Bitcoin experienced a significant drop to a two-month low recently, driven by uncertainty surrounding the US presidential elections and the impact of supply from a defunct Tokyo-based crypto exchange. The cryptocurrency fell over 2% to $57,843, its lowest since 2 May, marking a loss of more than 6% this week.
The market has been under pressure, particularly after the first debate between US presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump, which raised concerns about potential candidacy changes that could affect crypto policies. Market analyst Josh Gilbert from eToro highlighted the speculation that a new candidate might not be as crypto-friendly as Biden.
Bitcoin had surged earlier in the year, reaching a record $73,803.25 in mid-March following the US exchange-traded funds launch. However, the cryptocurrency has since lost over 21% of its value. Political uncertainties in France and Britain and the changing dynamics of the US election have contributed to this decline.
In addition, reports that Mt. Gox, a former leading crypto exchange, is repaying its creditors have created anticipation that these creditors might sell their bitcoins, further impacting the market. Despite the current downturn, some analysts, like Tony Sycamore from IG, believe that bitcoin could still retest its March highs and reach up to $80,000. Meanwhile, Ether also declined, trading over 1% lower at $3,213 and down more than 22% from its mid-March highs.
Amazon announced it would discontinue its security robot, Astro for Business, designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Launched in November 2021, Astro for Business targeted various sectors, including retail, manufacturing, and health. The decision comes as Amazon shifts its focus to household robots, aiming to enhance the functionality of Astro for home use.
Initially launched for home use, the Astro robot performs tasks such as home monitoring, setting up routines, and playing music and TV shows while moving around the house. The business version, priced at $2,349.99, was available only in the US and provided round-the-clock business monitoring. However, according to an email sent to customers, Amazon will cease support for Astro for Business on 25 September.
To support affected customers, Amazon is offering a $300 credit for a replacement solution and will stop charging the Astro Secure subscription fee, refunding any unused pre-paid fees. That move aligns with Amazon’s commitment to advancing its in-home robotic solutions.
A senior executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei dismissed concerns that a shortage of advanced AI chips would hinder China’s leadership in AI. Zhang Ping’an, CEO of Huawei Cloud, acknowledged China’s computing power limitations but emphasised the need for innovation over-reliance on the most advanced AI chips. His comments come amid tighter US restrictions on AI chip shipments to China, including bans on sales from companies like Nvidia.
Speaking at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, Zhang urged a shift in perspective, stating that the absence of cutting-edge AI chips shouldn’t be seen as a barrier to leading in AI. He highlighted Huawei’s development of its AI chip, Ascend, which is widely used in China for training AI models despite being less powerful than Nvidia’s offerings.
Zhang advocated for innovative approaches leveraging the cloud to overcome the lack of advanced chips, suggesting that combining cloud, edge, and network technologies can enhance efficiency and reduce energy consumption. He also positioned Huawei Cloud as a leader in providing these innovative solutions.
The US auto industry faces challenges in the second quarter as Ford and General Motors report slower sales growth following the cyberattack that disrupted a critical software system used by dealerships nationwide. The outage at CDK in late June impacted over 15,000 retail locations during a crucial selling period, adding to the hurdles already faced by automakers due to supply chain disruptions. Despite hopes for a post-pandemic surge in vehicle demand as more people returned to work, high borrowing costs and economic uncertainties flattened these expectations.
Ford’s quarterly sales saw a modest 1% increase to 536,050 vehicles, a significant slowdown compared to the 10% growth in the previous year. Similarly, Toyota Motor’s local unit and Honda also experienced decelerated sales growth in the second quarter. Analysts anticipate automakers to recover lost sales. CDK reported progress in restoring the dealer management system, with most dealer connections already operational.
Ford attributed its growth in the quarter to the success of hybrid and electric models, with sales of gas-powered vehicles declining by 5%. In comparison, EV and hybrid vehicle sales rose by approximately 61% and 55%, respectively. In June, US new vehicle sales reached around 1.32 million units, translating to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.29 million units per data from Wards Intelligence released on Tuesday.
Although Judy Garland never recorded herself reading ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,’ fans will soon be able to hear her rendition thanks to a new app by ElevenLabs. The AI company has launched the Reader app, which can convert text into voice-overs using digitally produced voices of deceased celebrities, including Garland, James Dean, and Burt Reynolds. The app can transform articles, e-books, and other text formats into audio.
Dustin Blank, head of partnerships at ElevenLabs, emphasised the company’s respect for the legacies of these celebrities. The company has made agreements with the estates of the actors, though compensation details remain undisclosed. That initiative highlights AI’s potential in Hollywood, especially for creating content using synthetic voices, but it also raises important questions about the licensing and ethical use of AI.
The use of AI-generated celebrity voices comes amid growing concerns about authenticity and copyright in creative industries. ElevenLabs had previously faced scrutiny when its tool was reportedly used to create a fake robocall from President Joe Biden. Similar controversies have arisen, such as OpenAI’s introduction of a voice similar to Scarlett Johansson’s, which she publicly criticised.
As AI technology advances, media companies are increasingly utilising it for voiceovers. NBC recently announced the use of an AI version of sportscaster Al Michaels for Olympics recaps on its Peacock streaming platform, with Michaels receiving compensation. While the market for AI-generated voices remains uncertain, the demand for audiobooks narrated by recognisable voices suggests a promising future for this technology.
