New sections may appear every week or just when I have something new to share.
I first invested in this startup in 2019. The company plans to deliver very eclectic electric motorcycles in 2024. They believe there is a market for very expensive electric bikes and are seeking more investment capital to build them. As always, remember most startups fail. Never invest in a startup unless you are prepared to lose every penny you invest.
Here are some highlights of what’s new in AI this week (as of December 22, 2023):
Research and Development:
- Phi-2: Microsoft unveiled Phi-2, a 2.7 billion parameter language model that demonstrates outstanding reasoning and language understanding capabilities, setting a new standard for performance among base language models with less than 13 billion parameters.
- Mamba: A new study explored Mamba, a potential replacement for transformers in language models, showing it could achieve similar performance with higher efficiency and faster training times.
- Cyborg computer with brain organoid chip: Scientists successfully attached a tiny, human-brain-derived organoid to a computer chip, demonstrating its ability to learn and perform basic tasks like speech recognition and math predictions. This opens doors for potential future applications of brain-computer interfaces.
Industry and Applications:
- Google Cloud Imagen 2: Google Cloud launched Imagen 2, the latest upgrade to its text-to-image capabilities,allowing users to craft and deploy photorealistic images using intuitive tooling and fully-managed AI.
- AI in alternative browsers: With the rise of alternative browsers like Brave and Vivaldi, AI features for tasks like search, privacy protection, and content personalization are gaining traction, offering new user experiences.
- Tesla Optimus robot: A new video of Tesla’s Optimus robot showcased its improved dexterity and ability to handle objects like an egg without breaking it, hinting at potential advancements in humanoid robotics.
Events and Discussions:
- OpenAI’s internal turmoil: Following Sam Altman’s return as CEO, OpenAI is facing questions about its future direction and governance structure, sparking discussions about ethical considerations and transparency in AI development.
- EU’s new AI regulations: The European Union passed sweeping new regulations for AI, aiming to address concerns about bias, discrimination, and safety in AI systems. This could have significant implications for global AI development and deployment.
- It is very disappointing the U.S. Congress cannot agree on anything. The problem lack of required regulation is going to put us behind and cause startups to flee to Europe.
AI is a rapidly changing and evolving field. It is very difficult to stay informed about the latest developments in AI in order to make informed decisions about how to use AI to your advantage. I hope these weekly snippets provides some highlights of what is going on.
Bitcoin continues to hover at or just below $44,000. Tremendous gain for the year. Coinbase Bytes created a great summary of key numbers in crypto land….
$1.66 trillion
Crypto’s total market cap as of Tuesday — a roughly 100% increase since the beginning of the year. After experiencing historically low volatility for much of 2023, prices began ramping up sharply this fall (shout out to “Uptober”!) as optimism grew that the SEC might soon approve one of Wall Street’s “spot” BTC ETF applications.
$100 billion
Estimate of how big the market for spot BTC ETFs could become, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Other estimates we saw this year ranged from $3 billion on the first day of trading to $55 billion over five years. As the chief strategy officer at ETF provider Roundhill Investments told Reuters, “the analogy that I’m looking at is to gold,” adding that the arrival of spot ETFs had been transformational for the gold market.
$2.5 billion
Amount of revenue earned by BTC miners in the fourth quarter of 2023, the highest figure since early 2022, according to Coin Metrics. One major driver: the rise of Bitcoin Ordinals, a BTC-based NFT protocol that allows developers to “inscribe” data onto the Bitcoin blockchain.
$1.8 billion
Total year-to-date inflows that have poured into digital-asset investment products (which includes funds at crypto-focused asset managers like Grayscale and Proshares), according to CoinShares. Crypto fund inflows are often viewed as a proxy for demand among institutional investors, and this fall saw an 11-week run of consecutive inflows.
$1 billion
Approximate total value locked into DeFi protocols on Solana’s blockchain, up from around $210 million at the start of the year. The Ethereum alternative had a breakout year, with prices up more than 600% to around $80 as of Wednesday.
$675 million
Estimated value of tokenized U.S. Treasuries, up from around $100 million in January. Many of the world’s largest financial institutions see the tokenization of real-world assets — including real estate, currencies, and financial instruments — as a multi trillion-dollar opportunity. As a Bernstein analyst put it this summer, “We forecast ~$5 trillion of real-world financial assets will be tokenized on blockchains over the next 5 years.”
