Is AI Stealing Web3’s Thunder?; The Most Promising Crypto Startups

“In Silicon Valley, crypto and the metaverse are out. Generative AI is in,” the New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose proclaimed last week, joining other industry watchers in weighing in on what’s top of mind for those who control the Silicon Valley war chests. But are crypto investments really out of style?

It’s a tempting claim to make, especially looking at the VC megadeals that are happening now compared to a year ago. While our reporters were busy scooping funding news on startups like crypto payments startup MoonPay and crypto trading firm Anchorage Digital around this time last year, lately our VC coverage has been dominated by news like OpenAI, seeking more funding from Microsoft, and Stability AI in talks with investors to raise $1 billion. Both companies have developed software that allows users to generate images from text prompts.