Drop in ChatGPT users: Here’s why

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✨ Today in the Metaproof Daily

📉 ChatGPT users drop for the 1st time: Here’s why

📈 Web3 apps on upward trend amid regulatory challenges: Report

🏀 Candy Digital packs 2023 MLB All-Star Game with digital memorabilia

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ChatGPT users drop for the 1st time: Here’s why [Link]

Is this a sign of waning consumer interest in chatbots and generative AI tools amid tech giants’ heated race to develop related products?

Data from internet data company Similarweb show that mobile and desktop traffic to the ChatGPT website and downloading the app has fallen 9.7% in June from the previous month - the 1st time since launching in November last year.

Downloads of the chatbot’s iPhone app has also steadily dropped since peaking in early June, this time according to data from Sensor Tower.

While it can’t be pinned down to a single reason, the user drop-off may be attributed to:

• In response to user backlash and regulatory pressures, ChatGPT has started censoring harmful responses, potentially leading to a high abandon rate.

• A theoretical dip in ChatGPT’s quality as its popularity fueled the higher costs of operation, resulting in parent company OpenAI attempting changes to lower expenses.

• In the summer, fewer students need to write their homework or academic papers.

• ChatGPT faces multiple lawsuits and an expanding number of companies prohibiting the use of AI tools among employees due to privacy concerns.

Web3 apps on upward trend amid regulatory challenges: Report [Link]

A new report from DappRadar shows an increase in web3 activity in June despite regulatory actions targeting centralized exchanges.

Here are the highlights:

• Nearly 2M wallets interacted with decentralized applications (dApps) daily in June, representing a 1.4% increase compared to May.

• Web3 gaming remained the leading sector with 36% of users, followed closely by decentralized finance (DeFi) with 35% after growing 14%.

• NFTs generated $888M in volume from 4.24M sales, representing a 17% increase compared to May.

Fresh crypto funding this week [Link]

Amid a longstanding crypto winter and undivided attention for generative AI, several startups in the crypto space have recently raised significant amounts of capital:

• CryptoQuant: $6.5M in a Series A round which will be used to expand globally and build the team, bringing total funding to $9M.

• Web3Go: $4M in seed funding for the web3 data analytics platform, which will accelerate the development of Web3Go's Data Intelligence Network (DIN), aimed at giving users access to data, transactions, and content creation.

• Ola: $3M in seed funding for the privacy protocol, which uses zero-knowledge tech to enable programmable privacy for developers and users.

3 ‘truly disruptive’ AI tools, according to a CEO [Link]

Early adopters of generative AI tools have found them beneficial for day-to-day tasks. Jacqueline DeStefano-Tangorra, CEO of Omni Business Intelligence Solutions, recommends three generative AI tools for administrative tasks:

• ChatGPT: Generates various content from simple answers to essays and can be used to fill out forms, create agendas, and more. While it has limitations, tailored prompts make it a valuable tool.

• Godmode: A genAI website that provides tailored research results. Users can specify their search criteria, and the tool will go through a step-by-step process to find relevant information and offer a more focused approach to research.

• Microsoft 365 Copilot: Integrates content and inputs from apps like Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, and PowerPoint to enhance productivity. It assists with drafting emails, analyzing data, creating presentations, and summarizing Teams meetings.

As these tools keep evolving, experts recommend verifying the accuracy of the generated content, including grammar and facts, particularly in the workplace and professional settings.

Candy Digital packs 2023 MLB All-Star Game with digital memorabilia [Link]

For the 3rd consecutive year, digital collectible platform Candy Digital collaborates with the Major League Baseball (MLB), MLB Players Association, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for All-Star Week.

The partnership kicked off with digital memorabilia for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game, given to attendees and also comes with the chance to win tickets to the 2023 World Series. Last week, the league’s metaverse MLB Virtual Ballpark also rolled out and notified attendees that they would receive a commemorative digital ticket from Candy Digital.

In an apparent bid to normalize NFTs, Candy Digital maintains a track record of partnering with non-web3 native firms to build out their digital collectibles. Previous partners include Netflix’s Stranger Things, sports brands like the WWE, and Getty Images.

Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• Team shooter game The Machines Arena adds in-game rewards, letting seasoned players unlock character skins for eventual minting as NFTs. (Link)

• New game alert: Social MMO Gas Hero, from Stepn creator Find Satoshi Lab (FSL), takes place in a dystopian world where a powerful AI has triggered nuclear war. (Link)

• A growing hub for digital arts and gaming, Spain’s Canary Islands sets the stage for a conference on European video game policy and virtual environments. (Link)

• 40 years ago, the movie WarGames predicted our current AI fears, floating the prospect of the world being destroyed by AI gone rogue. (Link)

• Chinese gaming firms are eyeing expanded opportunities in overseas markets. (Link)

• New mobile martial arts game Justice is being billed as NetEase’s answer to Tencent’s Honor of Kings and HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• BlockDown Festival partners with the Metaverse Fashion Council for an enhanced festival experience - and an AI-driven fashion hackathon. (Link)

• Cosmetics giant L'Oréal, in partnership with Google unit Verily, taps into tech to launch a study on advanced skin and hair health. (Link)

• Designers are using AI-designed squid proteins in a bid to reduce plastic use. (Link)

• Philipp Plein’s timepiece collection, its 1st phygital project, boasts 8 Crypto King and 6 Crypto Queen timepieces, each paired with an NFT art piece by artist Antoni Tudisco. (Link)

• In the name of sustainable fashion, University of Arizona students are repurposing old football jerseys into fashionable sportswear. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• Trouble brewing? OneFootball shutters its Serie A web3 video offering. (Link)

• GameOn - a next-gen fantasy sports platform partnered with sports leagues to launch, operate, and monetize web3 games - declares $472K revenues for Q1. (Link)

• Baller Mixed Reality adds unique rights to provide and promote AI-generated content material from NBA pioneer and legend Earl Lloyd. (Link)

• NFT Tech pairs up with the United States Golf Association (USGA) and Pebble Beach Company to enhance fan engagement at the 2023 US Women’s Open. (Link)

• Virtual stadiums, NFTs, training, and more: The sports metaverse explained. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Netflix taps AI to push visual effects beyond the green screen. (Link)

• Tumblr is going to "fix" its "core experience" to appeal to new users. (Link)

• A Metal Gear Solid voice actor is not happy about fans using AI to recreate his voice. (Link)

• Threads app signs up 100M users in less than a week. (Link)

• AI lashes at the doorstep of films and entertainment. (Link)

• Nicki Minaj wants to delete the “whole internet” after a viral AI deepfake video. (Link)

• Buzzfeed taps AI to create 7 Barbie Dreamhouses around the world. (Link)

🖼 Art

• Wimbledon and Andy Murray enter NFT territory with artwork from Refik Anadol. (Link)

• Kenny Schachter is an art world expert who advocates for NFTs yet remains critical of certain aspects of it. (Link)

• The official Twitter account of NFT collection Gutter Cat Gang gets hacked, resulting in losses of at least $750K. (Link)

• ELLIS Alicante and Don’t Delete Art collaborate on the intersection between AI and art. (Link)

• In Philly, the Paradigm Gallery exhibits rugs designed by a robot. (Link)

🤖 AI

• AI can power drugs killing “zombie cells” and fighting aging. (Link)

• DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis doesn’t believe open-source AI models will outpace Google. (Link)

• An AI-powered election campaign starts in the UK. (Link)

• How AI is transforming Hollywood and why it’s suddenly at the core of contract negotiations. (Link)

• Generative AI could add up to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy. (Link)

• The game among giants like Kingsoft Office, Baidu, and Alibaba is in AI integration as they build their own ChatGPT-like models. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• Pano AI raises $17M to expand its AI wildfire detection solution. (Link)

• Alaian partners with Qualcomm to bolster XR startups. (Link)

• Gamercraft raises $5M for AI-powered skill-gaming platform. (Link)

• Good Capital launches a $50M fund to back AI startups in India and their early investments. (Link)

• Spanish startup Algori raises $3.6M (€3.3M) for its AI-based consumer analytics platform. (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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