Sequoia, a tech investment firm, has announced that they are investing heavily into DecaartAI, using a demo codenamed Oasis to show off the new generative AI technologies. In this case, DecartAI presented a fully playable version of Microsoft and Mojang’s Minecraft not running on a game engine.
This is a fully playable version of Minecraft WITH NO GAME ENGINE, it’s purely a video model rendering pixels in real time pic.twitter.com/pj8AKYEpCC— Shaun Maguire (@shaunmmaguire) October 31, 2024
In the demo, the game is not being dictated by logic, claims Decaart. It is being created pixel-by-pixel in realtime through generative AI.
“Oasis takes in user keyboard input and generates real-time gameplay, including physics, game rules, and graphics,” Decaart writes in a blog post. “You can move around, jump, pick up items, break blocks, and more. There is no game engine; just a foundation model.”
It might be more accurate to argue that Oasis is an interactive video that takes input that is different from what is traditionally referred to as a video game. But it might be an example of how game creation is changing due to AI, as the idea of an engine-less model might birth new terms as developers come to grips with the technology.
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Part of the mythology of Silicon Valley is the committed founder driving the company to a blockbuster IPO. In reality, startups are 16 times more likely to get acquired.
It’s not an outcome that’s frequently discussed, either.
“It’s one of these things that a lot of people don’t really talk about. In Silicon Valley, we always talk about IPOs,” said Naveen Rao, VP of AI at Databricks and two-time founder, onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Thursday.
That silence can make the arduous process even more challenging for founders. “I’m so glad that this is being talked about as a topic on a panel, as a real path and a real outcome for founders, rather than the hallowed, inside secrets of investment bankers who strike a deal,” said Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, head of data clean rooms at Snowflake and a two-time founder.
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“Acquisitions statistically are more likely than IPOs — arguably more successful in many scenarios than IPOs — and certainly something that founders have to kind of mentally and physically prepare for. It’s an endurance journey,” she said.
Both founders said they didn’t start their companies with the intention of selling them, but when the right deal with the right company came along, it made sense.
“I personally believe that you should build a company and try to make that into a real entity,” Rao said. “If something comes along the way, great. If you try to set yourself up to sell the company, it’ll always be bent that way, like you’re always for sale. And I think the outcome will never be as good.”
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“You hear all these stories about ‘good companies are bought, not sold’ and ‘you should just keep going and have infinite perseverance,’” Dharmesh Thakker, general partner at Battery Ventures, told the audience.
“The reality is, most investors have a few hits that make 100x and they pay the fund. The rest of it, whether you make a 1x or a 0.5x or a 2x, it kind of doesn’t really matter. What we try to do is say, ‘Okay, if things aren’t going to be a 50 or 100x, let’s find them a good home early in the cycle,” he added. “It’s much easier to sell a company when you raise $10 million or $20 million and can still make a win-win situation for the founders and investors and get it done. It’s difficult when you have to raise hundreds of millions and then find out that things aren’t working.”
To determine when it’s time to soldier on and when it’s time to sell, Thakker analyzes the company using a three-point framework.
First, he analyses the product: Is it something customers love and are using? If a company is struggling to gain traction in the market, it might warrant a pivot, or it might be worth cashing out.
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Second, he looks at the company’s sales and sales cycle. If the product isn’t moving or if it’s challenging for the sales team to complete deals, that might be a red flag.
Third, Thakker takes a look at the balance sheet. If money and runway is running short, that’s a pretty obvious signal that it might be time to look for a suitor.
“I’ve been fortunate to be an investor in MongoDB and Cloudera, Databricks, Confluent, Gong many others, where every time we had an acquisition offer, we looked at the framework and said, Are these three things true?” If the answer was yes, the Battery team encouraged the startup to remain independent.
On occasion, the founders needed a moment to “refresh” and “revitalize,” he added. “In almost all cases, the eventual outcome was a lot better than selling the company.”
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But that’s not always the case. If two of the three items in Thakker’s framework aren’t positive, it’s worth reconsidering. Maybe customers bought the product but aren’t using it. Or maybe it’s a good fit but it’s not selling well. In both cases, the company can keep trying, but it’ll burn a lot of cash in the process. “In those cases, you should be much more open-minded, and the sooner you do it, the better off you are,” Thakker said.
When the time comes to sell, Thakker encourages founders to negotiate a deal that’s equitable not just for founders and investors, but their employees as well. “Let’s do right by employees,” he said. “Often, a big component of the acquisition is a retention package for all the employees. And inevitably, if you do that right, many of those employees come back, start a company, and you fund them the second and the third time. And the second and the third time, there are much better outcomes.”
