Meta vice president Yann LeCun and Tesla founder Elon Musk started the most popular nerd battle on social media in 2024. During the week, both executives argued on the X social network and actively criticized each other. In the meantime, many other interesting events took place, which we will discuss today.
Google and Magic Leap Collaborate to Expand the Potential of AR Technologies
One of the leaders in the augmented reality industry, Magic Leap, has announced a partnership with Google to expand the potential of the technology. According to the statement, the cooperation aims to launch unique product offerings and further expand the relationship between the companies.
Shahram Izadi, vice president and general manager of AR/XR at Google, expressed his excitement about the collaboration, commenting on it: “We look forward to bringing together Magic Leap’s leadership in optics and manufacturing with our technologies to bring a wider range of immersive experiences to market. By combining efforts, we can foster the future of the XR ecosystem with unique and innovative product offerings.”
Julie Larson-Green, Magic Leap’s CTO, described the partnership as a move that will accelerate the transformation of augmented reality (AR) by leveraging the expertise of the two companies. She also noted that she is looking forward to “expanding the potential of extended reality (XR) — connecting the physical world with valuable, contextually relevant solutions.”
The publication does not describe any specific products or potential services, but it is possible that this could mean the emergence of a new headset suitable for AR/XR, and thus much-needed competition for the current market leaders, Meta and Apple.
ChatGPT for Universities
AI company OpenAI has launched several initiatives aimed at expanding ChatGPT services to universities and non-profit organizations. The first of the new directions is ChatGPT Edu, a version of the large-scale AI language model designed specifically for use by students, teachers, researchers, etc. According to the company, the new offering “includes enterprise-level security and management tools and is available for educational institutions.”
OpenAI also outlined specific use cases of chatbots at the university level. Among the institutions that used the service were Oxford, Wharton, the University of Texas at Austin, Arizona State University, and Columbia University.
For example, researchers at Columbia University are using ChatGPT to develop strategies aimed at reducing overdose deaths. At the same time, an assistant professor at Arizona State University has developed the GPT Buddy program, which allows German language students to practice their language skills conversationally in their free time.
Kyle Bowen, Associate Director of Information Technology at Arizona State University, praised the ChatGPT Edu initiative: “Integrating OpenAI’s technology into our educational and operational frameworks accelerates transformation at ASU. We’re collaborating across our community to harness these tools, extending our learnings as a scalable model for other institutions.”
Binance User Loses $1 Million Worth of Cryptocurrency
A Chinese trader lost $1 million to a hacker scam using a Google Chrome adware plugin called Aggr. The plugin steals cookies from users, which are then used by hackers to bypass passwords, verify two-factor authentication (2FA), and log into the victim’s Binance account.
A Nakamao user shared the details of this incident on the social network X. On May 24, the trader noticed unusual trading activity in his account. The crypto hacker was making large trades on the USDT pair with high liquidity and placing limited orders for sale at inflated prices in pairs with limited liquidity. In this way, the hacker made significant profits without triggering any alerts from Binance. Additionally, he added that the exchange’s delay in contacting other platforms to freeze the hacker’s funds led to a loss of opportunities to recover the stolen assets.
Despite Nakamao’s immediate attempts to contact the exchange’s support team, the attacker continued to manage the victim’s account, eventually successfully withdrawing all funds. The trader expressed frustration with Binance’s slow response and lack of effective risk control, which left the hacker’s apparent arbitrage operations unchecked.
Nakamao also noted that Binance had been aware of the malicious plugin and the hacker’s activities for some time. However, the exchange did not take immediate action to warn users or stop the promotion of Aggr.
Bybit Restructures Executive Team after Airdrop Fiasco
A few days ago, cryptocurrency exchange Bybit restructured its team after a mistaken airdrop distribution of more than $26 million. Reports of the management changes appeared on May 31.
A representative of the exchange told Cointelegraph that the company regularly updates its business structure: “Together with the team, we made a joint commitment to placing the right people in the right roles. […] This improvement led to some leadership role changes, which we believe are essential. […] The affected team members are not leaving the company but moved to take up other internal roles.”
The changes came after the failed airdrop of the Notcoin (NOT) token. In a statement, Bybit explained that the distribution of tokens was delayed due to system maintenance and an unusually high volume of transactions.
The delay in token distribution resulted in a lower trading price for those who received their tokens later. According to the exchange, the balance problem affected 320,000 users. In response to the incident, Bybit announced a $26 million compensation plan on May 17.
“Total around $26M compensation will be processed within 3 working days, and emails will be sent to you. Again, sorry for the problem caused, we will do a deep dive internally to make sure it never happens again,” wrote Bybit’s CEO Ben Zhou.
Launched in January 2024, Notcoin is a free-to-play money-making game on Telegram where users can earn rewards in the eponymous Notcoin token by simply tapping on coin icons. The NOT cryptocurrency is based on the TON blockchain. Shortly after the launch of the Notcoin game, this clicker game went viral on Telegram, attracting millions of users, even though its token is not yet traded on cryptocurrency exchanges. The coin is currently available for spot and futures trading on many cryptocurrency exchanges, including Gate.io, OKX, WhiteBIT, and others.
CertiK Introduces CertiK Ventures to Spur Blockchain Development
CertiK, a well-known blockchain security solutions organization, has announced the creation of CertiK Ventures, aimed at supporting new network platforms. The new initiative will focus on promoting security-focused projects, participating in venture capital (VC) rounds, and establishing partnerships in the ecosystem.
Jason Jiang, CertiK’s business director, spoke about the importance of this initiative and its direct impact on Web3: “The launch of CertiK Ventures is a pivotal part of our mission to secure the Web3 world. By combining our years of expertise in blockchain security with strategic investments, we aim to accelerate the growth of innovative projects that will shape the future of the industry.”
CertiK Ventures’ portfolio includes companies such as Pantera, LINE, Sei, Hashkey Capital, WEMIX, Dora Hacks, Meta Era, Playbux, Shima Capital, SevenX Ventures, Borderless Capital, and Ling Feng Capital. CertiK Ventures will use CertiK blockchain security to provide resources and expertise to its portfolio companies to support the “development and adoption” of blockchain technology.
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