Gucci Town in Roblox is an interactive hub with mini-games, a virtual store, and even a cafe. The initiative comes on the heels of several other metaverse experiences from the brand, including a Gucci Garden which it launched last year. Users can play mini- games, go to a cafe, or purchase Gucci apparel from a virtual shop for their avatars.
The 22nd installment of the AI Index Report was released on Monday. The report measures the growing impact of AI in a number of ways, including private investment in AI. The goal of the report is to gather data about something you don't define. The first installment was published in 2017, but the report does not define what AI is.
Bob Iger has acquired a stake in Australian design company Canva. The former Disney CEO has also agreed to be an advisor to the closely held company. Canva raised money in September, valuing the company at $40 billion. The company has more than 75 million monthly users.
Metaverse is next on the internet, which utilises the open-source technical layer for building proprietary augmented spaces. Some of the critical security and safety concerns on metaverse are sexual harassment, discrimination, hate crimes, identity theft etc. While we have some legal frameworks to tackle concerns like sexual harassment and identity theft, it is unclear how they will apply to conduct and behaviour over metaverse.
Robots are turning up on more factory floors and assembly lines as companies struggle to hire enough workers to fill rising orders. Orders for workplace robots in the U.S. increased by a record 40% during the first quarter compared with the same period in 2021, according to the Association for Advancing Automation, the robotics industry’s trade group. Robot orders, worth $1.6 billion, climbed 22% in 2021, following years of stagnant or declining order volumes, the group said.
In recent years, venture capital funds have enjoyed a phenomenal run, recording an IRR of 30.5 per cent over three years. However, the gains were only on paper, which will become obvious when company valuations are marked down. This is the assessment of tech investors who have made an uncoordinated information campaign aimed at portfolio companies.
The Japanese conglomerate flagged its intention to accelerate a push into the auto industry in 2020 when it unveiled a prototype EV called the Vision-S. This year, it has launched an EV division and announced a joint venture with Honda to make cars.
Sony has now said it aims to provide the sensors crucial to EVs and autonomous vehicles, Sony expects to supply imaging sensors to 15 of the world’s top 20 global automakers by 2025, underscoring the company’s ambitions for electric vehicles and autonomous driving as it tries to diversify beyond mobile phones.
Prominent venture capital firms are telling their portfolio companies to start cutting costs and looking for ways to cushion their cash position. It’s a stark contrast to last year, when IPOs were raising record amounts of cash, valuations were sky high and venture firms’ wallets were wide open.
Y Combinator said companies have to “understand that the poor public market performance of tech companies significantly impacts VC investing.”
Just four months after electric vehicl manufacturer Tesla started accepting Dogecoin (DOGE) for merchandise purchases, Elon Musk announced his plan to extend the payment option for his space exploration company, SpaceX. Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has been a staunch supporter of the DOGE ecosystem since 2019 and has since publicly revealed interest in accepting memecoin payments across his multibillion-dollar enterprises.
Alibaba BABA Group Holding Ltd. posted the slowest revenue growth for the second straight quarter. The Chinese e-commerce giant said challenges from Covid-19 outbreaks are severely cutting into its business across China. Alibaba said that since mid-March, it has seen broad impact from supply-chain and logistics disruptions.
Ford has started delivering the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck to retail and fleet customers. The electric pickup trucks are needed to accelerate EV adoption in the US, because of how big the pickup segment is in the country. This year, production is expected to be limited to about 40,000 units.