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Ecosystem Roundup: 17LIVE going public via SPAC merger, Layoffs at Spenmo

Dear Pro member,

The proposed acquisition of 17LIVE Holding by Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation marks a significant move in the live-streaming entertainment industry. The deal, valued at S$925.1 million (US$676 million), is set to create a formidable entity, with VTAC to be renamed 17LIVE Group Limited.

17LIVE Holding, which operates the 17LIVE live-streaming platform, has made substantial inroads in the live-streaming markets of Japan and Taiwan, with expanding footprints in several other countries. It has leveraged AI-powered personalisation to connect users with relevant content, a strategy that has paid off with strong market shares.

The decision to list the combined entity on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading (SGX-ST) positions 17LIVE for accelerated growth, especially in Southeast Asia and the US, as it taps into high-growth markets.

With profitability in sight and a solid user base, this strategic move indicates confidence in the live-streaming sector’s potential and its role in the entertainment landscape.

VTAC’s CEO sees 17LIVE as a company poised for significant growth, and 17LIVE’s chairman underscores the importance of SGX-ST listing for the company’s expansion plans.

This merger underscores the live-streaming industry’s vitality and potential in the digital entertainment realm.

Editor,
Sainul
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Vertex Ventures’s blank-cheque firm VTAC proposes merger with 17LIVE
The deal is worth up to US$676M; The combined entity will be listed on the SGX-ST, and the listing will fuel 17LIVE’s expansion into markets such as Southeast Asia and the US.

Spenmo lays off staff in bid to become profitable
The Singaporean fintech firm will lay off ~60-70 employees across APAC; In late 2022, Spenmo reportedly conducted its first round of layoffs in a bid to extend its runway amid the market downturn.

Coinbase secures MPI license from MAS Singapore
Coinbase will now be able to offer its Digital Payment Token services to retail as well as institutional players in Singapore; A survey says, 32% of its Singapore residents have owned/are owning cryptocurrencies.

VNG CEO assures staff US listing will happen, just not yet
The firm postponed its highly anticipated IPO in the US; According to VNG CEO Le Hong Minh, the reason was investor readiness – or the lack thereof – for an Asia tech IPO.

Indoor farming startup BoomGrow secures pre-Series A funding
Gobi Partners is the investor; BoomGrow turns repurposed shipping containers into ‘machine farms’ to grow pesticide-free vegetables with a reduced carbon footprint.

Global economy is taking a turn for the worse: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu
The Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on supply chains, high inflation rates, and the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes are causing fears of a recession in the US, adding to the sector’s worries.

NDC joins forces with Quest Ventures to bolster startup ecosystem of Philippines
For this collaboration, the NDC will leverage its newly established iHub, which is the headquarters of the Startup Venture Fund and Philippine E-commerce Platform.

Gojek seeks to grow customer base with launch of GoRide Transit for multinational level
The new feature allows riders to book multimodal trips integrated with public transport in a single transaction; It was rolled out early this month and officially launched on Friday.

India’s national logistics portal exposed sensitive personal data, trade records
Called the National Logistics Portal-Marine, the website made the sensitive and private data public due to misconfigured Amazon S3 buckets; It also carried a JavaScript file that included login credentials into the web source code.

Brazil rolls out blockchain-based digital ID
Rio de Janeiro, Goiás and Paraná will be the first states to issue identification documents on-chain; The entire country should be able to issue identity documents through blockchain technology by Nov. 6.

Scammy dental insurers use artificially generated deepfake in Tom Hanks ad
Hanks emphasised that AI-generated content possesses a startlingly realistic quality, rendering it nearly indistinguishable from genuine performances, capable of deceiving audiences.

BIS applies DeFi principles to cross-border wCBDC tests
The project’s proof of concept successfully tested the cross-border trading and settlement of hypothetical euro, Singapore dollar and Swiss franc wCBDCs between simulated financial institutions.

Amazon faces backlash as AI-generated book rip-offs hit shelves
The surge of AI-generated content on Amazon alarms authors like Margaret Atwood and Viet Thanh Nguyen, who fear their works are used to train AI models without their approval, payment, or acknowledgement.

