Amazon's $4B cheque 👀 & Chatty ChatGPT 🗣️👂
Amazon invests $4B in Anthropic AI startup. ChatGPT learns to speak. Minecraft told its fan server to ditch Bitcoin. HTX turns foes into employees? And NASA is taking us #tothemoon.
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The AI world is getting so real.
Guess who else realised it? Amazon.
But wait, before that: ChatGPT can now not just chat, but listen, speak, and see images.
OpenAI's been stirring the AI pot, and their latest offering is ChatGPT with a sprinkling of vision and a dash of voice.
Launched on September 25th, the chatbot got a nifty upgrade, allowing users to have conversations with it.
Thanks to training by professional voice actors, GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 can now catch spoken queries and hit back with responses in one of five different vibes...uh, voices.
ChatGPT's cool new tricks
OpenAI teased some new features in their latest blog post.
Travelling and spot a cool landmark? Snap it, and chat with ChatGPT about it.
Stumped about dinner plans? Take a pic of your pantry, and you can even get a recipe suggestion.
Kids stuck on math homework? Click a photo, circle the problem, and get some hints.
They say👇🏻
The upgraded ChatGPT will soon roll out for Plus and Enterprise users on mobile platforms, with others getting in on the action shortly after.
More from OpenAI's magic hat
OpenAI is clearly on a roll. On top of the ChatGPT update, they introduced DALL-E 3, an ace at conjuring up images.
The cherry on top? DALL-E 3 can integrate with ChatGPT to help create image prompts, making it even cooler.
What's Amazon doing?
Amazon is diving deep into the AI realm with a whopping $4 billion investment in Anthropic, the AI hotshot.
Why? A joint mission to whip up some high-performing foundation models.
What's in it for both sides?
Amazon's cash splash isn't just for show; they're handing over access to their top-tier Amazon Web Services Trainium and Inferentia chips.
In return, Anthropic's all set to boost Amazon Bedrock (which churns out those fancy foundation models) by offering some swanky "secure model customisation and fine-tuning" perks for businesses.
Plus, Amazon teams get the green light to use Bedrock and build atop Anthropic's brainy models.
Oh, and a little side note: Amazon's also securing a "minority stake" in Anthropic, but Anthropic insists this isn't muddling its governance game.
Anthropic's origins
Anthropic was formed by ex-members of Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the brains behind ChatGPT.
Anthropic received a $100 million investment from South Korean giant SK Telecom in August.
They partnered to develop a multilingual large language model for SK Telecom's AI platform.
Anthropic is part of the "Frontier Model Forum" with tech giants like Google and Microsoft for self-regulating AI development.
Anthropic participated in US-led AI initiatives, including a cybersecurity challenge to bolster "critical infrastructure".
How FTX fits into the puzzle
Last November, before its financial tumble, FTX had reportedly dished out $500 million on Anthropic, as per Financial Times.
Now, with Amazon entering the Anthropic arena, there's chatter that Anthropic's valuation could skyrocket.
That's potentially good news for FTX's investment.
Trader Sunil Kavuri, who claims a staggering loss of $2.1 million from FTX's fall says:
For now, FTX has hit the pause button on selling its Anthropic stake, as Bloomberg reported in June.
But with this new investment twist, John J. Ray III, FTX's head honcho, might just revisit that Anthropic stash to juice up the company's assets.
Jared Gianatasio, a partner at law firm Kleinberg Kaplan.
“Time will tell whether the impact on FTX creditors will be meaningful, but I think what is clear is that the value of this asset has appreciated with the increased focus on AI technology.”
Now read what in AI is Microsoft up to - here
TTD Numbers 🔢
$3.9 million
In September 2023, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin's associated wallet made several transactions totalling over $3.9 million.
Here's the breakdown:
On Sept. 25, 400 ETH was sent to Coinbase, which was:
Worth an estimated $632,000.
Between Sept. 15 and Sept. 19:
321 ETH was deposited to Kraken.
On Sept. 17 and Sept. 20:
A total of 1,700 ETH was sent over to Bitstamp in several transactions.
On Sept. 19:
500 ETH was transferred to Paxos.
According to Spot On Chain, from Sept. 15 onwards, Buterin's estimated deposits were:
A total of 2,421 ETH valued at $3.94 million.
Another notable transfer:
2,000 ETH (worth $4.9 million) shifted between wallets tied to Buterin.
Addresses in Play
A "better-known address" (0xD04daa65144b97F147fbc9a9B45E741dF0A28fd7) associated with Buterin was identified by Spot On Chain.
This address is different from the middleman address (0x5567A4bE2D5b77F5Fd870f99Ed9167Feab8831B1) that's been doing the exchange transfers.
Another transaction to remember
On Aug. 21, a 600 ETH transaction (valued at $1 million) was made from the vitalik.eth address.
Trader makes a killing
$10 million
That’s the profit a trader clocked overnight.
How big? A 46,000% return kind of big. Their $22,000 risk turned into a staggering $10 million windfall overnight.
Or was it insider trading.
Just a day before Cisco Systems dropped the news of scooping up cybersecurity firm Splunk for $28 billion, this trader bet big on Splunk.
Whispers of insider trading are swirling. If there's a hint of truth to the rumour, the trader might find out that all that glitters isn't gold.
The cost of Goldman Sachs' paperwork flub
$6 million
Maybe they should've hired that HTX hacker?
What happened? Goldman Sachs, finds itself $6 million poorer, courtesy of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Over ten years, Goldman apparently had a rough time getting their paperwork straight, sending over 22,000 submissions with errors or omissions in trading info.
To add to their woes, their internal checks and balances didn't quite check out. Some insiders think the SEC's magnifying glass over Goldman might be due to the bank's recent crypto adventures.
