ICYMI - Last week in crypto: SberBank Launch DeFi Platform on Ethereum, Google Lead the Race for AI

The tech always wins!💪🏽🏆

Last week, Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank announced the launch of its DeFi protocol on Ethereum, Google takes the lead in the race for AI with a $300 million investment in Anthropic and Elon Musk announced that Twitter will now offer creators a share of Ad revenue.

Google Invests $300 Million Stake in AI Start-Up Anthropic

Google has bought a $300 million stake in AI start-up Anthropic, signaling that the arms race in AI has started. According to The Financial Times, the tech giant invested in the business with the intention of competing in the "generative AI" space.

The prevalence of AI technology has gained some notoriety since the release of the wildly popular ChatGPT. The developer of the chatbot, OpenAI, had already received a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment from Microsoft. Now, it appears that Google is aiming for a comparable trajectory.

Since it reached a million users faster than Instagram and Tik Tok, ChatGPT has dominated news stories in recent weeks. The OpenAI-developed program has discouraged investment in the field by unintentionally igniting an artificial intelligence arms race. all with the intention of emulating some of the business's success.

The Financial Times claims that Google will be the next business to enter the field because they have invested $300 million in AI start-up Anthropic. According to three people familiar with the deal, Google "will take a stake of around 10% and requires Anthropic to use the money to purchase computing resources from the search company's cloud computing division."

The action builds on a general trend that began with Microsoft's investment in OpenAI a few months ago. The tech company made a wise investment because the technology from ChatGPT can now be used in a wide range of Microsoft products.

Like OpenAI, Anthropic wants to keep exploring and developing generative AI technology. Continuing study of "sophisticated computer programs that can write scripts and create art in a matter of seconds," specifically

When a number of researchers left OpenAI in 2021 due to alleged "disagreements in the company's direction," the company was established. The group was concerned that the Microsoft investment would divert attention from the original goal by sending the company "on a more commercial path."

Takashi Murakami Roll-Out Collection of 13 NFTs Linked to Physical Hublot Watches

Together with Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has unveiled a new line of real watches that are connected to non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The new collection, the fourth joint artistic effort by Hublot and Murakami, consists of 13 distinctive NFTs that draw their inspiration from Japanese video games and 1970s television programs. The Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami All Black watch, which debuted in January 2021, is another watch that the NFTs are based on.

The 13 physical watches that will make their debut at the Watches & Wonders 2023 trade show in Geneva in April are connected to the NFTs. Each digital reproduction comes with Murakami's recognizable smiling flower logo and is available in a different rainbow-colored shade.

A total of 324 Murakami and Hublot NFTs were released in April 2022, and only 12 of the 13 timepieces will be made exclusively available to collectors who already purchased one of those watches.

The Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow watch, the collection's last timepiece, has a spinning flower encrusted with rubies, sapphires, amethysts, tsavorites, and topaz. It was unveiled at an event in New York on Thursday.

Up until April 2024, the 12 NFTs may be resold on OpenSea. One collector will be qualified to purchase the prized Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow watch if they can buy all 12 NFTs. If no collector is able to acquire all 12 NFTs, Hublot will auction the watch to raise money.

Since the debut of his Murakami Flowers line in March 2021, Murakami has been involved with NFTs. He collaborated with Nike-owned digital wearables studio RTFKT in November 2021 to launch a special line with their avatar NFT project CloneX. And in April of last year, Murakami and Nike released a pair of Cryptokicks NFT sneakers, which were sold for 45 ETH, or roughly $134,000, each.

OpenSea Launches New Toolkit for NFT Drops Creators

The largest non-fungible token (NFT) market place OpenSea has launched the subsequent stage of its Drops feature, releasing a new set of tools for creators who launch their collections in collaboration with OpenSea.

The first iteration of Drops, according to a series of tweets from OpenSea, offered an "immersive" experience to chosen partners who launched their collections on the platform.

We’re excited to start rolling out the next phase of💧Drops on OpenSea💧a product we’ve been working on for the past few months! 🧵 ⬇️— OpenSea (@opensea) February 2, 2023

"Over the past few months we worked closely with 20 amazing teams to build a best-in-class drops experience that includes features like multistage minting phases, allowlist support and rich storytelling elements," OpenSea said.

The Drops rollout's upcoming phase will provide creators with the resources they need to control their own minting process, including "deploying smart contracts across all supported EVM chains, configuring drop mechanics, personalizing landing pages," among other things.

According to OpenSea, the feature will gradually become available to a select group of creators over the coming weeks before becoming generally accessible. Online requests for early access to the toolkit can be made by interested partners.

"Our vision is to expand this product so that ANYONE can easily drop collections across any chain on OpenSea with an immersive, safe storefront, without needing access to robust technical resources or expertise!" OpenSea tweeted.