How to raise a Series A in today’s market
The statistics show that the Series A deployment is down 60% over the last year and a half; The amount deployed per Series A is down 25% from US$10M to US$7.5M.

Sam Bankman-Fried trial starts soon, but how did he get here?
The crypto industry as a whole suffered from FTX’s collapse, which was the first of many. BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 in November 2022, as did Genesis Global Trading in January.

Inmagine CEO discusses AI’s impact on content creation and ethical considerations
In an e27 Q&A, the Inmagine Group CEO explores AI’s transformative influence on content creation, stock photography, and graphic design industries while addressing ethical concerns.

How can you build a living, thriving community around your SaaS product?
Being a SaaS product founder, it is important to build a community around your product and keep it alive and engaging with the help of a community platform.

A glimpse into the future of healthtech ecosystem in SEA
Digital learning trends, peer networks, and healthcare’s alignment with learning habits bode well for health tech innovations in the region.

Exploring the ‘Phygital’ world where digital and physical realms converge
Navigating the exciting realm where digital and physical worlds merge, reshaping industries and accelerating innovation.

100 million inbound travelers in Saudi Arabia to access ChatGPT in Arabic via BuzzAR
Choco Up to provide US$5M funding to fuel BuzzAR’s expansion in Saudi Arabia, serving ChatGPT in Arabic to a targeted 100 million inbound travellers.

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Connecting clouds in SEA: How to ensure interoperability in the hybrid and multi-cloud context

Cloud architects in the Asian region are facing challenges in their attempts to integrate disparate clouds into their infrastructure. These challenges often arise due to the decentralised nature of cloud adoption within organisations, mirroring the global trend.

Regularly, these challenges stem from the fact that individual teams and departments have created cloud environments from the bottom up. Very often, these are isolated solutions from different SaaS (Software as a service)/cloud providers for dedicated problems.

As a result, many companies now have patchwork cloud environments without any particularly systematic approach. A further pain point in cloud optimisation is the diverse levels of regional adoption – given that Asia is a vast and diverse continent with varying levels of cloud adoption across different countries and industries.

Cloud providers must grapple with the deployment of geographically cost-efficient data centre locations and differing regional compliance, regulatory requirements and trends. Cloud users need the best performance and greatest reliability in their connections to cloud resources, wherever they are based, at an acceptable price.

Unexpected extra costs, such as “cloud egress” costs (the fees a cloud provider charges you to transfer data out of their cloud when shifting any data from one cloud environment either back to their own infrastructure or onto other clouds) add a further headache.

To add insult to injury, it is now becoming clear that, due to changes in business processes, data and workloads holed up in one cloud environment are essential for systems and applications running in other clouds within differing regions in Asia. This decentralised adoption is influenced by the diverse market conditions across Asian regions, resulting in patchwork cloud environments using services from different Asian and global providers, which cannot interoperate per se.

An oversimplified conclusion might be to revert to a single-cloud policy and build everything anew on one cloud provider’s infrastructure. But even cloud-native companies that use a greenfield approach (starting off with a one-cloud strategy), not to mention companies that have migrated from legacy to the cloud, reach a size where a multi-cloud strategy becomes a commercial and operational advantage.

A single-cloud policy is a recipe for vendor lock-in and represents a single point of failure for critical business processes. So, robust multi-cloud is the advisable option. Therefore, the clouds need to be made interoperable.

In a nutshell, a process of translation between the infrastructure of cloud providers is necessary. Interoperability is needed on all of the software layers, as well as – perhaps most fundamentally – on the network layer.

Achieving interoperability on the software layers is a task for SoftwareDev or DevOps – e.g., including whether the data formats fit, whether the same data structure and business logic are being used, whether there is an API (Application Programming Interface) in place so that the software components can interact with each other, and for the interpretation of data.

However, in this article, we will focus on how to create a harmonised cloud environment on the network layer, offering the resilience and flexibility of hybrid and multi-cloud combined with the ease and latency of a single cloud.

