📔 Weekly Journal: Remember Napster?
[6 min read] Your weekend guide to getting ahead on the digital frontier. Learn how Napster will be reborn: Infinite Reality transforms iconic brand into a social music platform for immersive worlds.
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 123 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:
🔥🗺️Heat map shows the 7 day change in price (red down, green up) and block size is market cap.
🎭 Crypto Fear and Greed Index is based on volatility, social media sentiments, surveys, market momentum, and a few other bits and pieces.
🗞️ Metaverse news from this week
The rise of humanoid robots is increasingly tied to a small but critical component: the planetary roller screw. This next-generation alternative to traditional ball screws enables robots to withstand higher loads and achieve more precise movement — vital for operating in human environments. As companies like Tesla, Figure AI, and leading Chinese manufacturers race to build humanoid robots at scale, control of the planetary roller screw supply chain is becoming a geopolitical issue. With China currently dominating production, Western nations may face pressure to develop local manufacturing — especially given U.S.-China trade tensions. In a future Metaverse where physical and digital worlds merge, humanoid robots powered by such components could act as embodied agents — bridging immersive digital systems with real-world presence and interaction.
Infinite Reality, a Florida-based startup, is leading the metaverse’s unexpected resurgence in 2025 — but this time it’s riding alongside AI rather than competing with it. Following years of metaverse disillusionment, Infinite Reality has secured $3 billion in funding and acquired Napster, aiming to transform it into a social music platform within immersive digital environments. Their iR Engine lets users build 3D spaces without coding, targeting e-commerce, marketing, and entertainment sectors. This revival signals a new phase for the metaverse — no longer driven by hype alone but powered by AI integration, data ownership, and user-controlled environments. In the emerging digital economy, these immersive spaces could become the connective tissue between physical commerce, social media, and decentralised digital identity — reinforcing the metaverse’s relevance as spatial computing, AI, and real-world commerce converge.
Dr Mehmet Oz, now head of the $1.5 trillion Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has sparked controversy by suggesting AI could replace frontline doctors for routine diagnoses like diabetes — at a fraction of the cost. In his first all-staff meeting, Oz claimed AI consultations could cost $2 an hour versus $100 for human doctors, and patients might prefer interacting with an AI avatar. This reflects a broader trend where AI-driven health agents could play a foundational role in future virtual environments — including metaverse healthcare settings. As immersive tech and spatial computing evolve, AI doctors embedded in metaverse clinics or XR experiences could radically alter healthcare delivery — enabling scalable, low-cost, avatar-driven consultations across virtual worlds or remote environments. Oz's comments underscore both the efficiency potential and ethical complexity of AI replacing human expertise in sensitive domains like health.
👓 Read of the Week: Justice Enters the Metaverse
Virtual courts are reshaping the future of justice — faster, cheaper, more accessible — but challenges of security and human connection remain.
This week’s essential read explores how the legal system is undergoing its most profound technological shift in decades: the rise of virtual courts in the Metaverse. Far beyond simple Zoom hearings, the Metaverse promises fully immersive courtrooms where lawyers, judges, and clients interact via avatars, evidence is presented in 3D, and proceedings become borderless.
While the benefits are clear — efficiency, cost reduction, transparency — the article thoughtfully examines the challenges that must be solved: cybersecurity, equal access to technology, and preserving the human empathy central to justice.
As the Metaverse evolves from entertainment to infrastructure, expect the courtroom to be one of its most transformative frontiers.
→ Read the full article here.
🎥 Watch of the week: Napster destined for a Metaverse Makeover
Napster, the once infamous music sharing platform, has been acquired by Infinite Reality for $207 million with plans to transform it into a social music platform in the metaverse. Canadians are avoiding travel to the US due to anti-US sentiments and patriotic sentiments, which is causing a decline in tourism to the US. Additionally, President Trump and his family have launched a stablecoin called USD one through their company, World Liberty Financial, marking their fourth foray into digital currency.
AI 🎨🤖🎵✍🏼: Why AI Can't Take Over Creative Writing
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.
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.