Vic.ai, an accounting automation platform, has raised $52 million in a Series C round of funding, which was led by ICONIQ Growth and GGV Capital with participation from Costanoa Ventures and Cowboy Ventures.
The new funds totals Vic.ai’s funding to $115 million, which according to CEO Alexander Hagerup, is being used for customer acquisition in North America and to add purchase order match, “spend intelligence” capabilities and payment execution to the Vic.ai platform.
Vic.ai was founded by Hagerup and Kristoffer Roil, both Norwegian entrepreneurs, in 2017. Before co-launching Vic.ai, Hagerup founded the Online Backup Company, a European backup and disaster recovery service provider.
Vic.ai primarily handles invoice processing, leveraging the certain algorithms to select invoices and expenses that meet a specific confidence threshold and automatically send them to approvers.
The platform also determines the number of steps present in an invoice approval process and automatically decides which employee needs to review each step.
Crypto exchange Binance announced on Tuesday that it has temporarily halted the withdrawals for the stablecoin USDC while it is conducting a “token swap.”
The decision was made after investors raised concerns over Binance’s stability in light of the collapse of competitor exchange FTX and charges filed against CEO Sam Bankman-Fried by the US authorities.
According to Zhao, transfers from stablecoin PAX and Binance’s own BUSD into USDC must pass through a New York-based bank that is not operational yet.
According to Zhao, users who wish to withdraw money from Binance want to convert their BUSD and PAX into USDC. Users can still withdraw other stablecoins like Tether and BUSD. He added that deposits are unaffected.
“Binance’s withdrawals are seeing an increase due to the growing uncertainty over its reserves report,” a Nansen spokesperson stated.
FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11 after failing to raise funds to stave off collapse as traders hastened to withdraw $6 billion from its platform within 72 hours.
The attorney general’s office said that it proceeded with the arrest only after receiving formal confirmation of charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, adding he will be extradited to the United States.
According to the Bahamas Police, Bankman-Fried was arrested shortly after 6:00 pm on Monday at his apartment complex, which is in Albany, Nassau, in The Bahamas.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in reference to several Financial Offences against the laws of the US, which are also considered offenses against the Commonwealth of The Bahamas’ laws.
The US Attorney’s office spokesman confirmed that Bankman-Fried was arrested in The Bahamas. However, they declined to comment on the charges. He is expected to appear in Nassau’s Magistrate Court on Tuesday.
Artificial intelligence firm OpenAI is working on a tool to watermark the AI-generated text to prevent people from taking such texts and passing them off as their own work. The information comes from Scott Aaronson, an OpenAI guest researcher in his blog.
Will the internet drown in AI-generated spam? OpenAI is working on a tool to watermark AI-generated text to prevent misuse. The watermark uses a cryptographic pseudorandom function to add an unnoticeable signal to the text. #ChatGPT
Although still under discussion, the watermark will use a cryptographic pseudorandom function to add an unnoticeable signal to the text. A cryptographic tool incorporates a detectable signature in the words generated by OpenAI’s text-generating AI models.
GPT models work with language in the form of tokens. The input text is read as tokens, and outputs are provided as tokens. GPT models provide a list of tokens as output, each with an associated score, from which an external algorithm chooses a winner to produce as the following token output.
The external algorithm is hosted on OpenAI’s servers. The algorithm chooses a single winner from the list, weighted by their score, and incorporates some amount of randomness to keep output unique and varied. This randomness factor is exactly where OpenAI will implement the watermarking scheme.
Instead of taking some typical random function, OpenAI is creating its own with a key only they can access. From the list of output tokens, the one that maximizes the randomness function would be selected as the next output.
With this custom pseudorandom function, any given text string could be analyzed to find if it maximizes the function like GPT output would. Even if humans lightly modify GPT output, the average function maximization would still indicate a GPT creation.
‘BLR metaport,’ the first phase of a metaverse experience at terminal 2 of Bengaluru airport, was launched Tuesday. According to Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL), this is the world’s first-ever airport terminal to provide a metaverse experience to its flyers.