When Agatha All Alongwas first announced back in 2021 as a music-heavy follow-up to WandaVision, it was hard to imagine how showrunner Jac Schaeffer could recreate the magic that made the original such an inspired piece of storytelling. WandaVision’s shows-within-a-show premise and clever use of practical effects, along with being one of the first Disney Plus series, helped to set it apart from previous Marvel projects. But Schaeffer also used WandaVision to weave beats from the franchise’s tentpole films into a cohesive narrative that helped bring the entire MCU into its multiversal era.
From its very first episode, Agatha All Along went to great lengths to show us that, even with WandaVision’s lead killed off in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, there was still plenty of — and perhaps too much — meat for Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness to chew on. The show’s two-part finale stuck the landing by living up to its title in more ways than one. Though the MCU’s interconnectedness has felt increasingly wobbly post-WandaVision, Agatha All Along ended in a way that feels poised to put (at least some of) the franchise back on track. And with another follow-up series already in development, it seems like Marvel has figured out that these specific stories are the ones it has the best shot of knocking out of the park.
This piece contains spoilers about Agatha All Along’s finale.
Image: Disney Plus / Marvel
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WandaVision briefly touched on covens in a flashback to the 17th century when Agatha killed her mother Evanora (Kate Forbes) and their group of sister witches. But Agatha All Along digs deeper, introducing characters like Agatha’s ex-lover Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) and a mysterious teen who’s unable to share his name (Joe Locke). Because Agatha herself was already framed as a unique threat to magic users, it was difficult to suss out what kinds of dangers were lying in wait for the coven as she and the teen recruited fortune teller Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), potions master Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), protection witch Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn), and ordinary Jersey woman Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp) to their ranks.
But Agatha All Along established a very clear focus for all of its players. The “Witches’ Road” — a realm entered by covens singing “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” — and its ability to grant wishes to those who passed its trials gave the witches a reason to work together. And similar to how Agatha All Along’s send-up of Mare of Easttown was a callback to WandaVision’s sitcom spoofs, the Witches’ Road felt like the show’s biggest way of emphasizing the power of practical effects.
The Road, with all of its hand-painted leaves and trees that transformed the set into an otherworldly forest, hammered home how Agatha All Along’s creative team was smartly using its lean budget to create magic that felt more real than its predecessor’s. And the Road’s horror movie-inspired trials to test witches’ skills gave the show a narrative structure that was similar to but distinct enough from WandaVision’s to make it seem like Agatha All Along truly was the second chapter in a trilogy of stories rather than just a spinoff.
Image: Disney Plus / Marvel
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As tends to be the case with genre TV shows with big casts, Agatha All Along occasionally struggled to keep all of its plates spinning at the same speed as Agatha’s. Each witch got a chance to shine when facing a different trial, but some of their backstories — especially Jennifer’s and Alice’s — felt rushed and went largely unexplored. Some of the trials themselves were a bit shaggy. (At one point, the witches brew a poison antidote by dumping a bunch of ingredients into a sink.) As unwieldy as Agatha All Along sometimes was, though, it was also willing to kill characters off with a finality that helped it become sharper as the season progressed.
There was still some question as to what Agatha All Along’s big bad might end up being by the season’s midway point, when Sharon and Alice had already bitten the dust. But all of the show’s puzzle pieces began fitting together in episodes five and six as the teen was revealed to be Billy Maximoff / William Kaplan, one of the Scarlet Witch’s sons, who had possessed the body of a dead person.
One of the more impressive things about WandaVision was the way it managed to rework some of Marvel’s most convoluted Scarlet Witch and Vision comics arcs into a story that was concise and compelling enough to keep people who weren’t readers of the comics consistently engaged. Much of Billy’s comics lore — he and his brother wind up having their souls reabsorbed by the demon Mephisto before being reincarnated as strangers — is even wilder than his spiritual mother’s. But Agatha All Along made quick work of incorporating many of those beats with a story reminiscent of WandaVision’s“We Interrupt This Program,” which cleverly stepped outside of the series’ sitcom conceit.
Unlike Alice’s and Sharon’s arcs, it was clear early on that Agatha All Along was teasing something important with Lilia’s many moments of confusion stemming from her power to see the future. What was far less obvious, however, was that the show was using her to set the stage for a time-jumping episode that would provide key context for some of the show’s most satisfying twists: Rio was actually the personification of death in disguise.