Connecting to clouds via the internet — limited security and controllability, plus hidden costs

There are only a few methods for connecting clouds to one another. Firstly, it is possible to purchase Internet gateways from each of the cloud providers available in Asia and have the data (randomly) traverse the public Internet to get from one cloud to the other. In this scenario, there is no control of data paths, performance, or security, an unacceptable risk for critical data, workloads, and systems.

This raises concerns about the limitation in both security and control within the Asian region, given its diverse regulatory landscape and the importance of data sovereignty. A more secure method would be to set up virtual gateways for each of the clouds being used and deploy a VPN (e.g., IPSec) tunnel between the clouds.

Also Read: Beyond the cloud: Entering the Web3 horizon for greater security

This encrypts the traffic, but the data still needs to flow over the public Internet. Latency can, in this scenario, become unacceptably high, resulting in poor performance, time-outs with potential data loss, increased overhead to manage many end-to-end tunnels, and a lack of connectivity resilience.

What’s more, cloud egress costs are substantially higher when the data traverses the public Internet. Companies operating in the Asian region should carefully evaluate their cloud connectivity strategies, considering options like local/regional peering points and content delivery networks to mitigate the financial burden associated with data egress costs.

Direct connectivity to clouds for seamless, secure, and cost-efficient data transfers

A more robust option, suitable for handling sensitive company data, is to implement direct connectivity on the IP layer using the direct connectivity service of the respective cloud provider (e.g., Azure Express Route, AWS Direct Connect, etc.).

Each cloud provider offers its own direct connectivity service, and their cloud egress charges are much lower over this service than for data transferred over the public Internet. In fact, it has been conclusively demonstrated that it is less expensive to use private network connectivity to clouds if the company has more than a mere 25 megabits per second (Mbit/s) of traffic. Once a company exceeds this amount, the private connectivity pays for itself.

In this scenario, the data pathway is controlled to the handover point to the company network, and the public Internet is bypassed. This enables flexible bandwidth scaling, increases security, reduces latency, and eliminates the pain point of high ingress fees.

The easiest and fastest way to directly connect to multiple clouds is via a distributed Cloud Exchange, as it is possible to access all clouds at once with one single connection to the exchange. If the company has servers and routers set up in a colocation facility that has Cloud Exchange capabilities enabled, a simple cross-connect to the Cloud Exchange platform is all the company needs.

If the company infrastructure is in a non-enabled data centre, then connectivity can be purchased to the exchange, and from there, a single access again suffices. Once Southeast Asian companies take the initiative to connect to a distributed Cloud Exchange platform, then it is possible for them to interconnect directly and securely with each specific cloud provider.

Best practices for cloud connectivity

Directly interconnecting with cloud networks in this way is a best practice in itself, whether we are talking about a multi-cloud setup or a hybrid-cloud scenario. Such a scenario can be combined with SLAs (Service Level Agreements) and performance guarantees, and cloud egress costs can be reduced by 50 per cent or more compared to transporting data via the public Internet.

A possible further optimisation is to interconnect the clouds with each other using direct connectivity. Some Cloud Exchanges offer a virtualised cloud-routing service, which interconnects the direct connectivity services of each cloud provider directly on the platform, ensuring the shortest pathway between the clouds.

This offers the lowest latency between the different clouds, ensuring seamless, secure, and the most cost-efficient data transfers between clouds. For pure cloud2cloud scenarios, it is not even necessary to have an infrastructure in an enabled multi-tenant data centre because some cloud-routing services can exist both as stand-alone connectivity between clouds or as part of a hybrid-cloud setup to connect private on-premises equipment.

Having set up direct connectivity to and between clouds, one last step from the network perspective would be to clarify the need for encryption. Some cloud service providers offer encryption through the edge of their network, others do not.

Also Read: How to manage multi-cloud complexity: A strategic guide

Here, IPSec offers a good possibility to encrypt data through to the company’s cloud environment, if required. In addition, MACsec can be used to encrypt the connection between the company’s and the cloud provider’s network devices.

Conclusion: Finding pain relief for cloud headaches

In order for Southeast Asia and other regions of the Global South to gain an equal footing in the global digital economy, they require a comprehensive set of policies that prioritise economic development while also taking into account sovereignty issues.

