NFT Review 15: Artificial Intelligence in the Metaverse
NFT Review 15: Artificial Intelligence in the Metaverse
Philippine Goverment to tax Axie Infinity users, Vogue catwalks into the metaverse, Budweiser pays $100,000 for beer.eth, and more.
NFT Review is a weekly newsletter covering NFTs in the Web3 ecosystem on Polkadot’s side of the woods. The newsletter is put together by Bruno Škvorc and gbaci.
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Looking for a primer on NFTs? This should be the last introduction you’ll ever need.
Dear NFT enthusiast,
Last week at RMRK, we talked about advances in AI and how it could spell the end of humanity. The primary argument was that if we succeed in creating a truly autonomous consciousness with abilities exceeding ours in most key functions, we couldn’t possibly predict what this new being will be like. For example, what its value system (moral compass) would be?
This is why our curiosity was piqued by the news that AI firm Alethea AI, which created the world’s first “intelligent NFT,” just secured $16 million in funding to create a metaverse populated by its bots. Imagine that! A metaverse that is populated with artificially intelligent NFTs that interact with humans and adapt their responses based on the situation and person.
Although this is seen as an investment for commercial profit, this also presents a framework for scientific research into AI-human interactions. While this is interesting, the far more intriguing idea to us was being able to study AI-AI interactions away from human interference.
Imagine there was a metaverse filled with ONLY AI-NFTs. If you have seen Westworld, then this will not be unfamiliar to you. Now imagine that the events of this metaverse were turned into a Reality TV show. We bet heavily that the ratings will go through the roof. Of course, this all depends on what the AIs are doing.
The kernel of this thought-dance is a deeply fascinating realization that we can push the limits of what the new ideas being birthed by the blockchain industry (NFTs, Metaverses, DeFi, etc.) can do for the world at large. We know there are limitless possibilities and so we look forward to the future we build.
Thank you for reading and have a great week.
— NFT Review
👨🏼🎨 RMRK Artist Spotlight: Ahmedov and His Kusama Skulls
On this episode of RAS, we caught up with Ahmedov, the creator of Kusama Skulls, a collection of 31 skulls grouped into 3 rarity levels--Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The collection sold out and some pieces are now being relisted, with the highest listing price at 10 KSM (~$3,000 as of this writing.)
We spoke about his journey into NFTs, his favorite project, where he finds inspiration, and more. Read the interview below.
📬 NFT News from Kusama & Polkadot
RMRK release Kanaria birds to great fanfare from the Kanaria community.
Artist Reubentopia introduces collectors on Singular to NFT-as-a-service. Whoever buys the NFT valued at 10 KSM (~ $3,000) will get the artist to come and paint on a wall in their home.
Unique Network partners with blockchain gaming incubator Seedify to provide freedom and creativity to talented blockchain game developers, skilled gamers, and watchful investors.
Promo Team made a short video explainer about Unique Network, explaining what they do and how they are building the future of NFTs for Dotsama.
Kodadot unveils a new spotlight feature for tracking the reputation and history of artists on their marketplace. The feature is currently in demo.
RMRK Founder Bruno Skvorc will be hosting a webinar on September 9th, 2021 to guide the Kanaria community and NFT enthusiasts on a visual walkthrough on Kanaria. Register for the free event now.
🗞 NFT News from Ethereum and Beyond
The government of the Philippines announced that it’s looking at taxing play-to-earn games and Axie Infinity in particular.
Sky Mavis, the company that develops Axie, has since made a statement.
Polygon announced a partnership with Showtime, an NFT-based social media platform.
Sorare has signed new agreements this week with the Dutch Eredivisie and a bunch of French football clubs, including Lille, Lorient, and Nantes.
The virtual world of Decentraland has gone next level with the introduction of quests, which are now part of the toolkit for creators. Landowners and designers can make quests that span multiple days and for example reward players with NFTs, wearables, or a POAP, proof-of-attendance.
Blockchain gaming company Animoca Brands has invested an undisclosed amount into the Solana-powered virtual universe of Star Atlas.
NFT collectibles platform NBA Top Shot will launch its first WNBA Moments this week. Dapper Labs plans to expand the scope of its WNBA offerings over time, eyeing eventual parity with the men’s league.
Facebook is looking to get involved with NFTs according to David Marcus, head of Facebook Financial and the Novi blockchain wallet.
Vogue Singapore catwalks to a metaverse with NFT launch.
Autographia, a marketplace for signed memorabilia, will auction off a tokenized photo of a diminutive Tesla Model X replica. The toy car depicted was physically signed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and features his signature scrawled across its hood.
Over 1 million artworks have been sold across the top cryptoart platforms to date!
Media giant Fox has made a strategic investment in digital content management firm Eluvio to help develop Fox’s NFT business. Eluvio is a company dedicated to managing, distributing, and monetizing premium content via blockchain.
Visa release whitepaper on how to leverage NFTs to expand commerce.
Budweiser paid 30 ETH (~$100,000) for Beer.eth.
NFTX generated +$1M for its liquidity providers (LPs) over the last 30 days.
Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin published a post outlining some ideas on how to improve the mechanisms of NFT sales to avoid “big annoying splats on the gas market.”
The Ethereum Name Service now supports importing DNS domains for use within ENS.
Mirror, the publishing protocol unveiled a new editor system.
Nouns DAO has approved and queued its first governance proposal, “Donate 5 ETH each to 6 charities,” and is currently voting on its second proposal re: a “3D Nouns Generator.”
Parcel, the “Zillow for the Metaverse,” released its real-time Cryptovoxels map price appraisal tool.
The CryptoPunks floor price is now ~92 ETH, a new all-time high.
Cryptoart platform SuperRare just had its best daily volume period ever.
Dmitri Cherniak’s legendary “Goose” Ringer, Ringer #879, was acquired for 1,800 ETH (~ $5,931,378) earlier today
The Axie Esports 2021 event schedule is up.
Yield Guild Games announced the Yield Guild Open, a 64-team Axie Infinity tournament event offering ~$35,000 in prizes.
Three of the NFT ecosystem’s highest 7-day sales on the week came from Tyler Hobbs’s Fidenzas, namely Fidenza #313, Fidenza #772, and Fidenza #529.
That’s all for this week, see you in the next edition! Got some links to share with us, artists to feature, NFTs to sell, jobs to promote, or events to popularize? Get in touch with Bruno or gbaci!