Google introduced Gemini 2.5, its latest experimental artificial intelligence model; it ranked second in a competitive leaderboard for AI-driven web development tools.

On March 25, Google announced that it will allow developers to try out Gemini 2.5 Pro. The company described it as a thinking model, capable of reasoning through thoughts before responding.

Google said this improves both accuracy and performance, particularly in coding, science and math tasks. It said Gemini 2.5 can support more context-aware agents. 

Citing self-reported data compiled by the AI benchmarking platform LMArena, Google shared that the new AI model topped the charts in reasoning and knowledge, science and mathematics. Google described Gemini 2.5 as its “most intelligent AI model.” 

Google’s new model ranks second in web dev leaderboard

Google’s new AI model ranked second in LMArena’s WebDev leaderboard, a real-time AI coding competition where models compete in web development challenges created by the AI benchmarking platform. 

The AI model had an arena score of 1267.70, which surpassed competitors including DeepSeek, Grok and ChatGPT. Still, the top spot went to Anthropic’s AI model Claude 3.7 Sonnet, which had an arena score of 1354.01.

Leaderboard for AI web development competition. Source: LMArena

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ChatGPT dominates the AI tools market 

While many companies are working to improve their models’ performances, OpenAI’s ChatGPT continues to dominate the AI tools market. 

In 2024, the AI chatbot recorded more than 40 billion yearly visits, representing a market share of nearly 40%. Data from AI statistics and usage trends platform aitools.xyz showed that overall, the AI tools market had 101 billion visits throughout the year. Canva’s AI generator came in second place, with 10.4 billion visits, gaining a 10.25% market share. 

AI tools market share distribution. Source: aitools.xyz

More recently, new contenders in the AI tools market have surfaced. In February, the data showed that DeepSeek’s AI tools climbed in popularity and now rank third with a 6.58% market share. DeepSeek also ranks first in the Trending list, recording a growth rate of 195% and monthly visits of 792 million. 

Despite this, ChatGPT continues to dominate the space, with a 43% market share in February and 5.2 billion monthly visits. 

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission will host four more crypto roundtables — focusing on crypto trading, custody, tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) — after hosting its first crypto roundtable on March 21.

The series of roundtables, organized by the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, will kick off with a discussion on tailoring regulation for crypto trading on April 11, the SEC said in a March 25 statement.

A roundtable on crypto custody will follow on April 25, with another to discuss tokenization and moving assets onchain on May 12. The fourth roundtable in the series will discuss DeFi on June 6.

A series of four crypto roundtable discussions are scheduled from April through to June. Source: SEC

“The Crypto Task Force roundtables are an opportunity for us to hear a lively discussion among experts about what the regulatory issues are and what the Commission can do to solve them,” said SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, the task force lead.

The specific agenda and speakers for each roundtable have yet to be disclosed, but all are open for the public to watch online or to attend at the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

SEC softens on crypto with new leadership

The agency’s Crypto Task Force was launched on Jan. 21 by acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda. It’s tasked with establishing a workable crypto framework for the agency to use. 

The task force held its first roundtable on March 21 with a discussion titled “How We Got Here and How We Get Out — Defining Security Status.”

The SEC will also be hosting a roundtable about AI’s role in the financial industry on March 27, according to a March 25 release. 

Join us on March 27 for a roundtable discussion on artificial intelligence in the financial industry. Topics include the risks, benefits, and governance of AI.

More details: https://t.co/ekX2RWp2KQ pic.twitter.com/7fH3j1tlwj

— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) March 25, 2025

The roundtable will discuss the risks, benefits, and governance of AI in the financial industry, with Uyeda, Peirce and fellow SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw slated to speak.

Under the Trump administration, the SEC has slowly been walking back its hardline stance toward crypto forged under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

The regulator has dismissed a growing number of enforcement actions against crypto firms it launched under Gensler.

Related: Bitnomial drops SEC lawsuit ahead of XRP futures launch in the US

Uyeda, who took the reins after Gensler resigned on Jan. 20, flagged plans on March 17 to scrap a rule proposed under the Biden administration that would tighten crypto custody standards for investment advisers.

Uyeda also said in a March 10 speech that he had asked SEC staff for options to abandon part of proposed changes that would expand regulation of alternative trading systems to include crypto firms, requiring them to register as exchanges. 

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North Carolina lawmakers have introduced bills in the House and Senate that could see the state’s treasurer allocate up to 5% of various state retirement funds into cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

The Investment Modernization Act (House Bill 506), introduced by Representative Brenden Jones on March 24, would create an independent investment authority under the state’s Treasury to determine which digital assets could be suitable for inclusion into the state retirement funds.

An identical bill, the State Investment Modernization Act (Senate Bill 709), was introduced into the state’s Senate on March 25.

The bills define a digital asset as a cryptocurrency, stablecoin, non-fungible token (NFT), or any other asset that is electronic in nature that confers economic, proprietary or access rights.

The North Carolina bills don’t set market cap criteria for digital assets, unlike other crypto bills that are working their way into law at the state level.

Source: Bitcoin Laws

The newly created agency, dubbed the North Carolina Investment Authority, would, however, need to carefully weigh the risk and reward profile of each digital asset and ensure the funds are maintained in a secure custody solution.

Bitcoin legislation tracker Bitcoin Laws noted on X that House Bill 506 wasn’t drafted as a Bitcoin reserve bill as it does not mandate the investment authority to hold Bitcoin (BTC) — or any digital asset — over the long term.

North Carolina wants in on Bitcoin bill race

On March 18, North Carolina senators introduced the Bitcoin Reserve and Investment Act (Senate Bill 327), which calls for the treasurer to allocate up to 10% of public funds specifically into Bitcoin.

The bill — introduced by Republicans Todd Johnson, Brad Overcash and Timothy Moffitt — aims to leverage Bitcoin investment as a “financial innovation strategy” to strengthen North Carolina’s economic standing.

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The treasurer would need to ensure that the Bitcoin is stored in a multi-signature cold storage wallet, and the BTC could only be liquidated during a “severe financial crisis,” with approval from two-thirds of North Carolina’s General Assembly.

The bill would also create a Bitcoin Economic Advisory Board to oversee the reserve’s management.

According to Bitcoin Law, 41 Bitcoin reserve bills have been introduced at the state level in 23 states, and 35 of those 41 bills remain live.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, both of which will initially use cryptocurrency forfeited in government criminal cases.

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