Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Coinbase offering custody, trading, and financing to a majority of bitcoin ETF issuers, including BlackRock, poses concentration risk and may intensify scrutiny (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Coinbase offering custody, trading, and financing to a majority of bitcoin ETF issuers, including BlackRock, poses concentration risk and may intensify scrutiny  —  - Coinbase provides custody, trading, financing for ETF issuers  — Arrangements pose concentration risk, may intensify scrutiny



A PwC survey of 4,702 CEOs ahead of Davos: 25% expect generative AI to lead to up to 5% headcount cuts, 46% expect GenAI to boost profits in 12 months, and more (Sam Fleming/Financial Times)

Sam Fleming / Financial Times:
A PwC survey of 4,702 CEOs ahead of Davos: 25% expect generative AI to lead to up to 5% headcount cuts, 46% expect GenAI to boost profits in 12 months, and more  —  Impact of cutting-edge AI tools on work and society set to dominate discussions at World Economic Forum in Davos



Vodafone and Microsoft agree to a 10-year, $1.5B deal to develop AI, digital payments, IoT, and other businesses; Vodafone will use OpenAI for customer service (Thomas Seal/Bloomberg)

Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:
Vodafone and Microsoft agree to a 10-year, $1.5B deal to develop AI, digital payments, IoT, and other businesses; Vodafone will use OpenAI for customer service  —  - Microsoft also plans to invest in Vodafone's IoT spinout  — Vodafone will also use OpenAI technology in $1.5 billion deal



Monday, January 15, 2024

After NFT sales dropped 63% YoY to $8.7B in 2023, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer talks OpenSea 2.0, set to offer improved differentiation between NFT categories (Hannah Miller/Bloomberg)

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
After NFT sales dropped 63% YoY to $8.7B in 2023, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer talks OpenSea 2.0, set to offer improved differentiation between NFT categories  —  - NFTs have lagged behind Bitcoin in crypto resurgence  — OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said more use cases for NFTs are here



Apple's September 2023 change to how its Podcasts app automatically downloaded episodes has dramatically curtailed download numbers for some podcasts (Max Tani/Semafor)

Max Tani / Semafor:
Apple's September 2023 change to how its Podcasts app automatically downloaded episodes has dramatically curtailed download numbers for some podcasts  —  Apple has quietly tightened its reporting of how many people listen to podcasts, sending shock waves through an embattled audio industry still reeling …



Switzerland-based SoftwareOne, which advises companies on cloud strategies, rejects Bain's $3.5B takeover, ending months of back-and-forth; SWON.SW drops 10%+ (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Switzerland-based SoftwareOne, which advises companies on cloud strategies, rejects Bain's $3.5B takeover, ending months of back-and-forth; SWON.SW drops 10%+  —  - Bain had offered the equivalent of 18.8 Swiss francs per share  — Company has been in negotiations with Bain for several months



How some artists are incorporating Dall-E, Midjourney, and other AI tools into their work, while others remain anxious about AI's impact on their livelihoods (Emma Park/Financial Times)

Emma Park / Financial Times:
How some artists are incorporating Dall-E, Midjourney, and other AI tools into their work, while others remain anxious about AI's impact on their livelihoods  —  Forward-thinking designers are willing to embrace the technology — without relinquishing human creativity's central role



Sunday, January 14, 2024

How dye-sensitized solar cells, which are lightweight, bendable, and manufactured cheaply, can capture light indoors to charge small gadgets like headphones (Christopher Mims/Wall Street Journal)

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
How dye-sensitized solar cells, which are lightweight, bendable, and manufactured cheaply, can capture light indoors to charge small gadgets like headphones  —  Indoor solar power technology is finally becoming available; Some devices no longer need batteries at all



Documents show Turkey told ISPs to block access to 16 VPN services, fueling concerns of the government stifling news and information before elections in March (Adam Samson/Financial Times)

Adam Samson / Financial Times:
Documents show Turkey told ISPs to block access to 16 VPN services, fueling concerns of the government stifling news and information before elections in March  —  New controls on VPNs underline ErdoÄŸan's moves to curb freedom of information  —  Turkey is tightening its censorship …



Sources detail the Vision Pro's in-store sales process, which includes extensive fitting and calibration and an employee-guided demo lasting up to 25 minutes (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources detail the Vision Pro's in-store sales process, which includes extensive fitting and calibration and an employee-guided demo lasting up to 25 minutes  —  The company is preparing an extensive sales pitch for the $3,499 device, including a demo lasting as long as 25 minutes.



OpenAI's GPT Store debut is reminiscent of Facebook Platform's 2007 launch, which allowed Facebook to use third-party developers' products to boost stickiness (David Karpf/The Atlantic)

David Karpf / The Atlantic:
OpenAI's GPT Store debut is reminiscent of Facebook Platform's 2007 launch, which allowed Facebook to use third-party developers' products to boost stickiness  —  The immediate future of generative AI looks a bit like Facebook's past.  —  ChatGPT has certainly captured the world's imagination since its release at the end of 2022.



Docs: Israeli AI chip startup Hailo is pursuing an urgent IPO via a SPAC merger at a valuation of less than $500M; it was last valued at $1.2B in 2024 (Meir Orbach/CTech)

Meir Orbach / CTech : Docs: Israeli AI chip startup Hailo is pursuing an urgent IPO via a SPAC merger at a valuation of less than $500M; ...