The BLR Metaport offers an immersive 3D experience of the newly launched Terminal 2 virtually at BLR Airport. It was built in collaboration with Polygon and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Interested visitors can log on to www.blrmetaport.com to virtually tour the new terminal using their smart devices, said BIAL. The 3D interface allows passengers to check into flights and explore terminals and shops.
The estimated construction cost for the first phase of terminal 2 is almost ₹13,000 crore, and it is expected to have a built-up area of around 2.5 lakh square meters.
An additional 4.41 lakh square meters of area will add to the terminal during the second phase. The new terminal’s first phase is expected to serve 25 million passengers annually.
An innovative application that goes viral could have a ripple effect on an emerging developer’s career, as only 0.5% of applications are known to hit off commercially. Due to the meager scope of standard applications catching the audience’s attention, developers have to promote them on not one but multiple app stores, including Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Tencent (MyApp), PayTM’s Mall, and a few others. Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store are the two largest application distribution channels, competing to be an “app store monopoly.”
Over the last few years, Apple has overly protected its monopoly rights by restricting applications for its phones only via the App Store, preventing its users from venturing into other application stores on iPhones. This seems appreciable to iPhone users, as they entrust Apple’s vetted applications, choosing to stick with Apple App Store. While it does not appear problematic, it is hideous on Apple’s part in trying to control its users from shifting to any other app market.
Adding to the heated app store monopoly race, it was uncovered in 2020 that the company gets a 30% cut of what users pay for an application and in-app purchases for apps earning over US$1M, leaving only 70% for the actual developer! The revelation has stirred much discussion about what kind and extent of control companies should exercise on app stores.
Elon Musk has openly criticized the Apple App Store for charging such a high cut. He tweeted:
Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store? https://t.co/LGkPZ4EYcz
Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, claimed that Apple had informed the social networking app that it would not permit content creators to accept payments via pay-to-view and donation bots for paywall posts on their telegram channels. The move would drastically change the platform’s usage as it is mostly used by content creators to charge users for access to their posts/channels.
Mocking the high 30% commission being charged in the app store monopoly race, Durov said, “Apple is not happy with content creators monetizing their efforts without paying a 30 per cent tax.”
Further, the Google Play Store has also come under fire for trying to monopolize its applications and lock users to drive supernormal margins of profit while compromising on what the developer gets. Over 150 startups claimed that the company said it would collect a cut as high as 30% on in-app purchases in a range of categories. As a result, several companies planned to seek alternatives.
Harshil Mathur, RazorPay’s CEO, expressed his concern over the high tax levied by a company whose Play Store is used by nearly 97% of app developers. He asked if anyone was developing a localized app store to prevent the ongoing app store monopoly race. He tweeted:
India needs a local app store long term else 30% tax will eat up most businesses, is anyone trying to build one? https://t.co/cSdLvjPFVi
Although, Google did lower its commission down to 15% for all ‘subscription-based services’ in January 2022. However, the move would benefit only developers with a subscription-based model. Others having an app and in-app purchases are still subject to a 30% commission fee.
The leaders undertaking such practices create an atmosphere of “monopolistic competition” in the app store monopoly race. While the availability of numerous app stores is bound to invite some competition wherein each tries to offer maximum global coverage, the competition must be healthy. Consumers can benefit from expanding existing and establishing newer app stores only if the competition is checked frequently.
Following big tech companies’ domestic and global retaliation on their high commission rates, there have been measures to take cognizance of developers and businesses.
Globally, several bills, like the Open App Markets bill, promote competition while narrowing the scope of competitive problems in the ecosystem. These bills have also set a few guidelines to refrain industry leaders from preferencing their own apps and manipulating their competitors.
In India, a Private Member Bill was introduced in the Budget Session 2022. The bill titled “The App Developers (Protection) Bill” calls for protecting developers from coercive app regulators and their exorbitantly high commission rates.
As for Apple and Google, they are currently under review by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for abusing market power. Only time will tell whether the companies address the rising concerns, lower their commission rates, or continue to extort the market with their control.