In terms of data sovereignty relating to the cloud, a cloud-routing service, which can either be booked directly over a Cloud Exchange or by going through a systems integrator or managed service provider (MSP), is an excellent way to alleviate the insufficient performance between two applications running in different clouds.

A cloud-routing service can be connected directly to the company infrastructure, ensuring that all data moving to, from, and between clouds flows over the cloud providers’ direct connectivity service, also dealing with the discomfort of high cloud egress fees.

Beyond that, the benefits of routing between clouds include having a secure, virtually dedicated domain so that packets do not traverse the public Internet. The company is also no longer vulnerable to vendor lock-in because it is much easier to move workloads from one cloud to another.

Finally, a cloud router also makes it much easier to take a “best of breed” approach: to take services from, say, five different cloud providers without the need to worry about the network layer. It simplifies the management of multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud scenarios so that attention can instead be focused on business objectives.

Once Asian companies recognise the importance of direct connectivity as part of their cloud strategy, it will enable them to move forward with their digital transformation strategies. The result will be that cloud usage will be advanced, and enterprises in Southeast Asia will have a level playing field on par with infrastructure outside of the Asian region.

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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Empowering the future of Singapore: The need for SMEs to embrace renewable energy solutions

The energy landscape in Singapore has been evolving at an increasing pace, with a focus on sustainable renewable energy at its core. From a firm reliance on oil and gas, the country has been embracing various sources of renewable energy.

Working towards the Singapore Green Plan 2030, organisations have been looking at ways to adapt their energy policies and function in tandem with the plan. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which form the backbone of our vibrant economy, are no exception.

These businesses help to contribute significantly to our nation’s prosperity, innovation, and employment, and it is of paramount importance for them to seek a variety of sustainable energy solutions and plans to help the country’s progress towards a greener future.

Profiting with policies

Whilst the aim of the adoption of renewable energy is to achieve a goal of net zero emissions by 2050, SMEs in Singapore might still struggle in even taking the first step on this journey towards a more sustainable future.

A major setback that countries across the region and the world have observed when adopting green technologies has been the upfront costs. Early adopters of renewable energy have stated that these costs have been a major hurdle in enticing more enterprises to embrace green energy, but global projections foresee a reduction in costs in the time to come for these technologies.

Despite this, many enterprises work with modest capital and wonder if the long-term benefits of embracing renewable energy sources would be worthwhile. To help alleviate the situation, the government of Singapore has set in place various policies and incentives to help bolster the adoption of these solutions.

Also Read: What is left behind in our conversation on climate change

With a variety of grants, subsidies, and tax incentives catered to SMEs across the board, these companies can rest easier knowing that the government is enabling them to transition into sustainable energy solutions. With these incentives, SMEs will face a significant reduction in the upfront costs of adopting these green technologies, helping them get started in their journey towards a greener Singapore.

Harnessing the sun

While we understand the cost constraints that come with the adoption of new technologies, the long-term benefits of embracing such solutions save more money in the long run.

The benefit of harnessing solar energy helps SMEs greatly, especially with the country of Singapore being located so close to the equator, ensuring a steady stream of daylight throughout the year. The adoption of this technology helps SMEs reduce their electricity bills whilst enhancing their sustainability profile, which is also an attractive incentive for venture capitalists and businesses looking to invest in companies with the potential to grow thanks to a sustainable infrastructure set in place for the long haul.

For SMEs that cannot afford their own PV systems, there are various other options to help make use of clean energy via solar installations, such as Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Enterprises can look at entering partnerships with renewable energy developers, such as LHN Energy, to purchase renewable energy over a period that is convenient for the company, which then allows them access to clean energy bar the upfront costs of infrastructure installations on their respective premises.

A notable case study to consider is the recent 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between Management Corporation Strata Title No. 695 (MCST 695) and LHN Energy. LHN Energy will invest in, supply, and install an approximately 352kWp Solar PV System on the rooftop of the building that houses the Textile Centre of Singapore. The renewable energy generated from the solar PV system will partially meet the building’s energy demand, reducing its carbon footprint and marking another step forward in the creation of a sustainability-conscious Singapore.

