🔹 Welcome to the HIPTHER Weekly Huddle! 🔹
Your go-to briefing on the latest trends shaping iGaming, AI, Blockchain, Fintech, Cybersecurity, and beyond. Each week, we bring you the biggest industry updates, expert insights, and must-know developments—all in one place.
Stay ahead of the curve, discover key innovations, and make informed decisions with our weekly roundup of news, partnerships, and emerging trends.
Latest HIPTHER Talks Podcast episodes:
HIPTHER Talks S4-Ep17: From Rave Floors to Casino Floors: Jim Preedy on Reinventing Himself
AI Weekly Highlights – May 9–14, 2025
- AI Regulation and Political Debates Intensify Global leaders continue to push for enforceable AI governance as generative models disrupt jobs and digital economies.
- AI Startups Outpacing Tech Giants in Agility Leaner, purpose-built AI startups are taking the lead in vertical-specific deployments, challenging Big Tech’s dominance in areas like healthcare, compliance, and finance.
- Perplexity AI Introduces FaceAge A new tool from Perplexity AI estimates a person’s age from facial imagery with claimed ethical safeguards—raising both innovation and privacy questions.
- o9 & Intel Deepen Supply Chain AI Collaboration o9 Solutions partners with Intel to enhance real-time supply chain visibility and decision-making using AI-powered predictive models.
- Cisco and G42 Invest in Healthcare AI Cisco and UAE-based G42 jointly fund an initiative to deploy AI diagnostics at scale in emerging markets.
- Pope Leo XIV Calls for Ethical AI The Vatican's new leader becomes the first pope to publicly advocate for human-centered AI development rooted in transparency and accountability.
- Google and HONOR Lead Device Automation Race Mobile-first AI tools are now capable of real-time personalization, boosting the rise of AI assistants embedded at the hardware level.
- SoundCloud Leverages AI for Creator Monetization SoundCloud announces AI-driven features for independent artists to optimize track discovery and monetize niche audiences.
- OpenAI and AMD Expand AI Acceleration Partnership OpenAI is teaming up with AMD to develop custom chips for faster and more energy-efficient AI inference, competing with NVIDIA’s dominance.
- Google Maps Integrates Generative AI A major UX overhaul adds context-aware suggestions and live route summaries generated by AI in Google Maps.
- CrowdStrike Unveils AI Security Assistant The new AI assistant improves threat detection and incident response for enterprise clients.
Stay in the know with AI Dispatch – your trusted source for weekly breakthroughs, funding news, ethical debates, and disruptive technologies across the AI ecosystem.
Blockchain Weekly Highlights – May 9–14, 2025
- Bitcoin Reclaims $63K After ETF Inflows Surge Bitcoin rallies above $63,000 following strong institutional ETF inflows, reigniting bullish sentiment across crypto markets.
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce Pushes for Crypto Clarity The Chamber urges legislators to speed up federal crypto regulations to support innovation while minimizing risk.
- Visa Tests On-Chain Settlement Tools with Stablecoins Visa is expanding real-world use cases by piloting stablecoin settlements on Ethereum and Solana.
- Circle Launches New Developer Tools Circle introduces Web3 services to simplify USDC integration across dApps, wallets, and games.
- Stellar Expands Tokenized Bond Platform in Latin America The Stellar blockchain grows its presence in LATAM by enabling tokenized government bonds to promote financial inclusion.
- Rootstock Brings Bitcoin Layer-2 to Zimbabwe Rootstock launches a project to increase Bitcoin accessibility and DeFi use in underserved African markets.
- Fastex Unveils Carbon Registry on Blockchain A blockchain-powered carbon tracking platform aims to boost transparency for ESG initiatives.
- 21Shares Expands Thematic Crypto ETPs New investment products are launched to offer exposure to AI, gaming, and decentralized storage tokens.
- Binance Launches Real-World Asset Tokenization Platform Binance steps deeper into RWAs with tokenized stocks and real estate offerings.
- Polygon 2.0 Roadmap Updates Released Polygon announces major updates around interoperability and zero-knowledge (ZK) scalability.
- Arbitrum and Avalanche Partner on Cross-Chain Governance Tools Leading L2 and L1 platforms collaborate to set new standards in decentralized governance.
Stay ahead with Blocks & Headlines – your weekly digest of regulation, innovation, and infrastructure updates shaping the future of Web3 and blockchain technology.
