OpenAI CEO heads to Washington

🔮 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.

Subscribe to Metaproof Fashion

Emerging tech trends like AI, VR, and web3 are disrupting the fashion world at breakneck speeds.

Once a week, the Metaproof team will break down the top stories, feature expert Q&A’s, and serve up the hottest links tracking tech’s impact on the fashion industry.

✨ Top Picks

The Future, today. In just 3 minutes.

1/ OpenAI chief to testify before Congress as concerns grow about artificial intelligence risks (Link)

CEO Sam Altman is set to speak at a Senate hearing, testifying before lawmakers amid the call for new rules to guide AI’s rapid development.

Fast facts around this news:

• There's no immediate sign that the US Congress will craft sweeping new AI rules like the EU does, but concerns around AI have brought Altman and other tech leaders to the White House earlier in May and have got US agencies committing to crack down on harmful AI products affecting civil rights and consumer protection.

• Also testifying are IBM chief privacy and trust officer Christina Montgomery and NYU professor emeritus Gary Marcus, one of the AI experts who called on OpenAI and other tech firms to pause their AI model development to consider the risks.

• This month, Altman plans to embark on a worldwide tour to national capitals and major cities across 6 continents to talk about AI with policymakers and the public.

Altman and other tech CEOs earlier welcomed some form of AI oversight but warn against what could be overly heavy-handed rules.

2/ Super League Gaming raises $23.8M to fund growth initiatives (Link)

Metaverse gaming company Super League Gaming announces it has closed $23.8M from selling convertible preferred stock, attracting new and existing investors and bound to use the funds to settle debt, fund ongoing operations, and finance growth projects.

Operating a network of metaverse games and game monetization tools across multiple platforms, Super League Gaming makes this latest move to support its “long-term growth strategy.”

The fundraising comes at a time when the metaverse appears to be at a crossroads, with Meta’s metaverse ambitions seemingly parked in favor of AI and other tech giants’ related initiatives on hold.

The gaming firm, which has established itself as a leading game publisher in web3 platforms like The Sandbox and Decentraland, offers products that can be found in some of the leading traditional gaming platforms including Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite.

3/ China’s CMGE and Microsoft cooperate to introduce GPT technology for gaming (Link)

Chinese mobile game developer CMGE has signed a cloud service framework agreement with Microsoft, paving the way for extensive cooperation in the realms of cloud computing, Big Data, Azure OpenAI, and other information tech.

AI is at the forefront of this collaboration, as CMGE believes it can enhance output efficiency by 20% to 30% and reduce costs by 30% to 40%.

The first game to benefit from this collaboration is CMGE's open-world martial arts metaverse game Sword & Fairy World, for which Microsoft's GPT tech will be localized and deployed, customizing and optimizing the training of a large language model.

4/ Amazon is hiring AI engineers to build a ChatGPT-like search interface (Link)

Amazon is set to improve its web store search feature by introducing a ChatGPT-like interface, offering an interactive conversational experience. The company’s posted job listings reveal these plans and seek out experts in the space.

Another job listing for a "Sr SDE, ML, Amazon Search" position provides further insight, highlighting the new search initiative.

5/ BlockGPT launches ‘chat to earn’ ecosystem for training AI (Link)

Amid a flurry of activity in the AI and token spaces, web3 company BlockGPT launched its "chat to earn" AI service and blockchain ecosystem on May 11.

It seeks to create a decentralized, token-governed chatbot on the blockchain with similar functionality to OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Some of its key features include:

• BlockGPT also offers a "chat to earn" reward system that will allow users to earn NFTs and token prizes for engaging in chat sessions with the AI model.

• The company is employing 6+ generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) models on the platform trained using a proprietary dataset, which in effect makes BlockGPT capable of comprehending and answering an extensive range of questions related to blockchain.

