Web3 social platform builder Plai Labs has raised $32 million in a seed funding round. The round closed on January 19 and was led by crypto investment firm A16z. Headed by former executives from gaming studio Jam City and social platform Myspace, the company has plans to use the money to grow its team and hire developers to create decentralised social platforms that combine Web3 and AI technology.
Josh Brooks, executive vice president of marketing and operations at Plai Labs, sees the company’s mission as working to lower the barriers to entry for new Web3 users through entertainment, social engagement and digital ownership. The executive team said in a press-release:
“We love this intersection where AI connects with and inspires creators. If there’s one thing we learned while starting Myspace and building games that get downloaded in the billions at Jam City, it’s this: The experience needs to be fun and approachable to reach a broad audience of users.”
Reportedly, the platform’s first feature will be Champions Ascension, an MMORPG where players can port in their existing NFT characters, go on quests, trade items, fight in the colosseum, build dungeons and even more. Plai Labs also looks to use an AI protocol to help with user-generated content, matchmaking, and 2D to 3D asset rendering.
Conversation on the integration of AI in Web3 is becoming more prominent with the mainstreaming of AI software such as DALL-E and ChatGPT. DALL-E and Midjourney are fuelling the adoption of AI-generated visual art, while Plai Labs is capitalising on the AI trend by building a number of products to charge the space. We continue to observe the progress of Plai Labs.