With the SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, not being crypto's biggest fan and Goldman's digital head cheering for the crypto revolution, this drama is far from over.
Where’s ETF?🚨
Bitwise has filed an amendment to its Bitcoin spot ETF application, pushing back against the SEC's rationale for rejecting Bitcoin spot ETFs👇🏻
TTD Gaming 🎮
Do you know what Minecraft just did?
The play-to-earn feature, which was once a promising avenue for gamers to earn some sweet Bitcoin, has hit a bedrock.
The Crafting Recipe 📜
1. A fan-run Minecraft server, Satlantis, rolled out a play-to-earn function, allowing players to mine Bitcoin rewards.
2. Mojang, the mastermind behind Minecraft and a branch of the Microsoft tree, wasn't too thrilled. The pixelated powerhouse asked Satlantis to axe this feature.
3. David Dineno, the server founder, confirmed the removal of the play-to-earn feature in a heartfelt Discord post, where he also gave players a heads-up to cash out their satoshis.
4. But wait. There's hope. Satlantis hinted at reincarnating the concept in another game, keeping the dream alive!
The Nitty-Gritty Details ⛏️
Dineno expressed disappointment, vowed to continue Satlantis's success, and even shared touching messages from players who genuinely benefited from the feature.
It wasn't just about the game; it was about the community.
“Mojang threatened to block our server IP and cease-and-desist our server host if we didn't comply." he said.
However, he also revealed that Mojang was essentially telling players to "play for fun and remain financially stagnant."
Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson has expressed support for the game's developer, Mojang, cracking down on fan-operated game servers that pay players in Bitcoin.
Minecraft's recent guidelines are crystal clear: no play-to-earn and no NFT functionality on user-operated servers.
And while the exact timing of these updates is hazy, Satlantis's case mirrors an earlier issue with NFT Worlds, another fan server project.
Once Mojang announced its NFT ban, NFT Worlds evolved into Hytopia and built its own Minecraft-esque game.
TTD Hack 🦹🏻
There's an old saying:
"If you can't beat them, hire them."
This might be HTX's strategy after a recent cyber heist saw them $7.9 million lighter.
What happened?
HTX, once the crypto hotspot Huobi, recently rebranded.
However, its fresh start was marred by a sizeable crypto theft. Just shy of $8 million in ETH left the building without an invite.
PeckShield caught a whiff of foul play even before the official announcement. They zoomed in on a mysterious ETH transaction that seemed a tad off.
Though $7.9 million might sound like a hefty amount (because, well, it is), Tron founder and HTX guru, Justin Sun, puts it into perspective.
It's just a two-week paycheque for the HTX platform, he explained, amounting to only a fraction of the total assets HTX holds.
Peeking into HTX's vault, courtesy of DeFiLlama, the exchange still boasts a cool $2.8 billion, with a diverse portfolio including Tron's TRX token and Bitcoin.
Losing millions is not ideal.
So, what's HTX's game plan?
They're asking for their funds back—with a twist.
Should the hacker return the pilfered ETH, not only will they receive a sweet 5% "thanks-for-returning-our-money" reward, but also a potential job offer.
HTX is offering the hacker a chance to don a white-hat and work for them.
Changpeng Zhao, the head honcho of Binance, signaled that Binance's security squad is on standby, ready to aid in tracing the hacker's moves.
The Mixin mix-up
Mixin Network, known for its cross-chain asset transfers, has found itself in a bit of a pickle.
Deets
The attackers exploited Mixin’s “cloud service provider.”
As a direct consequence, assets worth up to $200 million vanished into thin air.
The, Mixin's put a pin in both deposits and withdrawals.
They're holding off on restarting these services till there’s mutual agreement among all its 35 mainnet nodes.
Mixin sports a wallet facilitating cross-chain asset transfers.
It also boasts a decentralised exchange letting you trade assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, and our meme favourite, Dogecoin.
TTD TTM 🌑
NASA is planning a celestial venture—and this time they're bringing blockchain technology along for the ride.
NASA, is joining forces with the Isle of Man and Lonestar, a Florida-based computing startup.
Their objective? Shoot 'data cubes' to the Moon by February 2024. These cubes come with blockchain-verified data to ensure their authenticity.
What's this got to do with the legendary Moon landing, you ask?
Well, when NASA's second crewed mission, Artemis 3, takes off in 2025, it plans to use blockchain to provide undeniable evidence of humans touching down on lunar soil.
In other words, if all goes as planned, blockchain might finally silence Moon landing skeptics.
The countdown begins 🚀
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's remember that there's a pit stop in November 2024.
Artemis 2, while crewed, won't quite touch the Moon but will orbit around it—a sort of dress rehearsal before the big show in 2025.
Lonestar and the Isle of Man's mission during these voyages is crucial. Their collaboration aims to innovate lunar storage systems.
Digital Stamps 🔍
These data cubes will use what's called "digital franking" to create digital stamps, as per a report by BBC’s Science Focus.
Once this data is planted on the Moon, blockchain will be the guardian ensuring the data remains pure and untouched.
Imagine: Future astronauts checking in on the Moon like it's a cosmic Airbnb, and blockchain verifying their stay.
Busting Myths 🧩
You'd think landing on the Moon six times between 1969 and 1972 would be enough to convince the world, but conspiracy theories persist.
While blockchain may not rewrite 20th-century history, it's prepped to offer bulletproof evidence for the next generation of lunar explorers.
TTD Surfer 🏄
Binance has reopened its services for Belgian users, three months after being ordered to cease operations by Belgium's finance regulator.
MicroStrategy, the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, has purchased an additional $147 million worth of the crypto.
Getty Images has launched a new generative AI platform called Generative AI by Getty Images.
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