Tech giant IBM cemented its patent leadership in the United States, with over 9,000 received patents, including in artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, in 2019. With the 9,626 patents secured, IBM became the company that received the most patents in the U.S.ever and the leader on the list for the 27th consecutive year, tech-focused media outlet Database Trends and Applications reported on Feb. 4. Of the 9,626 patents, IBM secured over 1,800 patents in AI, more than 2,500 patents in cloud technology and led in blockchain patents received. IBM’s patent dominance Back in July 2019, Cointelegraph reported that IBM had …

Women are still at risk of being excluded from jobs in fast-growing careers like blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI), a LinkedIn co-founder warned. Allen Blue, co-founder of major professional social network LinkedIn, has raised concerns about occupational inequality in industries like blockchain at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 24. The executive delivered his remarks on the issue in an interview with Abu Dhabi-based news agency The National. The LinkedIn co-founder urged the global community to take measures to prevent the further extension of the gender gap in employment when it comes to jobs of the …

Alethea AI is launching a decentralized Synthetic Content Network to track the usage and intellectual property of AI-generated content. The company plans to offer a wide selection of content, including but not limited to face-swapped deepfake videos. Alethea is a production studio for AI-generated content, having previously released a video featuring Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao’s face in a martial arts setting. Other content includes a video on climate change, made to challenge the negative reputation of deepfakes. Synthetic content is often criticized for its potential impact on fake news. These videos use AI-based voice and face reconstruction to make realistic-looking …

Blockchain will be the most in-demand hard skill in 2020, according to a new study by the educational subsidiary of professional social network LinkedIn. A newcomer to LinkedIn’s annual list of top-demanded hard skills, blockchain now tops the list of the most-needed skills in 2020, according to a LinkedIn Learning blog post on Jan. 13. Blockchain to surpass cloud computing and AI in 2020 In 2019, blockchain-as-a-skill overtook major hard skills including cloud computing, analytical reasoning, artificial intelligence (AI), and user experience (UX) design, becoming the number one hard skill in demand among global employers in 2020, according to LinkedIn …

Looking ahead to what we can expect by the new decade’s end, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz predicts that Bitcoin (BTC) is likely to be central to the monetization mechanisms that future online influencers will use. In its Dec. 30 vignette of a highly automated future — where food is tailored to an individual’s microbiome and lifestyle in a “roboticized kitchen,” and VR and avatars are part and parcel of everyday business workflows — Andreessen Horowitz writes that by 2030: “The influencer can reach hundreds of her fans instantaneously. In turn, the fans can get paid instantly for giving this feedback. …

As the end of the year draws closer, discussing what the future holds for the crypto industry becomes increasingly relevant. In particular, how global financial and technological trends will affect the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the coming year. Despite the critics, the number of industry experts and crypto enthusiasts who foresee a promising future for cryptocurrencies has been on the rise. Institutional investors are now paying more attention to crypto-related projects and products, and universities have even started to offer courses on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Now, talks of how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things …

On Dec. 12, the second-largest health insurance company in the United States announced plans to leverage blockchain technology to secure the medical data of all its 40 million members over the next three years. The most unique quality of a blockchain is that once a piece of information is added to the distributed ledger, it cannot be altered. The information stored on a blockchain is absolutely secure and trustworthy in its entirety. In order for a change to be made in one block, changes must be made to all the subsequent blocks associated to the affected block. Being synonymous with …

Owner of major social media app TikTok, ByteDance, has launched a joint venture with state-owned Chinese media group and ThePaper.cn operator Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper to develop business models that include blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI), Bloomberg reported on Dec. 14. TikTok may use blockchain and AI to fight Deepfakes The joint venture was launched in the capital of eastern China’s Shandong province, Jinan, on Dec. 10 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan ($1.43 million). ByteDance owns 49% of the venture while the rest is owned by the Chinese media group. TikTok sees 500 million monthly active users and …

Hybrid intelligence firm Cindicator is launching Cindicator Capital, a crypto hedge fund based on hybrid intelligence and quantitative research. In a press release on Dec. 11, the company said that this new crypto fund provides access to investment strategies based on hybrid intelligence data as well as quantitative research, which includes data from forecasts and decentralized analysts. Cindicator co-founder and CEO Mike Brusov said: “The Cindicator ecosystem is entering the next level of its development, preparing to start the onboarding of external capital from a fund of funds, family offices, VC funds, institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. The combination of …

The implementation of blockchain technology in supply chains could save businesses in Western Europe $450 billion in logistics-related costs. According to a new study from Cointelegraph Consulting and Swiss enterprise blockchain firm Insolar, blockchain technology can reduce supply chain-related costs for businesses between 0.4% and 0.8%. While that may sound like a small figure, the sheer volume of the sector means that this percentage translates into a potential hundreds of billions in savings. Furthermore, the report claims that the technology will pay for itself: “94% of supply chain leaders say digital transformation will fundamentally alter supply chain management. In the …

Cointelegraph, the leading publication for blockchain and cryptocurrency news, has announced the launch of its Cointelegraph Consulting division. The new business sector is focused on advancing enterprise blockchain adoption by helping companies understand the potential of blockchain technology and then matching them with enterprise blockchain vendors to implement solutions. According to Gartner, the business value added by blockchain will grow to more than $176 billion by 2025. This number is expected to exceed $3.1 trillion by 2030. While the growth of enterprise blockchain is on the rise, traditional consulting firms are just becoming familiar with the blockchain space. Given Cointelegraph’s …

The European Union's announcement of a new 110 million euro fund to support research on artificial intelligence and blockchain comes at a critical time for the AI industry, when issues at the intersection of privacy, security and AI are the focus of acute attention by government, the tech industry and the general public. Blockchain technology has the promise to radically transform the way society handles data as well as how AIs are trained and taught with this data. It has the potential to create a world in which control over and reward from data and AI is distributed more broadly …