Russia’s central bank has advised businesses to adopt ‘multiple choice solutions,’ including cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, to manage payments with foreign partners amidst Western sanctions related to Ukraine conflict. The sanctions have severely impacted Russia’s trade with non-sanctioning countries like China, India, the UAE, and Turkey. Key financial institutions, such as the Moscow Stock Exchange and Russia’s SWIFT alternative, have been targeted, exacerbating the challenges for the Russian economy.
Elvira Nabiullina, the central bank governor, highlighted at a financial conference in St Petersburg that the main economic hurdle is the disruption in payment systems. She noted that new financial technologies offer unprecedented opportunities, prompting the central bank to relax its stance on cryptocurrencies for international payments. Businesses have become innovative and discreet in finding solutions, often not disclosing their methods even to the authorities.
Nabiullina also discussed ongoing efforts to establish a new global payment system independent of Western institutions, noting that countries like Russia and its BRICS partners are feeling increasingly vulnerable relying on a single international payment framework. The proposed BRICS Bridge payments system aims to integrate the financial systems of member nations, though progress has been slow and complex.
Adding to the discussion, Andrei Kostin, head of Russia’s second-largest lender VTB, emphasised the sensitivity of international payment mechanisms. He suggested that such information should be classified as a state secret to prevent quick countermeasures from Western entities, implying that Western diplomats closely monitor Russian financial strategies.
US venture capital funding soared to $55.6 billion in the second quarter of 2024, marking the highest total in two years, largely driven by significant investments in AI companies such as Elon Musk’s xAI and CoreWeave. The funding kickstart represents a 47% increase from the first quarter, reflecting growing investor enthusiasm for AI technology.
The surge follows a period of declining US VC funding, which had fallen to $35.4 billion in the second quarter of 2023 amid high interest rates and a sluggish exit market. The recent influx of capital into AI startups has reversed this trend, encouraging more investments in AI foundation model companies and applications ranging from code generation to productivity tools.
Despite the rise in funding activity, exits remain challenging, with second-quarter exits valued at $23.6 billion, down from $37.8 billion in the first quarter. The initial public offering market has struggled to gain momentum, even with some VC-backed companies like Rubrik going public.
Emerging venture capital fund managers are also under pressure, raising only $37.4 billion in commitments this year, dominated by large firms such as Andreessen Horowitz. For venture capital returns to improve, large tech companies need to increase their public listings, according to PitchBook analyst Kyle Stanford.
Meta is set to integrate more generative AI technology into its virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality games, aiming to boost its struggling metaverse strategy. According to a recent job listing, the company plans to create new gaming experiences that change with each playthrough and follow unpredictable paths. The initiative will initially focus on Horizon, Meta’s suite of metaverse games and applications, but could extend to other platforms like smartphones and PCs.
These developments are part of Meta’s broader effort to enhance its metaverse offerings and address the financial challenges faced by Reality Labs, the division responsible for its metaverse projects. Despite selling millions of Quest headsets, Meta has struggled to attract users to its Horizon platform and mitigate substantial operating losses. Recently, the company began allowing third-party manufacturers to license Quest software features and increased investment in metaverse gaming, spurred by CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s growing interest in the field.
Meta’s interest in generative AI is not new. In 2022, Zuckerberg demonstrated a prototype called Builder Bot, which allows users to create virtual worlds with simple prompts. Additionally, Meta’s CTO, Andrew Bosworth, has highlighted the potential of generative AI tools to democratise content creation within the metaverse, likening their impact to that of Instagram on personal content creation.
Generative AI is already making waves in game development, with companies like Disney-backed Inworld using the technology to enhance game dialogues and narratives. While some game creators are concerned about the impact on their jobs, Meta is committed to significant investments in generative AI, even though CEO Zuckerberg cautioned that it might take years for these investments to become profitable.
China’s Ministry of Industry has announced the inclusion of 20 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, in a pilot initiative focused on ‘vehicle-road-cloud integration’ for intelligent connected vehicles. The program aims to establish a standardised and unified system by 2026, facilitating the deployment of smart-connected vehicles across the nation, according to a statement released by the ministry on Wednesday.
Why does it matter?
Recently, China announced increased policy support to accelerate the development of smart connected vehicles, which experts believe could make the country the world’s largest market for self-driving cars. As part of these efforts, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology plans to allocate 100 million 11-digit mobile network numbers to enhance communication among vehicles and with back-end management systems. According to McKinsey & Co., projections estimate that China’s autonomous vehicle market could exceed $500 billion in revenue by 2030.
The EU plans to impose customs duties on inexpensive goods purchased from online Chinese retailers such as Temu, Shein, and AliExpress. Under EU regulations, items bought online from non-EU countries are exempt from customs duties if their value is under €150. However, the European Commission is considering eliminating this threshold due to the overwhelming volume of e-commerce, with two billion parcels valued under €150 arriving in the EU from outside countries in 2023 alone.
Initially part of a broader customs overhaul introduced in May 2023, the proposed reform may now be accelerated to address the influx of low-cost imports. Critics, particularly in the United States, argue that companies like Shein and Temu exploit tax exemptions to offer products at significantly low prices, such as dresses for $8 and smartwatches for $25, undercutting local competitors.
Why does it matter?
Germany is one of the EU countries that supports an overhaul of the EU import taxes that could remove the duty-free exemption for parcels under €150. Germany’s leading retail association, Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE), has urged the government to act, claiming the exemption has caused a surge in small parcels from online platforms entering the EU. However, not everyone agrees. Ecommerce Europe, representing companies like Amazon and eBay, cautions that removing the duty-free limit could heighten trade tensions and provoke retaliatory actions from key partners such as the US.
