Nvidia’s industrial metaverse as crypto mining revenue dries up

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1/ Nvidia teams up with Microsoft on industrial metaverse

Just weeks after halting its own plans to create immersive internet tools for manufacturing firms, Microsoft now joins Nvidia’s industrial metaverse network. With the alliance, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform Azure will host Nvidia’s suite of internet services for building and operating:

• Hyper-realistic virtual worlds called Omniverse Cloud

• Nvidia DGX Cloud, a new AI supercomputing service that gives enterprises instant access to the infrastructure and software to train advanced models for generative AI

A significant portion of Nvidia’s revenue comes from gaming, including the graphic processing units (GPUs) widely used by ether miners until late 2022. Ethereum, however, has shifted to a more energy-efficient model, effectively obliterating that stream.

In recognizing potential losses from crypto mining, the chipmaker is setting its sights on booming opportunities for the metaverse, such as software and AI harnessing its graphics-oriented semiconductors.

Nvidia was well aware it would lose the cryptocurrency mining revenue, and decided to concentrate its technology on the now booming markets for metaverse-enabling software and AI that take advantage of its graphics-oriented semiconductors.

2/ Google begins rolling out its ChatGPT rival

Google is rolling out access to Bard, its new AI chatbot tool that competes head on with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Users can now join a waitlist to access Bard, said to help with anything from writing essays to planning parties and more.

Google unveiled Bard last month, albeit in a demo gone wrong as it was later called out for its inaccurate response to a telescope-related question, after which shares of Google parent company Alphabet fell and wiped $100B off its market value.

The product announcement also came as other tech giants race toward releasing AI-powered tools following the ChatGPT phenomenon.

While the curious ones wait with bated breath, it’s good to learn more about Bard: how to get access, and what it’s like to use the AI chatbot.

3/ Sony files patent for NFTs to allow transfers between games and consoles

Sony makes a major move in NFTs, filing a new patent that:

• Enables the transfer of NFTs between different games and consoles, giving players of Sony products an interoperable and web3 gameplay experience

• Outlines a function that prevents gamers from having to repeat tasks to earn the same NFTs with varying products or games, streamlining the process for them

• As part of the electronics giant’s wider efforts to expand its presence in the web3 space, alongside forging partnerships and testing early blockchain-based products

Sony’s series of web3-related moves include releasing motion-tracking wearables - allowing gamers to control their avatars with their bodies in real time - in November, as well as teaming up with blockchain network Astar in February for an incubation program focused on NFT-building and DAO firms.

4/ Why are museums curating their content in the metaverse?

Platforms like Cryptovoxels and metaverse-native art galleries are popping up and intending to stay. Traditional museums are also taking advantage of the metaverse, creating and hosting digital collections with no restrictions around physical attendance. With this virtual space:

• The digitization of museum collections offer freedom and flexibility in connecting with audiences and showcasing pieces

• In a metaverse museum, a visitor could try an ancient piece of clothing on their avatar to see what it might have looked like in context, or learn about the art on display in various formats

• It opens the door to new economic opportunities like the sale of NFTs and reduced cost of ownership, making it easier for artists to make a living from their creations

Transitioning museums into the metaverse isn’t without challenge, though, including amassing enough technical know-how to create a well-rendered 3D environment, as well as the costs of renting land in metaverse worlds like Somnium space or Decentraland.

🏃‍♂️ Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• MMORPG MapleStory, with 180M+ registered players, will have new content and characters based on its IP and tracked with DApps developed by content creators. (Link)

• From Chainers to The Sandbox to Arc8, NFT games are on a roll this year. (Link)

• The metaverse still baffles some gamers, but VR headsets like Meta Quest are helping onboard gamers who aren’t interested in Beat Saber as much as they are virtual simulations. (Link)

• Top 7 Roblox games to look out for at GDC 2023. (Link)

• Tech entrepreneur Weili Dai unveils Story Machine, a generative AI-infused 2D game creation platform and engine, at GDC. (Link)

• Neal Stephenson & Michael Amar’s enlightening exchange on interoperability in gaming metaverse at Paris Blockchain Week. (Link)

• Chinese video game studios are trading in their human creators for AI-generated content. (Link)