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Image: Disney Plus / Marvel
Of all the Marvel characters who might pop up in a Disney Plus show, it was genuinely surprising to see Death given how, in the comics, she’s a cosmic entity most often associated with Thanos (and occasionally Spider-Man’s clone). But Death’s arrival also brought a fascinating gravity to everything happening to the coven. It added some context to the show’s rising body count and a new layer of intrigue to Agatha and Rio’s romantic past — another beat that could have benefitted from more fleshing out. Death gave Jennifer, Billy, and Agatha a clearly defined foe to rally against as they neared the Road’s end. And while the witches’ final battle against Death wasn’t all that much to write home about, it brought Agatha All Along’s own story and its deeper connections to WandaVision into much clearer focus.
Agatha All Along’s final two episodes establish how, right up until Agatha and Billy’s coven sang the ballad together and created a doorway, the Witches’ Road never truly existed. It was just a myth that began in Agatha’s early days of being a witch and a new mother to her son. Spreading the idea of the Road’s existence gave Agatha an easy way to lure witches into the woods under the pretense of opening a portal, only for her to steal their magic. That was her plan all along with the present-day coven, and she probably would have gotten away with it, too. But in the show’s final episode, Agatha returns as a ghost to tell Billy that things worked out very differently in this instance because of his desire for the Witches’ Road to be real.
That plot point and Agatha’s insistence on remaining with Billy as a spectral mentor crystalized the degree to which Agatha All Along really was continuing WandaVision’s story — pushing forward its characters and also what a Marvel show can do.
At its recent Huawei Connect event, the Chinese tech giant unveiled one of the highest-capacity storage solutions on the planet.
The OceanStor Pacific 9928 features 36 high-density 61.44TB NVMe SSDs per 2U chassis, each just 9.5mm thick, delivering up to 2.21PB of raw capacity.
Huawei says the OceanStor Pacific 9928’s efficient design reduces space consumption by 37% compared to traditional SSDs. Titanium fans and Wicking Fence reportedly reduce power consumption to as low as 1500W, and to just 0.25W/TB in a data compression environment.
New-Generation All-Flash Data Center
Additionally, the setup incorporates proprietary flexible RAID, which optimizes flash space utilization and extends SSD lifespan.
This RAID system also enhances data protection and recovery, using advanced algorithms to address failed data blocks. With a 2:1 compression ratio, the OceanStor Pacific 9928 can scale up to 4PB, positioning Huawei’s offering as a strong competitor to traditional data storage solutions, including LTO tape which has long been favored for archival and backup purposes.
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The OceanStor Pacific line is designed to handle the growing demands of AI, big data, and high-performance computing, offering flexibility with support for block, file, object storage, and HDFS. It can scale to 4,096 nodes, each delivering 2.4 million IOPS and 90GB/s throughput, providing enterprises with the scalability needed for future workloads.
Huawei’s New-Generation All-Flash Data Center solution offers a comprehensive range of products designed for high performance and efficiency.
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In addition to the OceanStor Pacific 9928, with its 61.44TB SSDs, the suite features the OceanStor Dorado All-Flash Storage, equipped with a data-control plane separation architecture, AI accelerator cards, and SmartMatrix 4.0, providing a 99.999999% reliability rate. The OceanStor A800 supports AI model training with up to 500GB/s bandwidth, boosting the efficiency of training clusters by 30%.
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Huawei is also targeting data protection and backup with the OceanProtect E series, which offers a data deduplication and compression ratio of up to 72:1. Huawei says this solution integrates seamlessly with its multi-layer ransomware protection.
“Industry’s digital and intelligent transformation demands efficient data processing as well as secure and high-quality data,” said Michael Qiu, President of Huawei Global Data Storage Marketing & Solution Sales.
“The New-Generation All-Flash Data Center significantly improves data service efficiency and enhances data resilience, helping enterprises embrace the AI era.”
It’s not enough for a TV to just be able to turn on and display whatever movie, show, or video game you’re diving into that day. Cutting-edge sets are all about 4K and 8K resolution, advanced picture processing, and smart TV capabilities. Fortunately, most manufacturers are at the ready when it comes to state-of-the-art features, and one brand we’re always prepared to stand behind is TCL.
We’ve reviewed several TCL TVs over the last couple of years, so we can say, without a doubt, that these are some of the best LED-LCDs and QLEDs on the market. Most TCL TVs are relatively affordable, too, which is why we’d like to shine a light on this fantastic offer: Right now, when you order the TCL 55-inch NXTFRAME 4K QLED at Best Buy or Amazon, you’ll save $500. At full price, this model sells for $1,500.
The TCL NXTFRAME is designed to showcase professional art prints and personal media. Even its surface-level cosmetics give the impression that you’re looking at a matte canvas! Once connected to Wi-Fi, the NXTFRAME gives you access to TCL’s Art Library and AI art features. You’ll even be able to choose your own matte background, and the TV comes with a Flush Wall Mount for getting as snug to the wall as possible (as you would a painting or photograph).
