Mark Cuban is investing in a startup that uses AI to create 'intelligent' NFTs that can talk

• Mark Cuban is one of several notable investors in Alethea AI, a startup that uses AI to turn NFTs interactive.
• Alethea recently raised $16 million through a private and restricted token sale.
• The firm allows users to embed AI animation, interaction, and voice synthesis into NFTs.
  
  

Mark Cuban is one of several notable investors in Alethea AI, a startup working to create "intelligent" non-fungible tokens that people can converse with.

On Wednesday, the company announced it raised $16 million through a private and restricted token sale. Aside from Cuban, other investors in Alethea include Metapurse, Multicoin, Alameda, and Dapper Labs, the firm behind NBA TopShot.

Alethea allows users to embed AI animation, voice synthesis, and interaction into NFTs.

"Give your NFT Superpowers," reads the slogan on the front page of the firm's website.

"While NFTs have continued to be exciting for collectors, Alethea AI has managed to uniquely combine AI Powered Avatars that are secured on-chain as NFTs," Cuban said in a statement. "The result is not only fun and entertaining, but the foundation for a level of interactivity that is going to advance quickly using Alethea's technologies."

The funding raise comes after Alethea sold its first "intelligent NFT" named "Alice" through Sotheby's for nearly $478,000 in June. Prior to the sale, the intelligent NFT starred in a Twitter live video on Sotheby's account and answered questions from viewers in real-time.

"iNFTs are intelligent, scalable, generative, interactive and have access to networked intelligence through Alethea's protocol," the company said in a statement. "Alethea's protocol gives creators around the world a mechanism to create interactive and intelligent NFTs, build communities and intellectual property around their favorite characters, and democratize access to powerful Synthetic Media tools."

Read more: How a 12-year-old earned 106 ethers by creating an NFT collection and selling it out within a day