“Our drive behind this endeavour is a dual commitment: strategically managing our electricity expenses while playing our part in preserving a habitable environment for future generations. We’ve selected LHN Energy as our trusted partner due to their competitive offerings and shared sustainability vision, assuring us of their capacity and dedication to bring our green vision to fruition,” said Mr Teo Chee Ho, Stanley, Chairman of MCST 695.

Benefiting the brand

Prioritising sustainability provides companies with a competitive advantage. By demonstrating a commitment to environmental stewardship, SMEs can enhance their brand image, attracting a wider customer base, both locally and internationally, whilst securing partnerships with other like-minded businesses and, of course, potential investment opportunities from family offices and venture capitals.

Also Read: ESG empowerment: Fueling Malaysia’s SMEs for a sustainable future

Embracing the myriad varieties of sustainable energy solutions also helps to encourage creativity and innovation within SMEs. It indubitably necessitates the futureproofing of your business, creating a forward-looking approach that looks at fostering a culture of adaptability and resilience that SMEs require to face the challenges imposed by the rapidly evolving business landscape of Singapore.

An example of ways that SMEs can look at improving their sustainability initiatives, apart from the installation of solar panels or the purchase of clean energy, is also the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs). A growing number of enterprises are replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with EVs for their fleet of vehicles to reduce the carbon footprint further whilst also installing and providing EV charging infrastructure for their employees and the community at large.

Embracing such solutions not only helps to enhance the brand’s image but is also a necessary step forward in the right direction towards a greener Singapore.

For a better tomorrow

In conclusion, the adoption of renewable energy solutions is fast becoming a necessity rather than a choice for SMEs and bigger enterprises within Singapore.

It not only offers economic advantages, ensures regulatory compliance with various governmental policies, and enhances competitiveness at a local and international level, but it also most predominantly contributes towards a greener and more sustainable future.

As the country looks to bear the standard of sustainability and innovation within the region, SMEs need to play their part in embracing these solutions. Through the reduction of their carbon footprint and environmental impact, SMEs can help mitigate climate change to preserve our planet for a brighter and more sustainable tomorrow for future generations to come.

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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Understanding the significance of Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Cybersecurity is a concern in today’s digitally connected world, as the growing dependence on technology has heightened threats to our online safety and privacy. To address these challenges, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is celebrated every October to promote awareness of the importance of cybersecurity.

In this article, we’ll explore what Cybersecurity Awareness Month is all about, why it matters, and how to get started.

What is Cybersecurity Awareness Month?

Every October, we celebrate Cybersecurity Awareness Month. It’s an important initiative that aims to raise awareness about cybersecurity and promote safe online practices. This annual event is a collaborative platform for individuals, organisations, and governments to come together to educate the public about cyber threats and the steps needed to stay safe online.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month started back in 2004, The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) are partnering to create resources and messaging for organisations to use when they talk with their employees, customers, and memberships about staying safe online. Over the years, it has gained recognition worldwide, becoming a global campaign dedicated to protecting our digital world.

Cybersecurity awareness means being cautious in everyday situations, like understanding the risks when browsing the web, opening links, using email and social media, or just being online. With Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it is hoped that every individual and organisation can better understand the importance of implementing cybersecurity practices in their daily activities to prevent cyberattacks.

Why is cybersecurity awareness important?

Cybersecurity incidents come at a high cost, and the frequency of cyberattacks continues to surge annually. Failing to educate yourself, your employees, or your customers on cybersecurity can pose substantial risks.

Also Read: The state of cybersecurity in 2023: How APAC organisations can stay ahead of the curve

A recent survey conducted by Cloudflare involving over 4,000 cybersecurity leaders across Asia revealed some concerning statistics. A staggering 78 per cent of them had faced at least one cybersecurity incident in the past year, with only 38 per cent feeling adequately prepared to fend off these threats.

Furthermore, approximately 63 per cent of respondents disclosed financial losses amounting to at least US$1 million due to these incidents, while 14 per cent endured losses surpassing the US$3 million mark within the last 12 months.

