Hartmann Capital

This week in Generative AI and Gaming ???? ?? - AI recommended Deadlock's new matchmaking algorithm to Valve: "I found it using ChatGPT." - Krotos released text-prompt driven AI Ambience Generator. - ChatGPT’s ‘canvas’ interface makes it easier to write and code. - Meta previewed a new ‘Movie Gen’ AI video creation tool. - Meta launched the “world’s largest” 3D Model Digital Twin Catalog. - Hugging Face’s new tool lets developers build AI-powered web apps. - Las Vegas rolls out an AI-enabled network powered by Nvidia hardware. - Adobe has a new tool to protect artists’ work from AI. - Google is testing the Gemini button on the Android lock screen for AI functionality. - Google launched video generation in product studio. - Anthropic launched Message Batches API that cost 50% less than standard API calls. - Black Forest Labs released Flux 1.1 Pro and an API. Business and Funding: - Third Dimension AI raised $6.9m (gen. AI 3D world builder). - Clout Kitchen raised $4.45m (League of Legends AI "buddies"). - Distributional raised $19M (automates AI model and app testing.) - Driver raised $8M (simplifying technical documentation). - OpenAI raised $6.6 billion. - poolside raised $500M (AI coding assistants).

Apple's Vision Pro, Meta's Orion, and Snap's Spectacles have been getting most of the headlines recently -- but the landscape of headsets across VR, MR, and AR continues to expand. Check out our research on XR and learn more about our investments in the burgeoning space: https://lnkd.in/ea8MG3Zn

$415 million invested. 100+ AI projects at EA alone. Here's what happened in AI and games in Q3 ?? ?? Big Players: ? EA: 100+ AI projects, new "Imagination to Creation" tool. ? Nintendo: Cautious approach, prioritizing IP protection. ? Amazon Games: Clarified AI stance after backlash. ?? Major Investments: ? Total: $415.1M raised by AI gaming startups. ? Standouts: World Labs ($230M), Volley ($55M), Qodo (formerly CodiumAI) ($40M). Bitmagic Omnic.AI X&Immersion Artificial.Agency Clout Kitchen nunu.ai Reforged Labs (YC W22) FRVR Pentagon Games Campfire (applied AI company) Series Entertainment Crackle Technologies Grand Games Iconic Echo Chunk AI ?? Breakthrough Research: ? GameNGen Doom: AI simulating playable games. ? VIDEOGAMEBUNNY: AI trained on 185,000 images from 413 games. ? GPT-4 powered NPCs in Minecraft. ? "Zagii": Text-to-game RPG engine (803 games generated). ? Sketch2Scene: Doodles to 3D game worlds. ? AI for game tutorial improvement. For more, see our first quarterly AI in Gaming Industry Report: https://lnkd.in/e9XAvy3p

AI + Gaming saw significant fundraising in the third quarter -- signaling a growing belief in AI's ability to change how games are created and experienced. Read the first edition of our quarterly AI in Gaming Industry Report by Daniel Derzic: https://lnkd.in/euvMwR6M

This week in Generative AI and Gaming ???? ?? - Pika released version 1.5. - Jars AI dropped its first AI text-to-show generator. - Microsoft introduced Copilot Labs with new AI features. - Gaxos.AI launched Gaxos Labs AI development tools for game devs. - Nvidia announced a massive, open-source AI model to rival GPT-4. - Sony is using AI for faster game development. - Microsoft Paint is getting Photoshop-like generative AI fill-and-erase features. - AI reading coach startup Ello now lets kids create their own stories. - Meta unveiled open source Llama 3.2. - Google announced new video features for Google Photos. Business and Funding: - Series Entertainment raised a $28M Series A. - SoftBank pours $500m into OpenAI. - Supabase raised $80M in funding. - Qodo raised $40M. - Accenture’s Gen AI bets pay off with $3 bn in bookings. - DeepOpinion raised €11M.

This week in Generative AI and Gaming ???? ?? - James Cameron joins Stability AI Board of Directors. - Neurable launched smart BCI headphones with Master & Dynamic. - Meta introduced a range of new AI features across its platforms, including voice interactions, image understanding and editing, and translation capabilities. - Microsoft claims its new tool can correct AI hallucinations. - Apple Intelligence is now live in public beta. - Alibaba released 100+ open-source models and new text2video generator. - Deepgram launched voice agent API that brings AI conversations to life. - Amazon Ads launched a new AI video generator. - Duolingo launched AI adventures mini-games and video call features. - Nvidia gets almost half its revenue from just four customers. - Cloudflare lets sites block AI crawlers with one click. - YouTube boosts content creation by generating ideas, titles, and full videos. - Jamba 1.5 family by AI21 Labs is now available in Amazon Bedrock. Business and Funding: - Black Forest Labs is raising $100M at a $1B valuation. - Scale AI nearly quadrupled sales YoY to ~$400M in H1 2024 and had ~$980M in cash. - Peratech secured $31.5M. - Ujet raised $76M. - Qura raised €2.1M. - Momos secured $10M Series A, teams with OpenAI. - World Labs AI out of stealth with $230M. - BlackRock, Microsoft to raise $30B for AI investments. - Fathom raised $17M. - Fal.ai raised a $9M seed and a $14M Series A. - Harmonic raised $75M.

Congrats Ramses Alcaide and the Neurable team on incredible innovation in non-invasive consumer brain computer interfaces! Neurable has worked with Master & Dynamic to bring a new type of wearable to the market - one that makes sense of your brain activity.

In our latest piece by JP Minetos, he explores the social phenomenon that is Gorilla Tag -- a free-to-play VR game that has generated $100MM in revenue -- and has become a new gathering spot for Generation Alpha. https://lnkd.in/ei8FA-DE

EA wants to double its global audience to over a billion people in five years! At Electronic Arts' recent Investor Day, the CEO highlighted how AI improves player experiences and unlocks new opportunities beyond traditional gaming. He said AI is "the very core" of EA's business, with over 100 novel AI projects in development. Looking ahead, EA is developing "Imagination to Creation" tools that could allow players to generate custom experiences using assets from popular franchises.

How does Free-to-play Gorilla Tag Make $100MM? In-game cosmetics. Games are the new social media for Gen Alpha - and their status is tied to it. Players buy and wear to show off to their friends and people online. Check it out ??