Axios

Hogwarts Legacy, the new video game stemming from author J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter" fiction, is launching this week to big sales and big controversy.

Why it matters: The game, which lets players create their own wizard and go through magic school, has become a flashpoint for reviewers and fans regarding what to do about work associated with Rowling.

Google announced several efforts to power search and other products using generative AI systems, including Bard, a conversational system conceptually similar to ChatGPT.

Between the lines: Google has long been working on such systems but faces pressure to show it is making progress amid all the attention on OpenAI's popular ChatGPT and similar projects.

The largest crypto exchange in the world is temporarily suspending U.S. dollar withdrawals and deposits starting on Feb. 8, the company confirmed to Axios.

Why it matters: Dollars are the global reserve currency.

Latent Technology, a U.K.-based startup that’s building AI-based tech for developing video games, has raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding led by Root Ventures and Spark Capital, with Bitkraft also participating.

Why it matters: So-called "generative AI" technology is taking the tech world by storm with the promise of change how everything from the written word to art is created.

Tech has been toppled as the leader in leasing large offices.

Why it matters: The pullback comes as the roller-coaster tech industry downsizes after a decade-long boom.

The Federal Trade Commission failed to convince a federal judge to block Meta from purchasing VR fitness startup Within, per a court decision unsealed Friday night.

Driving the news: Media outlets reported Meta's win last week; now it's official. Meta will be free to close on its acquisition following the decision from Judge Edward Davila in U.S. District Court in Northern California.

People are increasingly curious about electric cars. Before they buy, though, most want to know whether they can drive one on a long road trip.

• I'm about to find out.

The explosion of interest in ChatGPT and generative AI has tech giants scrambling to rethink and rewrite their product plans to capitalize on the trend.

What's happening: Every major tech company has been investing in AI for years, but the overnight ChatGPT craze that kicked off at the end of 2022 has given the industry a ravenous appetite for one specific flavor of AI — generative programs that produce text, images and other content in response to user prompts.