Cybersecurity Weekly Highlights – May 9–14, 2025
- Generative AI Escalates Social Engineering Threats New reports confirm that attackers are leveraging GenAI for more persuasive phishing, deepfakes, and business email compromise.
- Global Task Force Targets Cross-Border Ransomware Networks A coordinated law enforcement initiative is forming between the EU and APAC to combat increasingly international cyber extortion campaigns.
- Cybersecurity Talent Shortage Worsens in Healthcare The global shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals continues to hit critical infrastructure hardest, especially in healthcare IT.
- SecureWorks Enhances ThreatOps Platform with LLM Integration New updates add natural language processing for faster response orchestration and AI-assisted triage.
- Black Hat Europe 2025 Preview Released This year’s Black Hat will focus on zero-trust, quantum-resilient encryption, and real-time anomaly detection.
- Asia-Pacific Companies Lead in Cyber Resilience Framework Adoption Japan, Singapore, and South Korea continue to strengthen standards for cybersecurity maturity assessments.
- Shellphish Group Targets Corporate AI Platforms Security researchers warn of advanced phishing kits specifically built to exploit corporate use of generative AI tools.
- Thailand Launches National CERT AI Unit Thailand’s new AI-driven CERT division will focus on real-time incident prediction and automated breach response.
- Data Hoarding Among Threat Actors Increasing Cybercriminals are stockpiling sensitive datasets for future use as AI-driven exploitation methods mature.
- CrowdSec Raises $30M to Advance Crowd-Powered Threat Detection The funding will expand the platform’s decentralized threat intelligence across SMEs and enterprise users.
- IBM Partners with NATO on Cyber Simulation Labs A new project will focus on threat simulation for critical infrastructure using synthetic environments.
- Exabeam Launches Behavioral Analytics for SMBs Tailored analytics bring enterprise-grade breach detection to smaller organizations.
Stay protected with Cybersecurity Roundup — your weekly dose of threat intel, cutting-edge defense tools, and global security partnerships.
Fintech Weekly Highlights – May 9–14, 2025
- Citi & iCapital Expand Private Market Access Citi enhances its partnership with iCapital to provide broader access to private equity and alternative investments for wealth clients.
- ACES Launches AI-Powered Quality Control Platform ACES Quality Management debuts a compliance and risk tech platform for lending institutions, powered by real-time AI decisioning.
- SavvyMoney & CreditSnap Partner on Embedded Finance A new collaboration aims to improve personalized credit solutions inside digital banking apps.
- Stash Hits 10 Million User Milestone The micro-investing platform celebrates crossing 10M users and eyes new retirement and credit products.
- Byline Bank Partners with MDT The partnership focuses on expanding community banking digital services across the Midwest.
- Chime Expands to Credit Building Chime launches a secured credit card product tailored for thin-file and underbanked users.
- Apex Fintech Solutions Partners with Capitolis The collaboration aims to improve capital efficiency in trading through optimized clearing solutions.
- Astra Fintech Debuts No-Code Automation for Banks Astra’s tools help FIs automate payment and compliance workflows without engineering support.
- Visa Launches SME Fintech Accelerator Visa’s new accelerator program targets startups developing tools for small and medium-sized businesses globally.
- Robinhood Integrates with TurboTax for 2025 Tax Season A seamless flow of gains/losses and crypto income is now available via Robinhood’s latest TurboTax API partnership.
- MX and Galileo Announce Data Sharing Innovation MX unveils enhanced secure data-sharing protocols with Galileo to streamline embedded finance infrastructure.
Stay current with Fintech Pulse – your weekly roundup of innovation, partnerships, and regulatory insights shaping the digital finance ecosystem.
In-Person Conferences for 2025
HIPTHER’s in-person conferences bring together the brightest minds and key decision-makers across gaming, tech, and related sectors. Each event is designed to foster meaningful discussions, provide actionable insights, and create unparalleled networking opportunities. Mark your calendars for these must-attend events:
MARE BALTICUM Gaming & TECH Summit
European Gaming Congress (EGC)
Virtual Events: Introducing “iGaming Exchange: Europe & Americas”
As part of HIPTHER’s commitment to adapting to the needs of a global audience, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of iGaming Exchange: Europe & Americas—a revamped and enhanced virtual event series.
Thank you for joining this week’s Huddle! We’ll be back in January with more top stories, insights, and updates from the industries shaping the future. Got feedback or topics you’d like us to cover? Feel free to reach out—we’d love to hear from you!
In the meantime, stay curious, stay informed, and stay ahead.
