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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, aims to secure $1 billion in equity financing to compete with industry leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. The company, co-founded by Musk, has already garnered $135 million from investors, as revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Alternative Investments/ESG: Franklin Templeton Launches ETF Focused On Emerging Market Debt, Catholic Principles, And Sustainability
Franklin Templeton has launched the Catholic Principles Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt Ucits ETF. It will invest in both euro and dollar denominated sovereign debt issued by emerging market countries, but with an emphasis on Catholic principles and values. The ETF listed on the Deutsche Boerse, the Borsa Italiana, and the London Stock Exchange.
FinTech: Klarna’s Valuation Plunges To $6.5B In Talks To Raise $650M (WSJ)
Klarna, the Swedish fintech known for its buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) financial product, is negotiating to raise $650 million at a valuation of $6.5 billion, which is a very sharp comedown from the $45.6 billion tag in a June 2021 funding round led by SoftBank Group.
Digital Assets: Grayscale Protests SEC Rejection Of Spot Bitcoin ETF, Files Suit Against Regulator
Grayscale Investments, the largest digital asset manager globally, has filed a suit against the SEC for rejecting its application to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a spot bitcoin ETF. Donald B Verrilli Jr., former U.S. Solicitor General, and a top lawyer for the Obama administration, whom Grayscale hired early this month, filed a petition for review with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Amidst A Crypto Winter, 21Shares Launches The World’s Cheapest Physically Backed Bitcoin ETP
21Shares AG has launched a bitcoin ETP tailor-made for today’s crypto market, one that has been mauled by rampaging bears and gripped by a “crypto winter.” The 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP (CBTC), which started trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange effective Wednesday, is claimed to be the lowest cost physically-backed Bitcoin ETP in the world.
Venture Capital: Entrepreneur First Raises $158M From Crème de la Crème Of Tech, Including Stripe Founders
Entrepreneur First, the UK-based VC firm run like a startup, has raised a $158 million Series C round at a valuation of $560 million. Known for its unorthodox (but highly successful) approach to selecting founders to back, Entrepreneur First’s portfolio covering over 500 companies has already generated over $10 billion in value.
Digital Assets: High Profile Casualty Of The Crypto Meltdown – Hedge Fund Three Arrows In Liquidation
A report by Sky News claims that crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) has been forced into liquidation as a result of a court order in the British Virgin Islands. The report said that global consulting firm Teneo has been entrusted with the insolvency process of 3AC.
Digital Assets: Goldman Sachs Downgrades Coinbase To Sell In Another Body Blow To Cryptos
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) analysts, led by Will Nance, have downgraded Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) from a Neutral rating to Sell. The analysts said they were concerned about the relentless decline in the prices of crypto assets, as well as the falling levels of activity in their market. As a result, the analysts slashed their price target for COIN from $70 per share to $45.
Artificial Intelligence: An Israeli AI-Based System Can See Through Walls
Israel-based Camero Tech, has a range of “See-Through-The-Wall” (STTW) systems that use ultra-wideband (UWB) radar sensors, sophisticated signal and image processing, smart image reconstruction, together with AI to construct a real-time, high resolution, 3D image that presents what happens on the other side of the wall in a reliable manner. Systems such as the Xaver 1000 are a boon for armed forces, law enforcement agencies, intelligence operators, and first responders.
Digital Assets: Three Arrows Capital Served Default Notice, Says Voyager Digital
Voyager Digital (TSE: VOYG) announced today that its operating subsidiary, Voyager Digital LLC, had issued a notice of default to Three Arrows Capital for failure to make the required payments on its loan of 15,250 BTC and $350 million USDC.
Venture Capital/ESG: Brookfield Raises Mammoth $15B Fund Focused On The Climate Transition To Net Zero
Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) announced the final close of its $15 billion Brookfield Global Transition Fund, receiving investments from institutions and private wealth channels including public and private pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments and foundations, financial institutions, and family offices. The fund saw solid demand significantly beyond its initial hard cap and the final fund size was oversubscribed. Brookfield itself is the largest investor in the Fund.
Artificial Intelligence: GM Buys Stake In UVeye For Its AI Vehicle Inspection Systems
In a move to incorporate AI into the somewhat tedious and error-prone manual vehicle inspections, GM (NYSE: GM) has taken a stake in UVeye, an Israeli startup creating vehicle inspection systems that incorporate proprietary algorithms, cloud architecture, artificial intelligence, machine learning and sensor-fusion technologies.
Digital Assets: Contagion? Voyager Digital Slashes Withdrawal Limits From $25K To $10K
Voyager Digital (TSE: VOYG) is reeling from the potential $660 million default on its exposure to crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd comprising 15,250 Bitcoin and $350 million of stablecoin USDC. In a move likely to further dampen the already battered sentiment in the crypto market, Voyager announced Thursday it was lowering its daily withdrawal limits to $10,000 from $25,000. Voyager revealed Wednesday that it may have to issue a default notice to Three Arrows for failure to repay its loan. Shares fell 51% in Toronto trading after the notice became public.
