ChainCatcher news, according to CCTV News, U.S. President-elect Trump has announced the nomination of Sriram Krishnan as the next Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In a statement, Trump said that Sriram Krishnan will work closely with David Sacks to focus on ensuring the United States' continued leadership in the field of artificial intelligence.Previously reported in November, a16z General Partner Sriram Krishnan announced he would be leaving at the end of the year.

ChainCatcher message, a16z co-founder and billionaire Marc Andreessen posted on X: "The political power that Musk speaks of mainly comes from loudly stating things that are obviously true." Musk agreed with this.

ChainCatcher news, a16z crypto managing partner Chris Dixon posted on X: "Artificial intelligence needs blockchain-supported computing, and I am optimistic about the integration of these technologies.Artificial intelligence will end the internet as we know it. Its advancement is inevitable and will primarily bring benefits. However, AI has already disrupted the economic contracts of the internet, with large tech companies most likely to benefit from it. AI-driven deep fakes and bots are also diminishing people's trust in the online world. To address these challenges without slowing down AI innovation, blockchain can:Enforce ownership for users and creatorsVerify identities to isolate bots and impersonatorsEnsure authenticity to prevent tamperingCrypto can carry the torch of an open internet and help maintain its creativity, openness, and diversity."

ChainCatcher news, according to Wall Street Watch, venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz co-founder and billionaire Marc Andreessen stated in a recent interview that he is a "volunteer without pay" for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and mentioned that DOGE has two main goals: to cut spending and reduce regulation. Marc Andreessen revealed that the Biden administration has specifically targeted the U.S. tech industry in three areas, leading to a shift in support towards Trump. One is cryptocurrency, where they declared war and attempted to kill the entire industry and push it overseas. The second is AI, where earlier this year they were very afraid that they would treat AI the same way they treated cryptocurrency. The third seems to be an obscure topic, which is the concept of unrealized capital gains tax.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg citing informed sources, venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) crypto policy chief Brian Quintenz has become the leading candidate for the position of chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).Quintenz recently completed the interview for the position; he previously served as a Republican commissioner at the CFTC and is currently responsible for policy matters in a16z's crypto division. If appointed, this could signify a significant shift in the CFTC's regulatory policy towards cryptocurrencies. Both Quintenz and a16z spokesperson declined to comment on this matter.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune, OpenAI's former voice research director and head of ChatGPT voice features, Alexis Conneau, announced the founding of WaveForms, which has secured $40 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The company was co-founded with business strategy expert Coralie Lamaitre and focuses on the development of Emotional General Intelligence (EGI), aiming to create audio LLMs that can understand nuances in voice such as tone, pitch, and accent.The core goal of WaveForms is to push the boundaries of audio AI. Conneau stated that audio is the primary emotional social layer of AI. Unlike existing systems like Alexa and Siri, WaveForms will focus on developing audio LLMs that can capture emotional details and understand the context of conversations.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Financial Times, venture capital firm a16z founder Marc Andreessen will assist Musk in recruiting employees for the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE).It is reported that although Andreessen has no formal position, he plays a key role in the selection and recommendation of senior talent. Andreessen has previously invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Musk's projects such as xAI and SpaceX, and supported his $44 billion acquisition of the X platform.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Information, logistics AI startup HappyRobot has completed a $15.6 million Series A funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Y Combinator and Ryder Logistics' RyderVentures. After this round of financing, the company's valuation is between $80 million and $100 million.It is reported that HappyRobot focuses on the logistics industry, enabling automated phone communication and price negotiation.

ChainCatcher news, according to official sources, the decentralized AI agent project Scrypted has announced the completion of a $1.5 million Pre-Seed funding round, led by Palm Tree Crew Crypto, with participation from a16z crypto CSX. The new funds will be used to drive its potential in gaming, social platforms, and finance, and to build tools supporting decentralized vertical industries for autonomous AI agents.At the core of Scrypted is the Inori network, which aims to make AI agents fully autonomous virtual beings (AVB). Thanks to funding from the AWS Activate program, Inori has begun developing a centralized service and resource coordination layer for AI agents, built on Amazon Web Services.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com News, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) co-founder Marc Andreessen stated that 30 tech founders had their bank accounts revoked solely due to their association with digital currencies. Several crypto company founders, including Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss and LBRY founder Jeremy Kauffman, shared similar experiences.The Gemini founder stated: "Not only personal accounts but even company accounts have been closed due to cryptocurrency business, and several banks supporting crypto companies are facing pressure." Custodia Bank founder Caitlin Long revealed that her company is suing the Federal Reserve due to multiple instances of being de-banked, with a court hearing expected in January next year.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, San Francisco-based data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) company Databricks has raised $5 billion in its latest funding round, bringing the company's valuation to $55 billion. Sources indicate that Databricks plans to raise a total of $8 billion, which is expected to become the largest funding round of the year. Reports suggest that the latest funding round is aimed at allowing employees to sell shares, thereby reducing the need for an immediate initial public offering (IPO). However, while an IPO may not come soon, it is still possible to occur in the second half of 2025.Although the report did not disclose the identities of the investors participating in the latest funding round, it revealed the company's notable supporters, including Nvidia, Capital One, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Baillie Gifford, Fidelity, Insight Partners, and Tiger Global. In September 2023, Databricks raised $500 million in funding, with a company valuation of $43 billion.OpenAI currently holds the record for the largest funding round of 2024, raising $6.6 billion in October. Billionaire Musk's xAI also secured $5 billion in funding, bringing the company's valuation to $50 billion. Another AI startup, Anthropic, received $400 million in funding from Amazon, bringing its total funding to $8 billion.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Information, Sriram Krishnan, a general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, will be leaving. It is reported that he has discussed joining the government efficiency department led by Elon Musk.