In today’s episode we take a quick look at news of US President Joe Biden’s executive order to regulate AI, but first one other headline that’s caught everyone’s attention at home. Headlines Several politicians from various opposition parties in India have been sent notifications by Apple that they were being targeted by “state-sponsored attackers,” according to multiple media reports. Among those who may have been targeted are members of parliament including TMC's Mahua Moitra, Shiv Sena...

In today’s episode I bring you the gist of Qualcomm’s latest State of Sound report, but first a few headlines.  Headlines India’s department of telecommunications has used facial recognition to disconnect more than 6.4 million illegal phone connections over the last six months, Moneycontrol reports. It detects when a photograph has been used multiple times to procure SIM cards and flags instances where an individual has acquired more than the nine SIM cards allowed per Aaadhaar number under...

In today’s episode H1B visa rules will soon change significantly, but first a few other headlines caught my attention. Isro, announced last week the successful test of “In-flight Abort Demonstration of Crew Escape System (CES)” at Mach number 1.2 with the space agency’s newly developed Test Vehicle, followed by Crew Module separation & safe recovery. This is in an important milestone in India’s Gaganyaan human space flight effort. VC firms are doubling down on AI and deep tech....

In today’s episode, I ask if we are headed for a talent crisis in core engineering streams, but first a couple of headlines. Headlines Agnikul Cosmos, has raised $26.7 million in Series-B funding from investors including Celesta Capital, Rocketship.vc, Artha Venture Fund and Artha Select Fund, the Chennai startup said in a press release on Oct. 17. IBM yesterday announced the signing of three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with three entities engaged with the Ministry of Electronics and...

There’s been a surge in children’s sexual abuse and exploitation online since the Covid pandemic, experts agree, and lawmakers around the world are trying to grapple with this threat with new policies and rules. Online businesses should be pushed to design their products and services to be age appropriate, Google proposes, but opposes stringent use of ID based verification on the grounds that such a practice can also deny useful access to all users in a digital world, and lead to more data...

In today’s episode find out why TCS sacked 16 employees, but first a few headlines. Headlines After losing the IPL streaming rights, which has contributed its loss of some 20 million subscribers, Disney Hotstar set a new world record for concurrent viewers on Saturday when 35 million people logged on to the digital platform to watch the India-Pakistan cricket match in the ICC World Cup. Apple may announce new iPads tomorrow, 9to5Mac reported over the weekend. The iPad Air, iPad mini and...

In today’s episode I take a quick look at how applications development and maintenance, which is about two-thirds of India’s IT sector revenues, is changing, but first a few headlines. Beyond Next Ventures, a Japanese fund focused on early-stage deep tech startups in Asia, is targeting up to ¥25 billion (about $168 million) for BNV Fund 3, its third fund, TechCrunch reports. And yesterday, BNV said it completed a first close of ¥10 billion ($68 million), which it will invest in ventures in...

What do customers want from their SaaS vendors? Sridhar Vembu, founder and CEO of Zoho Corp., weighs in on this question, speaking with Forbes India at the company’s annual Zoholics conference on Oct. 9 in Bengaluru. Zoho remains steadfastly bootstrapped, but for the VC funded ventures, Vembu speaks about how a new funding cycle will eventually return and hopes that this time there will be more focus on important tech R&D and not just the “crowded train” that SaaS has become.

In today’s episode, Acumen, last week, announced the first Indian cohort of sustainability and renewable energy focused startups it will train, with support from Apple, but first a few headlines.  SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said he believes an artificial general intelligence (AGI) that surpasses human intelligence in most areas, will arrive within 10 years, Reuters reports. Google yesterday released its Pixel 8 phones with a camera feature that uses an on-device algorithm to create a...

In today’s episode we take a quick look at an expanded partnership between NVIDIA and Infosys that seeks to equip an army of AI specialists trained in the AI chip giant’s technologies, but first one other headline that caught my attention yesterday. WhatsApp continues to roll out new features in India that will allow users in its largest market by userbase to do much more without leaving the instant messaging app. Coinciding with its Conversations event yesterday in Mumbai, WhatsApp...

In today’s episode it’s all about Apple. And of course, the company didn’t disappoint with the many incrementally faster, better features with innovations that combine both hardware tech and software ingenuity, as it launched the iPhone 15 series of smartphones and the Apple Watch 9 series, yesterday. For example, a double tap of your thumb and your index finger, of the hand on which you’re wearing an Apple Watch, will now let you do a bunch of new things, from answering and ending phone...

In today’s episode we take a quick look at the rise of global capability centres, as they are called, but first a few headlines. Headlines Apple’s iPhone 15 event, the Wonderlust, is to be held later today, where we might get to see the company’s first smartphone with the standard USB-C charging port. It’s at 10:30 p.m. India time and you can watch the event on Apple’s website. Tata Consultancy Services is the second Indian IT services company, after Infosys, to join Dassault Systèmes’...

