Hello dear reader, this week we have analyzed 122 use cases and picked the 10 important projects you should have on your radar. Your time is money, so let's start.

Photo by Bram Van Oost on Unsplash

Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin

🔗 Blockchain 💵Cryptocurrencies

Tesla announced that it purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and will start accepting payments in bitcoin in exchange for its products. Bitcoin prices jumped to an all-time high of over $44,000 after this news report. Read more

Gillette partners with the blockchain-powered Plastic Bank

🔗 Blockchain 🌱 Sustainability

Gillette has announced a partnership with the blockchain-powered platform Plastic Bank. Plastic Bank develops recycling ecosystems in countries that lack sufficient disposal infrastructure by offering rewards and incentives for the community members to recycle plastic. Other brands such as Henkel are partnering with Plastic Bank. Read more

Tokenized wines

🔗 Blockchain ⚫️Tokenization

Swiss companies Fine Wine Capital AG and Sygnum have announced to issue tokenized assets for investable wines. According to the Fine Wine co-founder Alexandre Challand "This provides [financial investors] the opportunity to hold, trade or request a physical settlement of this unique asset in an efficient manner." Read more

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AI for strawberry farming

🤖 AI 🚜 Farming

In the Smart Agriculture Competition co-organized by Pinduoduo, China's largest agri-focused technology platform, data scientists could grow 196% more strawberries by weight on average than traditional farmers. The AI developed for this competition was in charge of regulating temperature and humidity through greenhouse automation. Read more

AI for parking spots

🤖 AI 🚗 Mobility

The city of Karlsruhe is partnering with a branch of Fraunhofer IAO to measure the demand for parking space. The algorithm developed for this project automatically detects parking space utilization in the city, thus reducing the time and costs needed for the manual collection of data, resulting in faster identification of parking problems. Read more

Amazon wants to mount AI-powered cameras on vans, faces privacy concerns of delivery drivers

🤖 AI 🚛 Logistics

Amazon is testing AI-equipped cameras in cargo vans to keep track of the delivery drivers. According to Amazon, the system aims to provide "real-time alerts" to help drivers stay safe on the road. However, some drivers expressed their concerns anonymously to CNBC about how this system could be used for disciplinary actions. "One DSP driver in Kentucky said the cameras can also detect when a driver is yawning." Read more

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Hyundai execs have concerns about producing cars for Apple

🤖 AI 🚗 Mobility

According to a Reuters report, Hyundai's executives have concerns about whether it would be the right move to start manufacturing cars for Apple. One of the reasons for these concerns is that Hyundai doesn't want to be perceived as becoming just a manufacturer for Apple instead of building its own premium brand. This report follows the long-lasting rumors about Apple being in talks with Hyundai about producing an Apple car. Read more

Drone delivery of COVID-19 tests

🚁 Drones 🏥 Healthcare

Drone startups Flirtey and healthcare company Vault Health conducted a test delivery of COVID-19 test kits to homes n Northern Nevada. The drone delivery was faster than traditional mail, reducing the shipping process by up to 48 hours. As part of the project, residents also had a video call with health professionals to supervise their saliva sample collection for the COVID-19 test. Read more

Greener aluminum for BMW

🏭 Manufacturing 🌱 Sustainability

BMW and Emirates Global Aluminium closed a €100 million deal for the carmaker to buy 43,000 tonnes of aluminum produced using solar power. Read more

Elon Musk's SpaceX to control more than a quarter of all active satellites

📶 IoT 📡 Telecommunication

SpaceX is about to deliver the 1000th Starlink satellite in orbit, resulting in controlling over 27% of all active satellites in orbit. SpaceX plans to launch 40,000 satellites to space to provide high-speed internet on Earth. Read more

That's the wrap up for this week, dear reader. If you liked it – share it with innovation enthusiasts in your network. Stay curious and inspired. See you next week!

Pavel Romanenko
Founder of Future Atelier

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