Latest News
Top Story
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.
Get Daily Updates
Subscribe to DailyAlts Today to get Alternative Investment news, insight, and commentary delivered straight to your inbox every day.
More Stories on Latest News
Digital Assets: Worldcoin Signups Double From January To Two Million
Worldcoin, a startup aiming to create a large identity and financial network, has reached two million sign-ups for its World ID system. The company has more than doubled its user base since January, and in less than half the time it took to reach the one million mark.
FinTech: U.S. Bank Teams With Rollick To Offer A Digital Marketplace For RVs And Boats
U.S. Bank has teamed up with customer engagement technology provider Rollick to revolutionize the process of purchasing recreational vehicles (RVs) and boats. Through their joint effort, they have introduced the U.S. Bank RV and Boat Marketplace, which offers a convenient and efficient buying experience for U.S. Bank customers and dealerships.
Artificial Intelligence: KPMG And Microsoft Ink $12B Multi-Year Cloud And AI Alliance
KPMG and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) have announced a partnership to invest over $2 billion in the development of cloud and generative AI tools over the next five years. This collaboration is significant as rival consulting giants like PwC and Accenture have also made substantial commitments to AI-powered advancements.
Artificial Intelligence: OpenAI Faces Class Action Suit From Sarah Silverman And Authors For Copyright Violation
Comedian Sarah Silverman, and novelists Richard Kadrey and Christopher Golden are suing ChatGPT creator OpenAI and Meta (NASDAQ: META), claiming the two AI entities used copyrighted content without permission for AI training purposes.
Fintech: Clair Scores $175 Million In Funding To Launch The First Free On-Demand Pay Solution
Fintech company Clair has secured $175 million in funding to launch a free, on-demand pay solution backed by an FDIC-insured bank. The program, called Pathward, allows front-line workers to take wage advances and provides access to Clair Spending and Savings Accounts.
Digital Assets: BlackRock’s Fink Expects The Bitcoin ETF To Revolutionize Finance
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink believes that a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) could level the playing field for investors and make cryptocurrency more accessible and affordable. In an interview, Fink expressed his hope that regulators would consider BlackRock’s application for a Bitcoin ETF as a means to democratize the crypto market.
Artificial Intelligence: Now, Use Salty Sally To Pay Back Pesky Telemarketers!
AI-driven chatbots can now be employed to consume the time of scammers and telemarketers. A particular chatbot, Salty Sally, now utilizes the advanced capabilities of ChatGPT-4, an AI language model developed by OpenAI. These chatbots, created by the Jolly Roger Telephone Company (JRTC), imitate engaged but confused respondents to frustrate and waste the time of unwanted callers.
Digital Assets: Spot Bitcoin Filings Are Inadequate, Says SEC
Bitcoin experienced a sudden drop in price, falling below $30,000, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deemed the ETF filings submitted by Nasdaq and Cboe on behalf of asset managers like BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) “inadequate.” The SEC stated that the filings lacked specific details, particularly concerning surveillance-sharing agreements and the Bitcoin spot exchanges the asset managers intended to partner with.
Venture Capital: Material Evolution Nabs $19M For Technology To Decarbonize Cement
Material Evolution: Cement is responsible for some 8% of global CO2 emissions. Material Evolution, an advanced materials company based in the UK, has raised €17.3 million (US$19 million) in Series A funding for its smart, low-carbon cement made from industrial waste streams. The funding will support the scaling of production for their breakthrough cement, which…
Artificial Intelligence: Inflection AI Raises $1.3B For Its “Personal AI” Chatbot Pi
Artificial intelligence startup Inflection AI, backed by Microsoft, Nvidia, and billionaires Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates, and Eric Schmidt, has raised $1.3 billion in funding, just two months after the launch of its first chatbot, Pi. The Palo Alto-based company, led by former DeepMind leader Mustafa Suleyman, is now valued at $4 billion and claims to possess the world’s best AI hardware setup.
Digital Assets: Ledger Launches Institutional Trading Network For Digital Assets
Ledger has announced its entry into the institutional trading technology market with the launch of Ledger Enterprise TRADELINK, which aims to provide a secure and regulation-friendly environment for institutional trading of digital assets.