• Yu Suzuki is on track to launch the Virtua Fighter range. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• Vueltta installation Dear Vivienne, doubling as a code-breaking game, allows attendees to celebrate the British designer's life uniquely - and immersively. (Link)

• Swooshed away: Nike’s virtual creations maintain an edge over their well-loved physical shoes and apparel. (Link)

• TikTok parent ByteDance is hitting a growth ceiling for its e-commerce platform Douyin and slows down in its metaverse plans. (Link)

• Burberry fails in its bid to register its pattern as trademark for metaverse-related goods and services for lack of distinctive character. (Link)

• From luxe YSL Beauty to drugstore faves NYX and Maybelline, these beauty brands are making moves in the metaverse. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• Southampton Football Club's Future of Football Challenge tests and pilots tech solutions, from VR to AI engaging more fans and supercharging the sport. (Link)

• Blockchain-based fantasy soccer game Sorare explained. (Link)

• Web3 and creator event BlockDown Festival, with focus on sports, art, gaming, entertainment, and more, picks Portugal as its next location. (Link)

• Top tips to use NFTs in sports marketing. (Link)

• Web3 game questing app Glip.gg, a source of sports games, claims to have crossed 10 million installs across 100+ countries. (Link)

• Walkabout Mini Golf, a multiplayer app for VR headsets, adds a new VR course designed by Meow Wolf as the immersive art pioneer’s foray in the metaverse. (Link)

• Miami women’s college basketball’s Cavinder twins ink a deal with a controversial AI company, helping their team to a March Madness upset. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Here’s what’s in store at Paris Blockchain Week 2023. (Link)

• Bloomberg Green talks sustainability, Big Tech’s greenwashing, and more at SXSW. (Link)

• Black women are making their mark in the metaverse. (Link)

• VNUE's Metaverse Merchandise Store is promoted as a new face of event merchandising. (Link)

• Wells Adams and Tyler Florence enter iHeartLand in Fortnite and Roblox for a special podcast episode. (Link)

• ElseVerse, with futuristic city MetaPolis at its heart, promises new dimensions of entertainment for players. (Link)

• Discover the top mixed reality events this year so far. (Link)

🖼 Art

• Mingleland launches a new NFT collection in its bid for a web3 social metaverse. (Link)

• Channel of Somerset House presents art collective Keiken's newest masterpiece: Morphogenic Angels. (Link)

• Will AI be the next Picasso? AI art generators are still under scrutiny. (Link)

• NFT marketplaces should give a voice to the voiceless - in this case, underrepresented artists and art forms. (Link)

• NFTs from Trigon Art x Georgina Hooper, Getty Images, Candy, G-Dragon, Fandom Studio, N3 Foundation, and Javier Arrés as fresh new drops. (Link)

• Despite the NFT crash, the technology can still create an artistic utopia, or at least a better digital art future. (Link)

• Art trading platform LiveArt launches its new NFT membership card. (Link)

🤖 AI

• In Australia, AI can help doctors in remote areas detect heart problems. (Link)

• Social media is abuzz with a set of AI-generated images imagining Donald Trump’s possible arrest. (Link)

• Long before ChatGPT, writers from ancient Greece to Cold War-era America spun fiction around AI hopes and fears. (Link)

• Companies worldwide are starting to take action and regulate the use of ChatGPT in the workplace. (Link)

• How to leverage AI and machine learning in 2023. (Link)

• At BYU, mulling over potential AI benefits: Use ChatGPT to save time on assignments and summarize research topics, instead of Googling. (Link)

• Can ​​AI make the workplace an accident-free zone? (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• Shutterstock partners with NVIDIA to train custom 3D models and turn text prompts into 3D assets. (Link)

• Virtual entertainment company CribX partners with Polygon to bring the Film Crib virtual cinema chain, Retrogression Original film IP game, and more to the blockchain. (Link)

• MetaVerseBooks and BrainRap tech team up to launch a metaverse artist incubator and label, featuring tech transfers and asset swaps. (Link)

• Ecoark Holdings, Inc. changes its name to BitNile Metaverse, Inc. in an expansion move to a browser-based metaverse solution. (Link)

• Web3 platform Looking Glass Labs agrees to monetize GenZeroes Productions and the GenX smart contract. (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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