OpenSea has been experimenting with customized landing pages for site drops, including fresh material from Anthony Hopkins, Probably a Label, CLOUDMACHINE, and omgkirby. On the marketplace, personalized pages can be found with videos, image galleries, utility information, and project roadmaps.

The website has also drawn attention for adopting a strict policy regarding the enforcement of creator royalties, even going so far as to forbid some secondary marketplaces from offering NFTs that were first created on its platform for sale.

Twitter Will Now Share Ad Revenue with Creators - Elon Musk

Twitter will begin to distribute ad revenue to creators as of 3rd February, according to Elon Musk. The platform will "share ad revenue with creators for ads that appear in their reply threads," according to Musk, who specifically announced this on the platform.

The announcement's only restriction at this time is that it only applies to accounts that are Twitter Blue Verified subscribers. Unquestionably a perk that increases the platform's subscription service's allure for creators.

Twitter and Elon Musk have been in the news a lot lately since his $44 billion purchase of the social media site. The journey thus far has been an interesting one, whether it be the widespread layoffs that the platform experienced early in his tenure or the controversy surrounding Twitter Blue.

However, the most recent change is unquestionably good for the platform's user base. Elon Musk has said that starting today, Twitter will distribute ad revenue to creators. According to the platform's CEO, the notion had been rumored for a while but is now a formally integrated part of the platform.

Musk said specifically, "Starting today, Twitter will share ad revenue with creators for ads that appear in their reply threads.

Musk then clarified in a thread reply that "To be eligible, the account must be a subscriber to Twitter Blue verified."

Even though the details of the ad revenue split have not yet been made public, the announcement undoubtedly adds yet another reason to sign up for Twitter Blue Verified. The decision may give subscribers to the subscription service a much-needed boost because the company is reportedly experiencing financial difficulties and looking for new revenue streams.

Web3 Community NounsDAO Is Creating an NFT Comic Book Series

The Web3 community NounsDAO is developing the storyline for its Nouns non-fungible token (NFT) collection by working with Titan Comics, a publisher of comic books, and NFT community ComicsDAO to produce a comic book series.

The comics, titled "Nouns: Nountown," will have a plot centered on the Nouns ecosystem's tokens. David Leach, a senior editor at Titan, will write the series, and Danny Schlitz, an illustrator with experience working with companies like Disney, Marvel, Netflix, and Warner Brothers, will provide the illustrations.

In April, the comic books will be released as NFTs and will be safely stored by Web3 security provider 4K Protocol. After the book is released, buyers can either buy the physical book in stores or exchange their digital tokens for a physical copy.

Adam Fortier, a veteran of the comic book industry and the founder of ComicsDAO, expressed his enthusiasm for Web3 technologies in a statement.

“If there was any space that embodied the essence of NFT in the physical world, it would be comic books,” said Fortier. “They're totally interested in different stories and willing to try something out, but you also have the collectible aspect.”

The project also seeks to increase Nouns' intellectual property (IP), which is protected by CC0 copyright. According to an unnamed co-founder of Nouns 4156, the publication of a digital and physical comic book will encourage community members to look for new opportunities to expand the brand's creativity.

“The intent was always to try to build something that was infinitely extensible, to try to build what could hopefully become the world's largest open-source brand,” said 4156. “This specific collaboration is one more step in that direction.”

Over the past few months, Nouns has invested its funds in other Web3 activations. Nouns is a daily Ethereum-based generative NFTs mint that supports a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Nouns revealed in December that they would collaborate with the Australian Open to design an NFT line that would be influenced by the tennis competition. The 2023 Rose Parade float and the Budweiser Super Bowl commercial have both received funding approval from the DAO.

Russia’s Largest Bank, Sberbank, to Launch a DeFi Platform on the Ethereum Network

Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, is getting ready to introduce its very own DeFi platform on the Ethereum network. Following open testing in March, according to a report from the Russian news agency Interfax, the bank plans to introduce the decentralized finance system "before May this year."

Konstantin Klimenko, the product director of Sberbank's Blockchain Laboratory, made the announcement. Interfax was informed that the Sberbank DeFi platform's objective is to support the ongoing development of the Russian ecosystem.

The blockchain industry and the market for digital assets are not new to Russia's Sberbank. In the summer of 2022, the financial institution carried out its first digital transaction, and in April of that same year, it introduced its own cryptocurrency.

Now that Sberbank is preparing to introduce its very own DeFi platform, Russia's largest bank is ready to delve deeper into the world of decentralized finance. Klimenko mentioned the bank's plan to roll out the system in May after starting open testing in March. being fully operational after that, probably by the end of April.

Klimenko claims that the Ethereum network will serve as the foundation for the blockchain platform initially. Users will also be able to access the platform via the MetaMask extension, which has been a part of the Sberbank digital ecosystem since December.