Cybercriminals exhibit remarkable adaptability in devising new strategies to circumvent security measures, infiltrating organisations through deceptive emails and websites. They are a global menace, with the capability to exploit vulnerabilities wherever they may exist.

As per data from the Singapore Police Force, the first half of 2023 witnessed a staggering 70 per cent surge in fraud and cybercrime cases compared to the same period in 2022, with a total of 24,525 reported cases. Although the monetary losses reported by victims showed a slight dip, amounting to S$334.5 million (US$245.7 million) in 2023, down 2.2 per cent from S$342.1 million in 2022, the threat remains alarmingly potent.

These cybercriminals employ diverse techniques and often operate incognito for prolonged durations. Cybercrimes are frequently automated and exploit unpatched vulnerabilities in organisational systems. These wrongdoers have easy access to tools within the dark web, enabling them to deceive unsuspecting users. By fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness, there is a collective hope that the number of online fraud victims will see a decline.

How to get started with cybersecurity awareness?

You don’t have to be a cybersecurity expert to participate in Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Also, not everyone needs to grasp complex concepts such as ransomware rollback or advanced persistent threats (APTs). However, there is essential information that you should understand to help you stay safe online, both at work and at home. To kickstart your journey in cybersecurity awareness, consider these steps:

Use strong passwords and a password manager

Strong passwords are important for protecting your data. To simplify password management and create strong passwords, consider using password managers. These tools not only generate secure passwords for your accounts but also provide a convenient way to store and manage them.

Also Read: How to achieve cybersecurity independence in Southeast Asia

Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Unfortunately, it’s crucial to go beyond just using passwords. Nowadays, we must enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the risk of hacking. Make sure to activate MFA on all your online accounts that provide this feature, with a particular focus on email, social media, and financial accounts. 

Learn to recognise phishing

Phishing scams, conducted through emails, SMS, and calls, pose the most significant threat to data security. Unless it’s necessary, refrain from sharing sensitive details or credentials via phone or email, and avoid clicking on links or opening attachments from unfamiliar sources. Learning to identify phishing signs and promptly reporting such incidents to your IT department plays a vital role in safeguarding both data and devices.

Update software regularly

The simplest way to maintain your devices’ is by keeping the software up to date. Make sure your operating systems, antivirus software, web browsers, and applications are regularly updated. Additionally, stay informed about the latest cybersecurity threats and trends, as cybercriminals frequently adapt their tactics, and it’s essential to keep your defences current.

Conduct risk assessment

To enhance your cybersecurity, start by conducting a thorough cyber risk assessment in your organisation. This assessment helps identify weaknesses in your digital setup and lets you focus on fixing the most critical issues first. It’s like finding and fixing the most important problems to make your online presence more secure.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, cybersecurity awareness is just the beginning. To ensure its effectiveness, it’s essential for everyone to adopt and actively practise cyber-secure behaviour in both their professional and personal lives. The awareness you cultivate this month can benefit you and others throughout the year, from awareness to cybersecurity culture.

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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Visa’s new US$100M fund to back generative AI startups working on commerce, payments

Global payments major Visa has launched a new US$100 million fund.

The fund will invest in the next generation of companies focused on developing generative AI technologies and applications that will impact the future of commerce and payments.

It is unclear if the new initiative will seek to invest in Asia/Southeast Asia.

The firm’s global corporate investment arm, Visa Ventures, will lead this initiative. The VC firm has been investing in and partnering with companies driving innovation in payments and commerce since 2007.

Also Read: How to stay creative in the age of Generative AI and Web3

The payments honcho has been using AI for the past several years and considers this initiative an extension of this experience to drive innovation in payments, create value for partners and clients and enable and empower global commerce.

Generative AI is an emerging subset of AI that is built on Large Language Models (LLMs) to develop artificial general intelligence capable of generating text, images or other content from large sets of existing data when given prompts.

“While much of generative AI so far has been focused on tasks and content creation, this technology will soon not only reshape how we live and work, but it will also meaningfully change commerce in ways we need to understand,” said Jack Forestell, Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Visa.

Visa facilitates transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories.

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