Salesforce hops on AI train w/ $250M fund & Einstein GPT

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1/ Salesforce and its venture arm latest to join AI craze

It may not be Microsoft’s $10B investment into OpenAI, but CRM giant Salesforce nonetheless makes a bid for generative AI as its venture arm Salesforce Ventures launches a brand-new $250M generative AI fund for promising startups.

At the TrailblazerDX developer conference, the company announced its initial investment in AI firms Anthropic, Cohere, Hearth.AI, and You.com.

In its continued push in the AI blitz, Salesforce also announced the launch of Einstein GPT, which adds ChatGPT-like actions across its platform:

• Einstein GPT is dubbed as the world’s first generative AI for CRM.

• Salesforce has had an underlying intelligence layer called Einstein since 2016, helping sales teams find customers who are most likely to buy or churn.

• What’s the difference with Einstein GPT? It’s more content-oriented, helping business users auto-generate text as well as code and images for faster customer response and transactions.

Who’s next to make the big AI move is worth watching, as tech giants and VCs continue to pour money and attention into AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E.

2/ Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda stepping down after 10-year run

After a decade of being at the helm of the video game publisher known for Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Star Ocean, and Kingdom Hearts RPG franchises, the fate of Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda now lies in shareholders’ hands leading up to the board’s decision in June.

The shakeup that might see Takashi Kiryu replacing Matsuda, according to a Square Enix statement, is made to “reshape the management team” and adapt to “deliver even greater entertainment” to its customers.

This, as the gaming giant grappled with Babylon's Fall’s poor performance and attempt into live-service games with Marvel’s Avengers.

To his credit, Matsuda forged ahead with Square Enix’s blockchain and metaverse plans, including incorporating NFTs into their new releases and developing multiple blockchain games based on original IPs.

3/ Yuga Labs’ Otherside metaverse to launch second trip on March 25

Yuga Labs is back with a bang, announcing its second test of the gamified Otherside metaverse platform set to take place on March 25.

The Otherside metaverse platform is a futuristic, virtual world that the Bored Ape Yacht Club parent company has been developing, and the upcoming test is a significant milestone in the platform's development. Here’s the promise:

• The event is open to holders of Otherdeed NFTs, which are linked to land in the as-of-yet unreleased Otherside metaverse. Users, referred to as a “voyager,” have the chance to explore Otherside and interact with the platform's features.

• A massive two-hour live narrative experience that can accommodate up to 10,000 users on a first-come-first-serve basis.

• Non-holders can also watch a live stream of the event on Yuga Labs’ YouTube channel.

4/ Metaverse ushering in the next generation of mental healthcare services

Virtual reality is making a splash in healthcare, especially in mental health support. Amid the pandemic, VR is proving to be a great way to provide remote assistance to those in need.

But it isn’t just about one-on-one therapy. Metaverse-based sessions are also being explored to help people tap into a community offering a sense of belonging, support, and a safe space.

A new player here is Innerword, a metaverse peer-to-peer mental health support group program launched by CEO Noah Robinson and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and chief strategy officer Jewel.

Connectivity, as it’s inherently built into virtual environments, proves key to better mental healthcare. “This helps people open up more and be more vulnerable, which in turn leads to faster healing,” as Robinson puts it.

🏃‍♂️ Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• Web3 firm Ready Player Me integrates avatars for the game Mini Royale: Nations, promises avatar interoperability for current and future metaverse users. (Link)

• Kids are paying the price for Meta’s inability to police the metaverse: the moderation strategy is deemed by experts risky for those exposed to bigotry and harassment in Horizon Worlds. (Link)

• Blockchain game ARDONA raises awareness of global warming with players fighting for oxygen in a post-apocalyptic metaverse. (Link)

• Increased game-driven immersive experiences are changing the rules of industry, technology, and skill sets for the future. (Link)

• RobotEra is a new and upcoming metaverse that’s all about sci-fi and robots, following a premise similar to MineCraft. (Link)

• From The Last of Us to Mario, here are seven potential collaborations that Fortnite can bring into the metaverse. (Link)