Shaquille O’Neal will host a VR new year’s eve special on Meta platforms, including Meta Horizon Worlds and Meta Quest 2, and on O’Neil’s Facebook and Instagram pages. The VR show, titled “The Shaq-tacular Spectacular,” is a one-hour special that will stream on December 31 in a repeating loop – all night long. The show will feature musical acts, entertainment pieces, and a DJ set from Shaq himself.
Along with appearances by former NFL player Rob Gronkowski and model Camille Kostek, the countdown special will feature Cardi B, Ludacris, Lil Yachty, Killer Mike, and Whipped Cream performances.
The show is co-produced by Westbrook Media, Media.Monks and O’Neil’s Jersey Legends Productions, in collaboration with Meta. Shaq said, “From music, laughs, and much more, we’re celebrating New Year’s Eve and welcoming 2023 with a spectacular party you won’t want to miss!”
Brad Haugen, the President of Westbrook media, said that the production house was thrilled to work with Shaq in such an exciting way in virtual reality. He added, “The VR new year’s eve special has electrifying performances, hilarious and competitive games, and it’s been so fun for us to explore all that we can do in this space.”
The VR new year’s eve special is a part of Meta’s VR drive, including many other virtual events like the computer-generated avatar of the late rapper Notorious B.I.G concert, to involve more people in the “metaverse.”
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued to prevent acquisition of Within Unlimited and its fitness app Supernatural by Meta. FTC states that asserting it would violate antitrust laws and hurt competition.
Regulators have cited a 2015 email from Mark Zuckerberg to Facebook executives stating that his vision for the next wave of computing, namely augmented and virtual reality, was in control of the platform on which those apps are distributed.
According to the email, a crucial part of this strategy was for the company to be ubiquitous in killer apps and these apps determine the value of the technology.
“Meta could have used all its capabilities and vast resources to build its own VR fitness app,’ said Abby Dennis, FTC lawyer. Instead, when Meta heard a rumor that Apple was acquiring Within, it decided to acquire the market leader in the space.
Mark Hansen, Meta’s lawyer, disputed the FTC’s claim of the company building its own app. “There is no evidence that Meta was ready to do anything,” he said.
Meta has been unsuccessful until now in its bid to have the case withdrawn after arguing that the US failed to prove that the VR market is concentrated with high barriers to entry.
The Department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, UK, announces its telecom R&D package of £110 million, where the top three Universities: the University of York, the University of Bristol, and the University of Surrey, will receive a funding of £28 million for collaborating with major telecom companies like Nokia, Samsung, and Ericsson to design and build 5G, and 6G networks.
As per the package, £80 million fund will be set up for the state-of-the-art UK Telecoms Labs to test network equipment. The UK government will also join forces with South Korea to mitigate power efficiency challenges in the new networks.
The universities will work with world-leading industry experts and UK academics to ensure future technology like 6G that can promote more diverse and innovative telecom markets and end the present network setups.
The UK government’s new R&D partnership with South Korea will encourage the development of Open RAN and associated technologies. The project for the same will receive more than £3 million, highlighting the power of emerging technologies equipment.
The Digital Secretary of the Department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport stated that the technology in phones and internet networks is evolving rapidly with 6G. The UK government will see top UK universities develop and improve the present networks, check the security of the latest telecom tech, and ensure the plan for a more diverse and innovative 5G and 6G network market that can sustain the future. The package will also enhance the telecoms supply chains so that the UK government will no longer rely on specific companies to develop and maintain 5G networks.
Meta has warned that it will ban news in the US if the government decides to pass a journalism Bill that obligates the social network giant to pay publishers for using their content.
Meta’s head of policy communications, Andy Stone, said on Twitter that if Congress decides to pass an ‘ill-considered journalism Bill’ under national security legislation, Meta will be forced to remove news from its platform.
Once passed, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) introduced last year will allow news publishers to negotiate with Google and Facebook over the use of their content.
In September, the US Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. However, it still has not been passed through the full Senate.
Stone said that the Act “fails to recognize the key fact: broadcasters and publishers put their content on our platform themselves as it benefits their bottom line. It’s not the other way around.”
He stressed that no company should be obligated to pay for content “users do not want to see, and that is not a meaningful source of revenue.”
