Tech Industry making a mistake, first eTechnology system for EV, AI level-up customer experience, World’s First Web3 Metropolis, and FTX officials accountable.

The Tech Industry Is Cutting Back On Moonshots

Tech companies are cutting back on moonshots. That could be a mistake.

Part of the mystique of Silicon Valley comes from the wild moonshot ideas its tech giants think up. From smart refrigerators to self-driving cars to intelligent speakers, major tech firms have thought up and delivered seemingly improbable products over the years.

But investing in the research and development for those kinds of ideas costs billions. And that kind of spending can become a liability as companies shed thousands of jobs and slash budgets.

In June, Bloomberg reported that Meta (META) scrapped its planned dual-camera smartwatch, while Snap (SNAP) ended its experiment with its selfie drone. In September, Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) ended its gambit to become a gaming company.

According to Business Insider, Amazon’s Alexa division, which has been hit hard by layoffs, is on track to cost the company $10 billion in 2022, with no clear signs it’ll ever be a profit engine.

“They are making painful choices … because of the nature of the economic and funding environment. Read more...

Benoît Morand launches first eTechnology system for electric vehicles

It can be a pain to have to wait for your EV to charge.

And that's why we're so excited about Morand's new eTechnology solution, which can recharge a small battery pack in just two minutes!

The average time it takes an ICE vehicle owner to fill up their tank is two minutes. The new electric hybrid battery system, called eTechnology, almost halves that time, meaning it could become a great force for EV adoption.

Another benefit of eTechnology, according to Morand, is the fact that it can also offer much longer lifespans than the lithium-ion batteries traditionally used in EVs.

Morand was founded by former F1 driver and team manager Benoît Morand, who played a crucial role in developing the Hope Racing Oreco 01 Hybrid, the very first hybrid prototype to start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans more than ten years ago. The company's goal is to apply energy technologies developed for motor racing for everyday solutions that can aid in the energy transition.

The startup says that, during testing, a prototype of its eTechnology solution was able to recharge to 80 percent in just 72 seconds, 98 percent in 120 seconds and 100 percent in 2.5 minutes at up to 900 A/360 kW (that's a lot!). The company also states that Geo Technology performed independent testing. Read more...

How AI iteration can up-level the customer experience

The news about new prototypes and tech demos often focuses on the model’s “best case” performance: What does it look like on the golden path, when everything works perfectly? This is often the first evidence that disruptive technology is arriving. But, counter-intuitively, for many problems, we should be much more interested in the “worst case” performance. Often the lowest expectations of what a model is going to do are much more important than the upper ones.

Let’s look at this in the context of AI. A customer support bot that sometimes doesn’t give customers answers, but never gives them misleading ones, is probably better than a bot that always answers but is sometimes wrong. This is crucial in many business contexts. That’s not to say that the potential is limited. 

An ideal state for AI customer support bots would be to answer many customer questions — those that don’t need human intervention or nuanced understanding — “free form,” and correctly, 100% of the time. This is rare now, but there are disruptive applications, techniques and embeddings that are building toward this, even in today’s generation of support bots.

But to get there, we need easy-to-use tools to get a bot up and running, even for less technical implementers. Thankfully, the market has matured over the past 3 to 5 years to get us to this point. We’re no longer facing an immature bot landscape, with the likes of only Google DialogFlow, IBM Watson and Amazon Lex. Read more...

An Inside Look at the World’s First Web3 Metropolis

It’s been a big year for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). We’ve seen some amazing things happen since nft now first presented “The Gateway” at Art Basel in 2021. In just one year, influential brands have entered Web3, several artists have risen to new prominence, and blockchain-powered philanthropy has entered the mainstream.

As Web3 continues to navigate the ups and downs of a volatile crypto market and potential global recession, we’re constantly reminded that NFTs are about more than art or money. In fact, the blockchain has grown past its salad-day limits as a niche internet microcosm and become a hotbed for innovation.

Now, as 2022 comes to a close, we have the opportunity to take a pause and reflect on the many feats of the NFT and Web3 communities. In keeping with our culture of prosperity and celebration created under the umbrella of non-fungibility, nft now has joined forces with Mana Common for a MoonPay-powered event unlike any other: “The Gateway.”

In keeping with NFT now's mission to help empower creators of culture and drive mainstream adoption of NFTs, "The Gateway" aims to bridge the comprehension gap, and further extend a welcome hand to those from all walks of life. Whether from the traditional art world, the finance sector, media, fashion, or anywhere throughout the metaverse, all are invited to celebrate how Web3 and NFTs are composing the next chapter of art history. Read more...

FTX Officials Should Be Held Accountable For The Exchange’s Collapse 

It's time for the government to hold FTX executives accountable for the collapse of their exchange.

In a letter to Attorney General William Barr, Senators Warren and Whitehouse said that FTX was valued at $32 billion only a short while ago, and yet it's now in the red with a total debt of $8 billion. The senators also noted that Genesis' $175 million locked up in an FTX trading account, Galois Capital's $100 million locked in its FTX account, and BlockFi having to halt withdrawals and prepare to file for bankruptcy.

SBF confessed in an investor meeting that Alameda Research owed FTX an estimated $10 billion in customer deposits that were lent out without customer consent. This is considered a violation of both FTX’s own terms of service and of U.S securities law.

FTX created a false sense of safety and legitimacy and encouraged consumers to pour their hard-earned money into investments on the exchange.” 

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) assured customers that “FTX has enough to cover all client holdings. We don’t invest client assets (even in treasuries).” A statement which has since been proved false and the original tweet deleted.

Calling out former-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) for trying to minimise the concerns prior to the collapse, the senators state that it was clear SBF and the company representatives “were lying.” Read more...