Nvidia stocks surge with AI promise

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📈 Nvidia stock surges with AI promise

👟 Nike’s virtual sneakers breach $1M sales mark

🎮 Casual gamers prove important to the metaverse

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Nvidia stocks surge with AI promise

Shares of chip maker Nvidia surged last week after reporting a major jump in revenue (exceeding Wall Street expectations), a show of AI’s broadening uses that could introduce a shake up to an already changing tech sector.

Nvidia, creating graphics chips for gaming and AI, has reported a quarterly profit of over $2B and revenue of $7B. After its shares jumped over 24%, Nvidia has come close to joining the $1 trillion club already populated by Alphabet, Apple, and Microsoft.

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang gets candid about the demand: The world’s data centers are in need of a makeover amid the transformation that will come with AI.

To industry analysts, it’s like the new gold rush, with NVIDIA “selling all the picks and shovels.”

It didn’t take long, though, for AI crypto - which are blockchain-based AI projects’ corresponding tokens - to follow suit and jump after Nvidia reports booming AI demand. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the crypto market (including bitcoin and ether) remained flat.

Nike's 1st NFT sneaker release on .SWOOSH breaches $1M mark [Link]

The highly anticipated virtual sneaker sale on Nike's .SWOOSH web3 platform may have been persistently delayed and left fans frustrated, but for Nike it’s a raging success: surpassing $1M in sales amid the technical difficulties.

The sale, which began May 15 or nearly a week after the previously announced start date, kicked off with the first round called First Access, open exclusively for users who were airdropped "posters" serving as their early entry ticket.

Meanwhile, the General Access sale kicked off on May 24 - two weeks after the proposed May 10 sale date.

The sneaker giant is clear in its lofty web3 ambitions, from acquiring digital fashion startup RTFKT to teasing a .SWOOSH marketplace in the coming months for expanded virtual and IRL experiences, gaming, mint passes, and 3D files.

Casual gamers critical to the evolving metaverse: Facebook study [Link]

Stephen Gray from Meta’s Facebook Gaming, in a virtual session at GamesBeat Summit 2023, shares his takeaways from a new industry study:

• 50% of all gamers know what the metaverse is, a number mostly driven by the hardcore gamer.

• Gamers are already involved in the metaverse and adjacent-tech experiences, with about 1/3 using VR and AR, and nearly 50% using cross-platform play.

• Casual gamers are far more interested in non-gaming metaverse experiences like virtual travel.

• While they are familiar with crypto and NFTs as they are of the metaverse, gamers’ sentiment is not as positive.

Views of the research results show gamers are hardly a monolith, with a broad diversity becoming more and more apparent in the community.

Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt cautions against AI potentially getting people ‘harmed or killed’ [Link]

In a recent speech at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit in London, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt highlights the existential risks associated with AI and emphasized the need for governments to understand how to prevent its misuse.

“And existential risk is defined as many, many, many, many people harmed or killed,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt, who is involved in the National Security Commission on AI, hasn’t provided a clear view of how AI should be regulated, but notes that the US is unlikely to establish a dedicated agency.

Chinese AR glasses maker Nreal rebrands as Xreal [Link]

Nreal, a Chinese AR glasses maker, has rebranded to Xreal in order to expand to new markets and introduce new products.

Xreal intends to enter European markets in Q3 of this year, beefing up its existing presence in the US, UK, China, Japan, and South Korea.

Xreal offers two AR headsets, the Xreal Air and Xreal Light. These are powered by the proprietary operating system Nebula, providing developers with a platform to create apps for users to access through their headsets, akin to Apple's iOS for iPhones.

To broaden its appeal, Xreal has also introduced Xreal Beam. Resembling an iPod in shape, it can connect wired or wirelessly to smartphones, gaming consoles, and PCs, making the headset compatible with a wide range of devices and opening up immersive gameplay opportunities.

Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• Dozens of upcoming web3 titles are joining gamers, developers and Twitch streamers at the 3XP Gaming Expo. (Link)

• Spanning over 60K sq ft, 3XP will host a plethora of live esports tournaments, interactive gameplay booths, insightful panels, and more. (Link)

• Classic party game Twister Air swaps its polka-dot plastic mat for an AR app. (Link)

• To dao5 founder Tekin Salimi, smaller independent studios would likely be the first to embrace web3, followed by smaller publishers and then the largest firms. (Link)

• Toward the hardcore gaming side of the spectrum, players are excited about playing games, while casual gamers are into non-gaming metaverse experiences like virtual travel: Facebook study (Link)

• Upland Metaverse’s Stock Car Pro Series is a turbo-charged new collab letting Upland residents interact with the top-tier racing league from the comfort of the virtual world. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• Fashion brand Ambush and retail incubator Terminal jointly introduce a unique range of digital collectibles. (Link)

• Presenting Pixelgeist, a new fashionable team-up from RSTLSS and AI artist Claire Silver. (Link)

• As a semester-long collaborative course between Roblox and Parsons ends, students and faculty consider what fashion’s future might look like. (Link)

• As craftsmanship meets code, Draup founder Dani Loftus takes on generative fashion and couture. (Link)

• Kids’ shoes in focus: Clarks returns to the metaverse with Playprints World on Roblox. (Link)

• Discover how NFTs are used in fashion and wearables. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• YouTube will now let you watch unlimited simultaneous streams of NFL Sunday Ticket across YouTube and YouTube TV, but only if you’re at home. (Link)

• Manchester City’s Erling Haaland says it’s “embarrassing” but he relaxes by playing Minecraft. (Link)

• AI video tech company Pixellot debuts this next-gen AI-automated sports camera. (Link)

• JD Sports CIO Todd Steiner is a believer in generative AI but doesn't see much business application for the metaverse. (Link)

• Here’s how the metaverse and mountain sports serve as allies for Italian outdoor and sports brand Oberalp Group. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• YouTube is killing Stories. (Link)

• BBC Studios and Reality+ are taking Doctor Who to The Sandbox. (Link)

• AI film apps could see "blockbusters created in bedrooms by the end of the year, declares futurist, strategist, and web3 advisor Nova Lorraine. (Link)

• Cirque du Soleil and metaverse game developer Gamefam craft the entertainment giant’s 1st ever immersive experience on Roblox. (Link)

• Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden joins the board of AI music for gaming company Plusmusic.ai. (Link)

• Willow Smith receives RIAA’s first-ever NFT plaque. (Link)

• 5G can revolutionize entertainment and gaming - but what will it look like beyond just faster speeds? (Link)

🖼 Art

• Collaborative creators Michèle Lamy and Matt Lambert release an exclusive NFT featuring the performance art piece Infinite II. (Link)

• MakersPlace hosts the live AI Art Hackathon featuring Hackatao, Trevor Jones, and more. (Link)

• Ubisoft’s Rabbids invade Reddit as free NFTs. (Link)

• Binance launches Binance NFT Loan for crypto owners to get ETH loans with NFTs as collateral. (Link)

• Nike’s .SWOOSH NFT drop is filled with missteps, a Bitcoin NFT collection tops the charts, and NFT lending is gaining momentum. (Link)

🤖 AI

• AI uncovers a new antibiotic able to fight a dangerous superbug. (Link)

• OpenAI could exit Europe amid regulatory pressure, reports Reuters. (Link)

• Solana Labs launches ChatGPT plugin for blockchain to help bridge a yawning gap. (Link)

• Google rolls out the AI search generative experience. (Link)

• AI spurs growth in robotics, especially for delivery, transport, healthcare, and security. (Link)

• TikTok tests AI chatbot Tako in the Philippines. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• Degens and RLTY collaborate to create Degen City, an immersive 3D space for its community. (Link)

• Sam Altman’s Worldcoin raises $115M in Series C funding to support R&D and ecosystem growth. (Link)

• Pomerium secures $20M angel investment and gets listed on Bitget. (Link)

• Trinity Gaming partners with metaverse entity Everdome to build the first Mars community virtually. (Link)

• Loot Labs raises $1.5M and launches Boxed.gg, combining virtual mystery boxes with digital collectibles like NFT art and avatars for Reddit. (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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