The NXTFRAME is far more than an art showcase, though. With its 4K screen and 120Hz refresh rate (up to 144Hz with compatible gaming hardware), this TCL QLED delivers bright and colorful picture. On top of class-leading HDR support and numerous gaming optimizations (including ALLM and AMD FreeSync Premium), the TCL NXTFRAME runs Google TV OS for all things smart TV, including apps like Netflix and Disney+.
It’s hard to say how long this discount is going to stick around, but our experience with Best Buy deals and Amazon deals is they tend to vanish quickly. That being said, now might be the best time to save $500 on the TCL 55-inch NXTFRAME 4K QLED. You may also want to check out some of the other great TCL TV deals we’ve been finding.
Google has become one of the biggest names in the AI-based development space on its own merits. The company is a pioneer in implementing artificial intelligence in mobile devices, offering advanced features and new possibilities. However, it has also implemented AI in its software products and services via Gemini models. Google’s new AI-powered virtual tourist guide is proof of that.
Since Google offers many products and services, you may not know them all. The Arts & Culture app is not as mainstream as Google Maps or Gmail, but it has a solid user base. As its name suggests, the app is a hub for multiple fun features and options related to art. For example, you can take virtual tours of cultural places (or “landmarks”) powered by Google Maps Street View.
Google develops an “AI tour guide” that offers commentary on what’s around you
Now, Google is integrating “Talking Tours” as a new AI-powered feature to the Arts & Culture app. Talking Tours harnesses the power of generative AI to give you audible commentary on artwork, locations, and other things of artistic value during virtual tours. The feature supports hotspots in up to 55 locations around the world.
That said, the feature isn’t limited to just Google’s predefined tours. Talking Tours can also generate commentary on what’s around you. To do this, the app will give you the option to take a 360-degree panorama that allows the AI to analyze the scene. Then, the “virtual tourist guide” will offer you helpful feedback on what’s in the scene.
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Works on Google’s Arts & Culture landmarks
Talking Tours isn’t compatible with just any location, though. You have to be in one of the 55 hotspots supported by virtual tours. However, it’s impressive that your phone can do the job without a tourist guide in one of those areas thanks to AI. According to Techradar, the feature still needs some polishing. But this is expected given that this is only the initial version.
Talking Tours is available as an experimental feature in the Arts & Culture app for both Android and iOS. You can also try it out on the web version of the service.
One of fantasy and sci-fi’s all-time greats has passed away. Artist Greg Hildebrandt, known for his iconic work on Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Marvel and Magic: The Gathering, died on Thursday at 85. He and his twin brother Tim, who died in 2006, were a powerhouse duo — the Brothers Hildebrandt — until they decided to pursue solo careers in 1981.
The duo was perhaps best known for their “Style B” poster (above) for the original Star Wars in 1977. Released in the UK (Tom Jung’s “Style A” was the original US poster), the art shows Luke Skywalker heroically hoisting his lightsaber high above his head like King Arthur wielded Excalibur. He’s flanked by a blaster-toting Princess Leia, with C-3PO and R2-D2 looking on from behind. Darth Vader’s imposing mask peers down on them in the background among a sea of stars, the Death Star and starfighters.
As for Luke and Leia’s noteworthy lack of resemblance to Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, neither the Brothers Hildebrandt nor Jung had access to the actors’ photos. So, they made do with generic hero images that could have been ripped from 1970s fantasy book covers. (Still rad, if not screen-accurate.) The Hildebrandt poster was used in the UK until January 1978, when it was replaced by Tom Chantrell’s “Style C” poster, which depicted the actual cast.
Greg Hildebrandt / X
The brothers were also strongly associated with a series of The Lord of the Rings calendars. Decades before Peter Jackson brought the films to live action (and even before the 1978 animated version), their art — which drew on their influence from classic Disney films — was the most prominent visualization of Tolkien’s epic for many a 1970s fantasy reader.
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Among Hildebrandt’s many other projects were comics for Marvel and DC, illustrations for Wizards of the Coast (Magic: The Gathering and Harry Potter), magazines Omni, Heavy Metal and Amazing Stories, album art for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Black Sabbath and a long list of book covers.
Hildebrandt also fought for freedom with his artistic gifts. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he contributed illustrations for Operation USA’s benefit anthology comic book series. Profits were donated to Ukrainian refugee relief efforts. Explaining his decision, he wrote, “Any project that I can lend my art to that will thwart Putin is a project I will join with all my heart, soul and mind.”
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