📔 Weekly Journal: From Roblox to Decentraland - AI Integration
[6 min read] Your weekend guide to getting ahead on the digital frontier. Also, virtual avatars to AI chatbots—The Metaverse gets smarter!
Welcome to this week’s Weekly Journal 📔, your guide to the latest news & innovation in emerging technology, digital assets, and our exciting path to the Metaverse. This is week 117 of the 520 weeks of newsletters I have committed to, a decade of documenting our physical and digital lives converge. New subscribers are encouraged to check out the history & purpose of this newsletter as well as the archive.
- Ryan
🌐 Digital Assets Market Update
To me, the Metaverse is the convergence of physical & virtual lives. As we work, play and socialise in virtual worlds, we need virtual currencies & assets. These have now reached mainstream finance as a defined asset class:
The cryptocurrency market experienced significant volatility this week. Bitcoin's price fell below $90,000, marking a 20% decline from its January peak. This downturn is attributed to broader economic concerns, including potential tariffs and inflationary pressures. Additionally, a $1.5 billion hack of the Bybit exchange intensified market apprehensions, leading to increased risk aversion among investors (source).
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded its investigation into Robinhood's cryptocurrency unit without pursuing enforcement action, signalling a potentially more favourable regulatory environment for crypto platforms. Additionally, MicroStrategy expanded its Bitcoin holdings by acquiring approximately 20,356 Bitcoins for $1.99 billion, reinforcing institutional interest in digital assets (source).
🔥🗺️ 7-day heatmap below, showing the current share of the market for the top cryptocurrencies, and their change in price over the last week.
🎭 Crypto Fear and Greed Index is based on volatility, social media sentiments, surveys, market momentum, and a few other bits and pieces.
Below is the FGI over time to keep the long-term perspective.
🗞️ Metaverse news from this week
1️⃣ Apple Vision Pro’s Impact on the XR Market
Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset continues to shake up the XR space, with reports indicating that Meta is accelerating the launch of its next-gen Quest Pro to stay competitive. Early adopters are praising Vision Pro’s immersive computing capabilities, despite its high price tag.
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2️⃣ AI Avatars Go Mainstream in Virtual Workspaces
Companies like Synthesia and Deepbrain AI are rolling out hyper-realistic AI avatars for enterprise meetings, allowing businesses to deploy digital employees for customer service, training, and more.
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3️⃣ Roblox Introduces Full-Body Avatars with AI Animations
Roblox announced a major update featuring full-body avatars with AI-driven motion capture, bringing a more realistic and expressive experience to the platform. This move aligns with the industry’s push toward hyper-realistic virtual worlds.
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4️⃣ Elon Musk’s xAI Launches Chatbot in the Metaverse
xAI, Elon Musk’s AI startup, has launched a new AI-powered chatbot inside select metaverse platforms, allowing users to have real-time AI-driven conversations in virtual worlds.
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5️⃣ Decentraland Introduces AI-Generated NPCs
The metaverse platform Decentraland is integrating AI-powered NPCs to create dynamic, interactive experiences, allowing users to engage with adaptive, lifelike virtual characters.
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👓 Read of the Week
"How Blockchain Will Bridge the Divide in 2025"CryptoSlate
This insightful article explores blockchain's evolution towards unification, setting the stage for mass adoption and a truly interoperable Web3 ecosystem. It discusses how advancements in blockchain technology are fostering a more connected and efficient digital landscape.
🎥 Watch of the week
"Shaping Tomorrow: AI & Metaverse Trends Defining 2025": In this insightful video, thought leaders Cathy Hackl and Mic Mann delve into the evolution of AI and spatial/metaverse trends. They discuss the concept of agentic AI and its implications for the future of immersive digital experiences.
AI 🎨🤖🎵✍🏼
In the Metaverse, AI will be critical for creating intelligent virtual environments and avatars that can understand and respond to users with human-like cognition and natural interactions.
The Role of AI and Blockchain in Building Smarter Metaverse Worlds: This article examines how AI and blockchain technologies are converging to create more intelligent and interconnected metaverse environments. It highlights the potential of these technologies to enhance user experiences and drive innovation in virtual worlds. Medium
Elon Musk's AI Outlook: Elon Musk estimates an 80% chance of positive outcomes with AI development but acknowledges a 20% risk of human annihilation. He predicts AI will surpass human intelligence within a year or two, reaching a level smarter than all humans combined by 2029 or 2030. Musk's current focus is on xAI, aiming to develop an AI that seeks truth, even if politically incorrect. Business Insider
Vatican's AI Warning: The Vatican has issued a strong warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence, stating that the technology contains "the shadow of evil" and urging governments to monitor its development. Concerns include autonomous weapons and AI-generated deepfakes that could threaten global peace and societal stability. The Times
That’s all for this week! If you have any organisations in mind that could benefit from keynotes about emerging technology, be sure to reach out. Public speaking is one of many services I offer.