• MetaShooter and GamePhylum join forces to develop a web3 hunting game offering P2E game rewards. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• Michael Kors on why his brand is not sold in the metaverse: “I still get a thrill from the rustle of tissue paper in a shopping bag. I don’t want just a box arriving.” (Link)

• Web3 virtual fashion leader DressX will offer new wearables tied to its Genesis hat NFT for holders attending the Metaverse Fashion Week. (Link)

• Victoria’s Secret, which in 2022 filed several trademarks for its metaverse plans, brings back its iconic fashion show after a four-year hiatus. (Link)

• Next-Gen Lens is a 2023 Gen Z-oriented aesthetic influenced by digital-first platforms like TikTok and the metaverse. (Link)

• Meet meta-human Zesande, the world's first virtual influencer to live life in 24 hours as more brands experiment with virtual realities like the metaverse. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• Athlete-verified fan token platform Blockasset builds its service on the Chiliz Chain blockchain from parent company Chiliz, which as part of the migration will take a stake in Blockasset. (Link)

• Fight Out aims to lead the move-to-earn (M2E) cryptocurrency niche by becoming the first platform to pay users for exercising. (Link)

• Dexsport, a web3 platform for sports betting, announces the launch of a new pool for sports betting in BNB Chain – USDT. (Link)

• Global BIG3 league snags the Best in Web3 award by Sports Business Journal for its Forever Experience Action Tokens (FEATs), which leverage blockchain to offer ownership-like benefits in the BIG3’s teams. (Link)

• D2C streaming platform OneFootball has recruited ex-Meta exec Rhys Beer to the role of SVP of platform and content. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Unstoppable women of web3 is out to provide web3 and metaverse education to 6 million African women. (Link)

• Hollywood is jumping on the NFT bandwagon, investing in the metaverse and virtual entertainers to show off their stars' creativity and make a mint off the latest trends. (Link)

• K-pop group TWICE charms fans with TWICE Square, a Roblox fan hub where fans can play mini games, collect digital items, and more. (Link)

• What kind of mischief could fraudsters be up to in the metaverse? (Link)

• Thailand’s entertainment giant T&B Media Global is betting on its Translucia Metaverse to generate 1 trillion baht in economic value by 2030. (Link)

• Anu Puvvada recognizes that designing for diversity in the metaverse is essential to unlock its full potential: increased revenue, diverse workforce, and happy investors. (Link)

🖼 Art

• Via visual artist Mat Collishaw’s Heterosis, users can breed and collect dynamic NFTs of digital flowers in virtual London's National Gallery. (Link)

• As contemporary society continues to digitize, life in the metaverse raises the same timeless questions about what happens after death. (Link)

• Exchange.Art, the team behind Solana, is leveraging generative art through its new marketplace seeking to attract creators native to Ethereum and Tezos. (Link)

• Debbie Soon, co-founder of social curator HUG, has a simple solution for web3 inclusivity: ditch the "bro, dude, ser" language and start actively inviting women to join the conversation. (Link)

• Top art-focused NFT platform Foundation unveils its new curator tool, Editions. (Link)

🤖 AI

• On International Women's Day, MissJourney launches an AI alternative to break the gender bias. (Link)

• With the rise of AI, “laptop class” workers are at risk of being replaced by technology. (Link)

• Israel-based Hailo seeks to up the edge AI processing game for smart cameras. (Link)

• What’s AI - and what’s not? (Link)

• Carmakers can spend $3B on a single design, and AI and machine learning models can streamline the process. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• Soccer superstar Lionel Messi backs web3 soccer game startup Matchday in its fresh $21M funding round. (Link)

• Animoca Brands Japan invests in Delaware-based Rainshine Global Inc., a content creator using advanced AR/VR & metaverse tech to engage worldwide. (Link)

• Crypto payroll startup Toku raises $20M in a funding round led by Blockchain Capital. (Link)

• Sports community platform Stadium Live, known as The Sports Metaverse, raises $10M in a Series A round. (Link)

• Web3 startup nealthy raises $1.3M in pre-seed funding in its bid to streamline and democratize access to NFTs and crypto investments. (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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