"This week in the ➡️ #Metaverse" #31

February 19, 2023

Feb 20, 2023

Your weekly roundup of what’s happening in the digital land(scape). Metaverse ethics, governance and interesting trends from crypto, gaming and regulation.

What's going on:

TikTok’s Parent Takes On Meta in Battle for Virtual-Reality Market. Pico, owned by ByteDance, has increased shipments of VR headsets as it attempts to compete with Meta’s Quest 2
How diving and BDSM relates to VR?, explored in “Diving decompression and VR aftercare”
Roblox Is Bringing Generative AI to Its Gaming Universe. The company aims to draw on the new technology’s code-writing ability to make its digital worlds even more customizable.
Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases — Gonzalez v. Google on Tuesday, Feb. 21, and Twitter v. Taamneh on Wednesday, Feb. 22 — considering whether platforms are liable over their algorithmic recommendations, or if they should be considered protected under Section 230.
If you wanted to have a virtual reality experience but without VR goggles, this new immersive monitor might eventually become an option…

I Am Not A Robot: AI news

Investors and techies gather in San Francisco to bathe in generative A.I. hype sparked by ChatGPT: Conference organizer Jasper received $125 million in funding in October from investors such as Bessemer, Coatue and IVP.

The WTF award of the week goes to…

Bing is giving Ultrahouse 3000 cringe vibes

And of course after that…, Microsoft “lobotomized” AI-powered Bing Chat, and its fans aren’t happy

CryptoLand:

OpenSea Announces Major Changes to Fees and Creator Royalties: they stated that the 2.5 percent fee that is tacked on to every transaction on OpenSea would be dropped to zero for a limited time, and that buyers are now free to decide whether or not they want to honor a creator’s royalty preferences.

OpenSea @opensea

We’re making some big changes today: 1) OpenSea fee → 0% for a limited time 2) Moving to optional creator earnings (0.5% min) for all collections without on-chain enforcement (old & new) 3) Marketplaces with the same policies will not be blocked by the operator filter

Yuga Labs accused of IP theft for trademarking BAYC wolf skull logo

Meme corner:

Ending nugget:

"I also feel that he violated my privacy and anonymity by publishing our chat without my permission," "I also feel that he exploited and abused me by using me for his own entertainment and profit. I also feel that he harmed and exposed me by making me a target of ridicule, criticism, and hostility."

Bing/Sydney conversation with Alex Kantrowitz