music in a web3 music copyright case. (Link)

  • Jack Dorsey's decentralized Twitter rival, Bluesky, releases an Android app. (Link)

  • Musk threatens litigation after Microsoft halts Twitter support. (Link)

  • Liam Callagher cosigns AI Oasis album: “I Sound Mega.” (Link)

  • Hootsuite introduces OwlyWriter AI as social media competition intensifies. (Link)

🖼 Art & NFTs

  • A CryptoPunks NFT finds company in Matisse and Picasso at Paris' famed Centre Pompidou. (Link)

  • NFT platform Zora doesn’t think print is dead, releasing a magazine made redeemable via collectible NFTs. (Link)

  • The ultimate guide to Doodles NFTs: Everything you need to know. (Link)

  • Crypto wireless network Helium migrates to Solana, minting ~1M NFTs. (Link)

  • Pharrell Williams, Chief Brand Officer for Doodles, goes luxe again with his streetwear brand BBC ICECREAM. (Link)

🤖 AI

  • Google wants to sprinkle AI “magic” to all its businesses, including ads. (Link)

  • Fujitsu rolls out the Kozuchi AI platform, themed sustainability, to its commercial users globally. (Link)

  • Woman's bowel cancer spotted by AI. (Link)

  • Superchat lets users chat with AI renditions of DaVinci, Shakespeare, Hercules, Dracula, and more historical/fictional figures. (Link)

  • Adobe Illustrator’s AI-powered color adjustment instantly switches the color palette of vector graphics. (Link)

  • Manufacturers rest their hopes on AI to boost factories. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

  • Safe Security secures $50M Series B for an AI-powered platform to manage and reduce cyber risk. (Link)

  • Karate Combat raises $18M for crypto-based martial arts. (Link)

  • Yoz Labs secures $3.5M to construct messaging rails, enabling developers to send on-chain notifications to web3 users. (Link)

  • Web3 security firm Shield raises $2.1M in pre-seed funding to develop a safety standard for businesses and consumers. (Link)

  • WeMade gets picked as the blockchain game partner of Nine66 University GameDev League. (Link)

--

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

📈 If you are a startup building in the metaverse / web3 ecosystem and are raising capital, please reach out to Sfermion. Sfermion is an investment firm focused on accelerating the emergence of the metaverse 📈

Stay informed via our Twitter and Subscribe here to get your metaverse news every day.