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In focus
- How AI is making Web3 data accessible to firms like Visa and Stripe
- What drove the layoffs at motorcycle taxi firm Angkas
- Why the hype around Dubai’s tech scene is wearing thin
Hello reader,
When I first began to understand how generative AI worked, I thought it was only a matter of time before someone started tapping into blockchains.
Blockchains, by design, are seemingly endless troves of unstructured data – and they’re public. Why was no one in AI milking this data cow for all it was worth?
As is often the case with my epiphanies, someone has already beaten me to it. Allium, the focus of today’s Top Story, is a company that began bottling that milk while everyone else was too busy watching FTX burn. While the rest of us were just beginning to understand the implications of genAI, Allium was already playing milkman to Visa and Stripe.
Allium’s founders, including its chief engineer, are all from Singapore. After spending years in Silicon Valley, they are now focusing on Southeast Asia as the company’s next market. So, this story is also about their homecoming.
In our second Big Story, we turn to the Philippines to look at Angkas, the startup that introduced the first motorcycle taxi app to the country. My colleague Elyssa writes that as competition heats up, the company has carried out a second round of layoffs.
Angkas says it is hoping to accelerate the use of AI to help stay competitive. But its rivals, Joyride and Move It, aren’t likely to make it an easy ride.
But first, our take on Allium.
Scott Shuey, senior tech journalist
Top Stories
1️⃣ Mixing AI with blockchain got this startup Visa, Stripe as clients
Cheng Han Lee and Ethan Chan, co-founders of Allium. / Photo credit: Allium
Web3 data has long suffered from a lack of transparency, despite the industry’s claims otherwise. But Allium, a US company now targeting Southeast Asia, is using AI to gain insight from the blockchain data it provides, and industry giants like Stripe and Visa have taken notice.
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