Venture Capital: Nuclear Fusion Startup Zap Energy Achieves First Plasmas; Nabs $160M
Zap Energy , a Seattle-based startup aiming to achieve commercially viable nuclear fusion and fusion generated energy through a quicker and dramatically lower capital intensive approach, has raised a $160 million Series C round led by Lowercarbon Capital. New investors coming aboard included Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Shell Ventures, DCVC and Valor Equity Partners. Existing investors Addition, Energy Impact Partners and Chevron Technology Ventures also participated.
Alternative Investments/Digital: ProShares Will Debut A Short Bitcoin ETF This Week
Bitcoin has already lost about 70% from its all time high of $68,789 touched in November 2021. But as they say – better late than never. ProShares is likely to launch the first US short bitcoin ETF, the ProShares Short Bitcoin Strategy, on Tuesday, allowing investors to take a punt on a decline in the…
FinTech: Klarna Facing A Down Round, May Raise $500M To $1B
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Klarna, the fintech company famous for its ‘buy-now-pay-later’ product, is in talks to raise funding at a valuation of $15 billion, nearly a third of its 2021 valuation of $46 billion.
FinTech: Mambu’s Technology To Drive Commonwealth Bank’s New Digital Mortgage
SaaS cloud banking platform Mambu will power the new, next-gen digital mortgage brand, Unloan, by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), the country’s largest bank. Unloan is a highly innovative product for the Australian mortgage industry launched in May 2022. It provides loan refinancing applications in as little as 10 minutes and a discount that increases every year for up to 30 years.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Analysis Of Israeli Artifacts Shows Humans Used Fire Over 800,000 Years Ago
AI has helped researchers from the University of Toronto, the Weizmann Institute of Science and Hebrew University establish that ancient humans, or hominins, used fire at least 800,000 years ago at an archaeological site in Western Israel.
Digital Assets: Coinbase To Axe 18% Jobs; Downgraded By JPMorgan
Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) on Tuesday informed employees by email that it would cut 18% of jobs, which would amount to roughly 1,100 people considering it employs about 5,000 people. The company is the largest US crypto exchange and its share price has slid sharply since its IPO last year. Year to date, the stock has lost 79%, and since November, the crypto market has also entered a vicious downturn.
Digital Assets: BlockFi And Crypto.com Forced To Cut Jobs Amidst Crypto Market Crash
In more signs of pain in the crypto assets market, already in the throes of a massive downtrend, two major players have announced job reductions. While crypto lending platform BlockFi Inc. said Monday that it will slash staff count by a fifth, digital currency exchange Crypto.com announced Friday that it was cutting jobs by 5%. Meanwhile, bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, is currently trading at $22,592, its lowest price since December 2020.
Digital Assets: Celsius Bars Withdrawals; Cryptos Melt; Bitcoin Crashes To $23,662
Controversial crypto lender Celsius blocks all withdrawals, transfers, swaps citing “extreme market conditions.” In a “Memo to the Celsius Community,” issued today, crypto lending platform Celsius, which has lent out more than $8 billion to clients, wrote: “Due to extreme market conditions, today we are announcing that Celsius is pausing all withdrawals, Swap, and transfers…
Digital Assets: Terraform Labs Under SEC Lens For Alleged Investor Protection Violations
A Bloomberg report on Thursday said the US SEC was investigating Do Kwon-led Terraform Labs, which backed the TerraUSD stablecoin (UST), for violations of statutory regulations that protected investors. The UST stablecoin crashed after it lost its 1-1 peg to the US dollar due to a shock decline in the related Luna token and a failure of the algorithm that was supposed to maintain the peg.
Artificial Intelligence: Prism Courage, Hyundai’s Ultra-Large LNG Carrier, Crosses The Pacific Autonomously
Avikus, a Hyundai (KRX: 005380) subsidiary focussed on autonomous navigation solutions, and SK Shipping announced on June 2 that the PRISM COURAGE, a 180,000 square-meter-class ultra-large LNG carrier had completed a roughly a 10,000 kilometer ocean voyage autonomously. The ship was equipped with HiNAS 2.0, Avikus’ Level 2 autonomous navigation solution.
Digital Assets: As SEC’s Spot ETF Decision Looms, Grayscale Brings On The Heavy Legal Artillery
Grayscale has hired Donald B. Verrilli Jr., former U.S. Solicitor General, for the eventuality that the SEC rejects its application to convert its flagship $19.8 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot-based ETF. Grayscale Investments is hunkering down for a possible legal battle with the SEC in the event the regulator rejects its spot…
Artificial Intelligence: Autonomous Ship Mayflower Crosses The Atlantic
The present-day Mayflower, completely unmanned and driven by artificial intelligence, completed its transatlantic journey, which commenced at England five weeks ago, at Halifax, Nova Scotia, instead of the Massachusetts coast where the Pilgrims landed. Though the AI ran flawlessly there were some mechanical problems, said an engineer from IBM (NYSE: IBM) which helped to build it.