Gymnastics Great Nadia Comaneci Gifted NFT for 'Perfect Ten' Anniversary

Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games. (AFP)
Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games. (AFP)
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Gymnastics Great Nadia Comaneci Gifted NFT for 'Perfect Ten' Anniversary

Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games. (AFP)
Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games. (AFP)

Romanian former gymnastics star Nadia Comaneci was gifted an NFT - a type of digital asset - by a group of Romanian creatives to mark the 45th anniversary since she became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games.

The NFT is a digital necklace made of 10 pieces that are 3D renderings of vault, uneven bars, beam and floor moves she performed in Montreal in 1976.

It was created by a designer, an architect, a visual artist and an IT programmer and presented during Romanian Creative Week, an event showcasing design in the eastern city of Iasi earlier this month.

"I am glad to see that my performance from 45 years ago continues to inspire the young generation," Comaneci, who now resides in Oklahoma, said in a video message.

"I liked the idea of a new type of pioneering, this time at the intersection between athletic performance and technology."

Six other NFTs inspired by the "Perfect Ten" were created and will be auctioned off on Open Sea, the NFT marketplace, on July 18, the exact day when Comaneci made history.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are blockchain-based digital assets ranging from art and videos to songs and tweets that have exploded in popularity during the pandemic as enthusiasts and investors scramble to spend enormous sums of money on items that only exist online.



Nvidia Ramps up AI Tech for Games, Robots and Autos

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds a new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card as he gives a keynote address at CES 2025, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds a new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card as he gives a keynote address at CES 2025, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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Nvidia Ramps up AI Tech for Games, Robots and Autos

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds a new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card as he gives a keynote address at CES 2025, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds a new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card as he gives a keynote address at CES 2025, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang made a rock star appearance at a packed arena late Monday, touting AI chips and software for robots, cars, video games and more.

After years of being on the sidelines at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, talk of computer chips was a hot ticket as people queued for hours to fill an arena to hear Huang talk AI.

"When you see application after application that is AI driven, at the core of it is that machine learning has changed how computing will be done," Jensen said during a one-man presentation on stage.

"There are so many things you can't do without AI."

Jensen's keynote came on the eve of the opening of the CES show floor, and on a day that Nvidia shares closed at a new record, giving the Silicon Valley company a market valuation of more than $3.6 trillion.

Nvidia's graphics unit processors (GPUs) for powering AI in datacenters have been snapped up by Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI and others racing to be leaders in the technology.

During a lengthy presentation in Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay resort, Huang introduced a GPU for ramping up AI capabilities in personal computers where Nvidia won the loyalty of gamers in the company's early days.

Nvidia touted the new GeForce RTX 50 series for desktop and laptop computers based on Blackwell chip architecture as its most advanced consumer GPUs.

"Blackwell, the engine of AI, has arrived for PC gamers, developers and creatives," Huang said.

PCs enhanced with RTX chips for AI capabilities will be available from an array of manufacturers including Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Razer and Samsung, according to Nvidia.

An AI PC displayed during the presentation was priced at $1,299, built with the $549 RTX chip at the starting point of the new GPU line-up.

Along with rapid rendering of rich gameplay action, Nvidia AI technology will enable the creation of characters that perceive, plan and act like human players, according to Nvidia.

Such autonomous characters are being integrated into games including "PUBG: Battlegrounds", according to Nvidia.

Huang also introduced a family foundation models open to the world for advancing "physical AI" that enables robots to understand and engage in real-world tasks.

Nvidia expanded partnerships and technology for autonomous capabilities in cars as well, with Toyota joining its roster of partners.