Yahoo is launching a new research group focused on advancing AI and emerging technologies across its business portfolio. It will be led by Eric Feng, co-founder and chief executive of blockchain tech startup Cymbal, whose team Yahoo has acquired as part of the initiative.
Founded in 2022 by Feng and serial entrepreneurs James Jerlecki and Nick Chang, Cymbal aimed to make the world’s blockchain data “understandable by anyone” by building the so-called “human-readable” blockchain explorer. It cataloged data points across various blockchain networks, initially starting with Ethereum before expanding to Solana and Base. Then, it utilized AI to summarize and analyze the data, explaining in real-time what was happening on the blockchain.
People can use Cymbal’s AI to determine the ranking of a wallet’s portfolio, identify how many people purchased a non-fungible token (NFT) on a specific day, or find the largest sale in a particular collection within a week. It could also list the top purchasers of a specific chain and other tokens they were buying. “The more you use Cymbal and our data, the more you ask us to explain the blockchain to you, the better our AI system will be at generating useful and intelligent insights to make web3 understandable,” Feng wrote in 2023.
In a way, Cymbal was blending two frontier technologies to make them accessible to the masses. The startup was comprised of individuals from various consumer technology companies, including Meta, Microsoft, Hulu, and Flipboard, so there was plenty of in-house expertise to develop solutions that would bring web3 technology from the fringe and into the mainstream, helping educate consumers on its potential.
To date, Cymbal has raised at least $18.5 million in venture funding from investors such as Patron, GV, Acrew, First Round Capital, Eniac, Sixth Man Ventures, Solana Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, CAA Connect and UTA Ventures. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and I’ve reached out to Yahoo and Feng for additional comments, but have yet to hear back.
In any event, Cymbal’s website has been largely stripped away, leaving only a basic landing page in place.
Leading Yahoo’s new Research Group, Feng is responsible for developing “intuitive, intelligent, and forward-looking products” to help Yahoo be competitive in the AI era. It’s unclear whether the company will incorporate Cymbal’s technology. Still, there appears to be an opportunity for some divisions, such as Yahoo Finance, to leverage Cymbal AI to provide readers with a deeper understanding of what’s happening in the world’s markets, including those involving cryptocurrency. The financial news outlet has an abundance of data that can be leveraged.
Alternatively, the work by Yahoo’s Research Group could be vital to helping the company deal with the fluidity in the search market. Google’s AI Overview and the rise of AI-powered browsers from Perplexity and the Browser Company are changing the way traffic is driven to publishers. Yahoo needs to embrace AI and other emerging technologies better to maintain its momentum.
Featured Image: A Yahoo billboard sign, taken on March 24, 2016, once stood tall in San Francisco, visible to drivers along the highway cutting through the city. Credit: Ken Yeung
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