$78 million
Amount of money raised in Q4 by the crypto community to support the election of bipartisan, pro-innovation candidates in 2024. Among the 20 companies and industry leaders contributing to the Fairshake Super PAC and its affiliates are Coinbase along with its CEO Brian Armstrong, Andreessen Horowitz, Ripple, and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
52 million
Number of Americans who own crypto, according to research by Coinbase. That’s about one in five adults in the United States. This year, Coinbase announced efforts to help mobilize crypto advocates ahead of the 2024 election by making it simple to call their elected representatives.
$2.5 million
Approximate sales price for two Van Gogh paintings rendered as NFTs on the Tezos blockchain by the Musée d’Orsay in Paris as NFTs began to bounce back alongside the broader crypto market this November. And it wasn’t just NFTs of Impressionist masterpieces: An image of Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin dressed as a jester went for nearly $400,000, while an NFT pet rock sold for more than $200,000.
165%
Percentage bitcoin increased in 2023, as of Wednesday afternoon. After sinking below $16,000 last year, the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization roared back in 2023 – and many analysts predict even bigger things for 2024. As an October report from Morgan Stanley put it, “Historically, most of bitcoin’s gains come directly after a ‘halving’ event [expected next spring] that occurs every four years.”
119%
The increase in volume of staked ETH so far this year, per a Glassnodereport released Tuesday, resulting in more than 34.638 million ETH being “locked into the staking protocol.” In April, Ethereum completed its transition to a proof-of-stake consensus model with its Shapella upgrade, which gave users who staked their ETH to help secure and validate transactions on the blockchain the ability to withdraw their funds.
82%
Amount Ripple’s XRP token gained this year. XRP (which is used on the Ripple payment network) got a major boost in July when a federal court in New York ruled that XRP itself is not a security and that XRP at issue sold through exchanges were not securities transactions. In 2020, the SEC had sued Ripple, alleging that it had broken securities laws when it sold XRP. In October of this year, a judge ruled that the agency can’t appeal the decision.
78
Minimum number of games with blockchain elements on the Epic Games Store as of November, according to Decrypt: “While many of these games are unreleased or in early access, their listings are reflective of Epic Games’ more open approach to hosting titles with crypto or AI elements compared to rival PC game launcher Steam.”
51%
Share of millennial and Gen Z adults who say they’re likely to support pro-crypto political candidates in 2024, according to Coinbase’s latest State of Crypto report, which was released in October. We’d suggest listening to them, given that they account for 40% of the US voting-age population today and are on their way to becoming a majority by 2028.
42
Number of countries that, per a PwC report released this week, “engaged in myriad initiatives to develop crypto-focused regulations and legislation, from holding discussions to passing laws” in 2023. Among the 42 countries identified in the report, more than 20 of them were categorized as having passed “comprehensive crypto regulatory frameworks.”
15
Age of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin Whitepaper as of October 31. Next month, on January 3, Bitcoin will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the first transaction ever recorded on the network. The message inscribed in the “Genesis Block” referenced a newspaper headline about the Great Recession, a key factor in Bitcoin’s creation: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”
Tech stocks coming back with a roar. The smaller techs gaining as some view them as undervalued. GAMMNAT stocks now exceeding $12 trillion. Let’s hope Santa Claus keeps the rally going.
I don’t think I add much with my Wall Street comments. I suggest a click on MarketWatch will do a much better job.
Following are videos of talks I gave this year. I have been fortunate to be able to share my thoughts on technology with a number of groups.
On September 14, I gave a talk on AI at the Ridgefield Library in Ridgefield, CT.
On July 21, I gave a lecture on AI @FoundersHallCT. I wan’t sure how many would turn out. It was a lot. Great interest in the topic. In addition to current events and outlooks, I told the audience about Robot Attitude: How Robots and Artificial Intelligence Will Make Our Lives Better.
On March 8th I was the guest speaker at the first meeting of Probus in Palm Coast, Florida on March 8. Probus is a worldwide organization of retired and semi-retired men and women who come together to make new friends, learn new things, and have fun. There are over 4,000 Probus clubs in more than 100 countries, with over 400,000 members. Probus clubs are non-political, non-sectarian, and non-profit. They are self-governing and autonomous, and each club sets its own policies and activities.
On March 30, I gave my 12th annual lecture called Tech Talk at Hammock Dunes Club in Palm Coast, Florida where I live in the winter.
On March 23, gave a town hall-like speech and Q&A with the IT special interest group (SIG) of the New York Executive Forum. The event was via Zoom.
On April 19, I gave a talk and Q&A with a group of Union Carbide retirees. Some years ago, Union Carbide had its headquarters about a mile from where I live in Connecticut. The event was via Zoom.
There are many more videos of my lectures, interviews, etc. on my YouTube channel which you can find here.
