Crypto.com founder Kris Marszalek made the most expensive domain purchase in history, acquiring AI.com for $70 million, according to TechCrunch. The purchase, paid entirely in cryptocurrency, was made ahead of the Super Bowl, where Marszalek plans to debut the site. The move reflects the growing influence of artificial intelligence and the tech industry's continued investment in the technology.
The deal, facilitated by broker Larry Fischer, shattered previous domain purchase records, as reported by TechCrunch. Marszalek intends to launch the site during the Super Bowl, offering consumers a personal AI agent for messaging, app usage, and stock trading. "If you take a long-term view – 10 to 20 years – AI is going to be one of the greatest technological waves of our lifetime," Marszalek told the Financial Times.
The Super Bowl itself was also a showcase for AI, with several brands leveraging the technology in their advertisements, as noted by The Verge and TechCrunch. Svedka Vodka ran what it touted as the first primarily AI-generated national Super Bowl spot. The ad, titled "Shake Your Bots Off," featured the company's robot character, Fembot, and her new companion, Brobot. Additionally, Anthropic's AI platform was slated to run an ad that took aim at its competitors, including OpenAI.
The focus on AI in the Super Bowl ads mirrored a trend from the previous year, where the technology was already a prominent feature in multimillion-dollar ad spots, according to TechCrunch. The game, which featured the Seattle Seahawks taking on the New England Patriots, was broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
In other tech news, Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving company, is expanding its robotaxi services. Waymo now operates in six markets and plans to add over a dozen new cities internationally, including London and Tokyo, with $16 billion in funding to fuel its expansion, as reported by TechCrunch.
Meanwhile, a march supporting California's billionaires drew a small crowd in San Francisco, according to TechCrunch. The event, organized by Derik Kauffman, aimed to protest the proposed Billionaire Tax Act.
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