FinTech: Investors Cheer Solid Growth From UK Fintech Wise
UK payments group Wise (LON: WISE) experienced a surge in its shares of more than 20% due to the expectation that rising interest rates will boost profits, compensating for a decline in customer transfers. Wise has benefited from increased interest income, with a significant rise in customers’ cash balances.
Digital Assets: The BlackRock ETF Filing; BTC At $30,298; Are The Stars Lining Up For Bitcoin?
A spate of positive news appears to have the bitcoin bulls up and running again. The plausible trigger is the innovative spot bitcoin ETF filing from BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) that the crypto market is hoping would get a green signal from the SEC. Enthusiastic bulls expect that to be a seminal event that could finally draw the curtains on the “crypto winter” that commenced in November 2021.
Venture Capital: Seedstars and Fondation Botnar Set Up $20M Fund For Young African Founders
Seedstars Capital and Fondation Botnar have partnered to launch the Seedstars Youth Wellbeing Ventures mandate. They plan to invest $20 million in early-stage companies that aim to improve the wellbeing of young people in low- and middle-income countries in Africa.
Artificial Intelligence: CEOs Fear AI’s Threat To Humanity (Yale CEO Survey)
A survey conducted at the Yale CEO Summit reveals that 42% of CEOs are concerned that artificial intelligence (AI) could destroy humanity in the next five to 10 years. However, the survey, which gathered responses from 119 CEOs across different industries, indicated a variation of views on the risks and opportunities associated with AI. (Mint)
Digital Assets: (CoinDesk Exclusive) BlackRock May File For A Bitcoin ETF
According to a reliable source, BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), the largest asset manager in the world, is on the verge of submitting an application for a Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund), CoinDesk reported. It is not yet clear, however, whether the proposed ETF is spot or futures-based.
Alternative Investments/ESG: Giant Finnish Pension Fund Ilmarinen Invests Nearly $3B In Climate ETFs
Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance, the Finnish pensions insurer, has significantly increased its collaboration with ETFs by investing €2.75 billion (US$2.97 billion) in climate-focused exchange-traded funds. The move reflects the company’s commitment to aligning its passive equities exposure with its climate goals. Ilmarinen, which manages a pension fund worth €57.5bn and provides pensions through private-sector employers, has become the anchor investor in two new climate-focused iShares ETFs launched by BlackRock in the US and Japan.
Artificial Intelligence: Churchgoers Enthusiastic About AI Church Service
In Bavaria, Germany, hundreds of Protestants attended a church service led by a ChatGPT chatbot. The AI-led service included prayer, music, sermons, and blessings. The event drew significant interest, with people forming a long queue outside the church before it started.
Digital Assets: Amidst Lira Slide, Rush For Stablecoin Tether In Turkey
People in Turkey are increasingly turning to the crypto market as a safe haven amidst the devaluation of the lira currency. Following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s election win, which caused market instability, local demand for Tether, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, surged and has remained high.
Venture Capital: Cohere AI Gets Investment From Top Tech Names
Toronto-based AI company Cohere has raised $270 million in a funding round led by Inovia Capital and featuring investors such as Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), Salesforce Ventures, and SentinelOne (NYSE: S). The funds will support Cohere’s language models used in chatbots, search engines, and other AI applications.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Denominated, AI-Powered Life Insurance Provider Meanwhile Raises $19M
Meanwhile, a digital asset-denominated life insurance provider, has secured approximately $19 million in funding from investors including Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, and Gradient Ventures, backed by Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL).
Artificial Intelligence: Andreessen Strikes Contrarian Stance On AI, Says It Will Save The World
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen recently published a lengthy essay discussing his views on artificial intelligence (AI) and the need to build and embrace it rather than succumb to fear and regulation. He emphasizes that AI is not sentient and lacks goals or intentions, debunking claims of AI posing an existential threat.
Venture Capital: Storied Venture Capital Firm Sequoia To Split Up In Three Units
In response to the increasingly complex geopolitical landscape and escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington, venture-capital giant Sequoia plans to separate its China and other Asia operations from its U.S. business.
Digital Assets: SEC Charges Binance And Its CEO Changpeng Zhao With Securities Violations
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Binance, the popular cryptocurrency exchange, as well as its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and Binance.US. The SEC alleges that Binance violated federal securities laws by offering unregistered securities, including the BNB token and Binance-linked BUSD stablecoin, to the public.