🏃‍♂️ Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• The Undeads metaverse enters gameFi with its gameplay-first web3 game backed by the BAYC community. (Link)

• Chinese mobile game maker CMGE’s open-world martial arts metaverse game Sword & Fairy World localizes and deploys Microsoft GPT tech. (Link)

• This makeup brand takes the awareness of LGBTQIA+ bullying to the online gaming world. (Link)

• Gaming and entertainment studio Orange Comet discloses upcoming gaming titles: Final Stardust (May 18), Degens & Dragons (May 31), and The Walking Dead: Lands (June 8). (Link)

• Tamadoge launches its new website in its bid for a new era of immersive web3 gaming experiences. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• Urban Decay's Eye-Con debuts on Roblox and lets gamers update their avatars with limited-ed virtual make-up looks. (Link)

• Today in AI-generated images: Air Jordan toilets send the internet into a frenzy. (Link)

• “We are building toward a future where we imagine the digitization of everything, the convergence of fashion with entertainment and the metaverse.” - Simon Kim, CEO of CLO Virtual Fashion. (Link)

• 1st look: limited web3 edition RACING SHOE5 sneakers by Renault. (Link)

• Fashion apparel brand Scotch & Soda taps Nogin’s Intelligent Commerce tech and services to power its D2C segment. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• The NFL makes one playoff game an exclusive for streaming service Peacock, featuring 2 teams facing off in primetime on Jan 13, 2024. (Link)

• Web3 tech firm OKX and Manchester City women’s player Alex Greenwood unveil 3 NFT trainers in the metaverse. (Link)

• Metro Esports and NY-based radio Hot 97 offer a new virtual world offering “an immersive, wraparound experience for people who love gaming and hip-hop.” (Link)

• In a new crossover, chess video game Immortal Game and electronic musicians Polo & Pan put a lively new twist on the 1,500-year-old board game. (Link)

• Southampton FC's Future of Football program picks teams focused on sport performance and fan engagement for future collaboration. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Tom Hanks predicts AI will bring him back from the dead in movies posthumously. (Link)

• Hybe, K-pop giant of BTS fame, launches AI-backed artist Midnatt in multiple languages. (Link)

• Midnatt sings fluently in 6 languages. His secret? Voice AI. (Link)

• At this year’s Webby Awards, host Roy Wood Jr. riffed on topics as Chinese spy balloons, the metaverse, and AI-generated music. (Link)

• As the metaverse unfolds, Facebook showcases its AI advances. (Link)

• Federal appeals court rejects Elon Musk's bid to revise his 2018 fraud settlement with the SEC. (Link)

• Music Metaverse Token ($MMT) is a crypto hoping to change the way fans access live music events. (Link)

🖼 Art

• The New School’s Parsons School of Design displays digital fashion designed for Roblox. (Link)

• Artist Jack Butcher to release his digital and physical generative works within the Checks Elements collection via Christie’s. (Link)

• Not even NYT bestsellers are safe from AI cover art; AI-generated Adobe Stock image graces the UK cover of Sarah J. Maas' new novel. (Link)

• Gary Vaynerchuk’s VeeCon brings together celebrities, business leaders, and NFTs to downtown Indianapolis. (Link)

• The Mechafightclub NFT game is “paused indefinitely” due to US regulations. (Link)

• LG patents Smart TV with blockchain tech for NFT trading. (Link)

🤖 AI

• Amazon plans to add ChatGPT-Style search to its online store. (Link)

• Is ChatGPT creator OpenAI about to release an open-source AI model? (Link)

• Why resist cynicism and fear about AI. (Link)

• Here’s what it looks like when AI defines the “ideal body type” per social media. (Link)

• AI Chatbot Claude AI develops a set of ethical principles through a “constitution” - and can handle prompts the size of a book. (Link)

• EU lawmakers approve the EU’s AI Act, making it closer to becoming law. What’s up ahead? (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• Super League Gaming raises $23.8M to fund growth initiatives. (Link)

• Italy allocates funds to shield workers from AI replacement threat. (Link)

• StudioNow and Creatorlnx by FTR partner to create an AI-powered creative community and marketplace. (Link)

• AI/ML research and tech provider Quantum Ventura Inc. harnesses BrainChip’s Akida tech to develop cyber threat-detection tools. (Link)

• AI-powered crypto signals firm yPredict surpasses $1M in fundraising. (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.