Gamecocks a16z and AI
Cockfights were held in ancient times in countries of the East: India, China, Persia and other. Gamecocks or fighting rooster arrived in Babylon around 700 BC. e. along with Persian soldiers who returned from a campaign against India.
In Asia, cockfights used to be a part of the ritual: a rooster that died in battle was sacrificed to the gods, while in Europe it was more like a sport. So, for example, in England of the 16th century, this was one of the favorite nobility pastimes. Bets were placed on battle outcome. But in the 19th century, Queen Victoria issued a decree banning cockfighting and this type of gambling business fell into decay.
Nowadays, this type of "sport" is banned in almost all countries of the world, but even now illegal events are held, which are especially common in Asian countries.
So what's the connection with one of the coolest funds to date and cockfighting mixed with AI?
Maybe Neuralink will be implanted in transformer roosters and they will fight not for life, but for shutdown, as in Real Steel movie?
Let's take a detailed look. Recently, the a16z fund created a division that focuses specifically on gaming industry and the amount of allocated capital is no less than $600m. Sounds solid.
Be sure to watch the promotional video dedicated to the new fund from Andreessen Horowitz.
It is interesting because of various projects' sneak peaks, where investments have already been directed, and yes, there are answers to all the above questions - MechaFightClub.
Fighting roosters? Exactly. The project gives us the opportunity to take part in fight club competitions in a special metaverse.
According to the plot, the action takes place in a world with alien technology. Corporations have monopolized anything they could and enslaved humanity, but the global resistance captured those technologies and turned them into entertainment mass entertainment weapons.
Rooster-Mechbots are smart, while chickens are even smarter. Each mechabot is a completely unique individual that lives on blockchain, with its own digital biology and intelligence. They will even evolve by developing their own fighting styles and personalities throughout their lives!
They live to fight, but also love to breed, giving us masters the opportunity to influence next generation's gene pool.
Well, so what, you will probably ask yourselves? Nothing special, just a usual metaverse with a standard mechanics set and a cool fund. But this case is not so simple.
A16z has become a leading investor, not in MechaFightClub, but in the developer of this project - Irreverent Labs, so investments go directly into infrastructure, patents - all this is an additional niche for sales.
Irreverent Labs, in order to provide unique immersive game experience, does not fire bullets, but cannonballs. They are betting on the development of AI - this is unheard in video games. This effort is being led by David Raskino, former CTO of Microsoft Cyber Defense Group.
Players, or us, will fight and train in the “cabin”, where mechabots train, and professional-level tournaments are held on the main battle arena of the Koktagon metaverse. Both types of battles will offered in AR or VR.