Ready for the Bored Ape comeback?

Hi there, NFTs want in on crypto’s comeback. But first...Three things you need to know today:• Nvidia insiders sell $80 million in stock• Sn [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( [by Hannah Miller]( Hi there, NFTs want in on crypto’s comeback. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Nvidia insiders [sell $80 million in stock]( • Snowflake CEO [Frank Slootman steps down]( • SoftBank expects more[Latin America startup investments]( Bored Ape Yacht Club lives on Bored Ape Yacht Club was — for a while — the coolest name in tech. The ultimate status symbol during the latest crypto boom, A-list celebrities and investors sometimes spent millions on the cartoonish primate nonfungible tokens. At one point, Snoop Dogg and Eminem even performed together as their Bored Apes in the metaverse. Yuga Labs, the startup behind the tokens, [raised $450 million]( at a $4 billion valuation in 2022, making it one of crypto’s most valuable unicorns. Bored Apes were the all-time best-selling tokens on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, with roughly $4.8 billion in transaction volume. There was no limit to the company’s ambition: Bored Ape clothing lines, movie deals and video games were all on the table. But the tokens were always subject to the wild fluctuations of the larger crypto market. When the crypto winter sank in last year, it decimated the NFT industry and Bored Apes with it. The industry’s reputation whipsawed from elite to embarrassing as trading volume plummeted. A class action lawsuit [was filed](. Now, as Bitcoin prices are edging back toward previous highs, NFT companies, too, see a chance to stage a comeback, Bloomberg [reported on Tuesday](. Bored Apes could have a more complicated journey than most. In addition to recent management churn, the company has been beset by a unique series of scandals. In November, an “ApeFest” gathering in Hong Kong drew criticism after event lighting [burned some attendees’ eyes](. (Then-Chief Executive Officer [Daniel Alegre](bbg://people/profile/4208281) told Bloomberg his eyes were uninjured in the incident and that anyone impacted was taken care of.) The company paused its plans for a short film trilogy after the first movie’s release. And Yuga’s long-awaited Otherside videogame, inspired by the Bored Ape Yacht Club, keeps getting delayed while producing trailers with mixed reviews. As crypto prices fell, the startup has looked to new leadership, naming Alegre as its incoming CEO at the end of 2022. Alegre left a position as chief operating officer of Activision Blizzard to help shepherd Otherside’s launch as Yuga dove further into online gaming. The company did launch a game open to certain NFT holders called Dookey Dash last year. But the game, which takes place in a virtual sewer, was ripped for poor gameplay and [concerns over security](. Otherside, which was supposed to arrive last year, has yet to launch. Last week, the company replaced Alegre with another new leader: Greg Solano, a Yuga co-founder who goes by the pseudonym “Gargamel” and uses a Bored Ape with leopard-print fur as an avatar. With his [return]( to the company, Solano promises to focus on its crypto roots. Despite all the the corporate uncertainty, there are still some people happily making money on the Bored Ape universe. When I spoke with Alegre earlier this month, he noted that whiskey, beer and clothing companies, as well as restaurants, have built their brands around particular Bored Ape tokens. Alegre said there’s even a coconut distributor based in Thailand that’s BAYC-themed. And Ape Beverages, which sells cans of “Ape Water” emblazoned with a Bored Ape in a yellow hat, announced this month that it had raised $2.3 million in funding. Even if the company never stages its comeback, Bored Apes will endure at the grocery store. —[Hannah Miller](mailto:hmiller129@bloomberg.net) The big story Microsoft said it’s investigating reports that Copilot, the software company’s AI chatbot, is [generating responses that users have called bizarre, and, in some cases, harmful](. In one incident, Copilot offered mixed messages on whether to commit suicide. Microsoft said users had deliberately tricked the chatbot into generating the responses. One to watch [Watch Bloomberg Technology’s interview with Konvoy Ventures managing partner Jason Chapman.]( Get fully charged Gamemaker Electronic Arts is [cutting 5% of its workforce](. Stripe is valued at $65 billion after striking a deal that allows current and former employees to [cash out some of their shares.]( Apple investors rejected a labor-backed request for [an AI transparency report.]( Teleperformance shares plunged after statement from Swedish fintech Klarna said AI will hurt the [French company’s call-center business.]( Santander’s online bank is launching a new service for clients that will offer [AI-based price targets for stocks.]( More from Bloomberg Bloomberg Technology Summit: Led by Bloomberg Businessweek Editor Brad Stone and Bloomberg TV Host and Executive Producer Emily Chang, this full-day experience in downtown San Francisco on May 9 will bring together leading CEOs, tech visionaries and industry icons to focus on what's next in artificial intelligence, the chip wars, antitrust outcomes and life after the smartphone. [Learn more](. 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