In today’s episode one quick takeaway from Freshworks’s first investor day since the company went public two years ago, but first a few headlines. Headlines NVIDIA and Reliance Industries, on Sep. 8, announced a collaboration to develop India’s own foundation large language model trained on the nation’s diverse languages and tailored for generative AI applications to serve the world’s most populous nation, according to a press release from the AI GPU maker. Apple’s much anticipated iPhone...

In today’s episode we take a quick look at Zoho’s latest milestone, with the Indian SaaS leader crossing 100 million users, but first a few headlines. Headlines HeromotoCorp will invest up to Rs. 550 crore in a rights issue of Ather Energy Private Limited, the Indian two-wheeler giant told stock exchanges on Sep. 4 in a statement. Atomicwork, a cloud software provider of productivity software, has raised $11 million in seed funding led by Blume Ventures and Matrix Partners, TechCrunch...

In today’s episode we take a quick look at edtech funding, from a report published by Tracxn. But first, a few headlines.  Headlines Telecom operators in India want internet companies to compensate them for using their telecom networks, a recommendation they’ve made to the local regulatory body, echoing a viewpoint that is gaining some momentum in other parts of the world, TechCrunch reports. Pentathlon Ventures, an early-stage B2B SaaS-focused venture capital firm, has announced the...

Today, five takeaways on the future of India’s SaaS sector from the perspective of an early-stage VC investor, but first, a few headlines. Headlines India’s Aditya-L1 satellite, our first space-based solar observatory, was launched successfully on Sep. 2 at 11:50 a.m. local time, Isro said in an update. Microsoft is ending WordPad, the basic word processor that’s been included with Windows since 1995, Thurrot reported over the weekend, citing a support page from the Windows maker. Infosys...

In today’s episode, sales of robots are down by almost a third from the first six months of last year. But first, some headlines that caught my attention. Headlines that caught our attention India's first indigenously developed nuclear power plant unit has started operations at full capacity, Business Today reports. The plant, in Kakrapar, Gujarat, had two existing 200 MWe units. This third unit, and a fourth one that is expected to go online in March 2024, are India's first pair of...

In today’s episode, we take a quick look at India’s opportunity to expand its digital technologies ecosystem to tier-2 cities, but first, some headlines that caught my attention. Headlines that caught our attention Google is expanding its generative AI search experience to markets outside the US, starting with India and Japan, TechCrunch reports. The new AI-powered search feature, also known as SGE (Search Generative Experience), will be available through Google’s Search Labs. Meanwhile,...

Apple yesterday announced Sep. 12 as the date for its annual press event, where usually the company launches new iPhones. The event will be held Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, and it is widely expected that the iPhone 15 series and new Apple Watch models will be launched. In India, Apple’s fifth-biggest market according to Counterpoint Research, contract manufacturer Foxconn is already said to be preparing to roll out the new phones within weeks of the launch. Headlines that...

Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn Technology Group, one of Apple’s biggest contract manufacturers, which is also expanding its operations in India, is entering the contest to be Taiwan’s next president as an independent candidate, with elections due in 2024. Gou is widely seen as an advocate of Taiwan’s return to the “One China” framework and for cross-Strait talks to resume between China and Taiwan that broke down in 2016. While pundits don’t expect him to win, a more pro-China government in...

Britian’s first lady Akshata Murty’s ownership of Infosys is in focus again, ahead of a free trade agreement that her husband, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is negotiating with India. The India-UK FTA talks started some 19 months ago and are said to be in their final stages. UK is the Indian IT sector’s biggest market after the US. While some British papers have suggested India is pushing for more liberalised visa rules, those negotiations are not part of the FTA talks. Zepto, a super quick...

European lawmakers took a significant step towards regulating artificial intelligence (AI) with the advancement of new draft legislation, Reuters reports. The legislation aims to ensure that AI serves people, society, and the environment, emphasising the importance of protecting fundamental rights. Also in this report, Zoho said it's making investments across its portfolio of products to accelerate the strong growth it is seeing with larger customers, who now account for a third of the...

Accenture plans to invest $3 billion over three years in its Data & AI practice, joining the roster of global tech services and consulting giants investing heavily in generative AI, including Indian rivals Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services. Accenture also plans to double its AI workforce to 80,000. This news comes three months after the company announced 19,000 job cuts to reduce costs. Also, in this brief, India's technology minister reacts to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's...

The government of India has tasked the country's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) with investigating an alleged data breach revealing personal details of people vaccinated against Covid-19. Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted that a "Telegram bot" accessing previously stolen data was the culprit and that there was no direct breach. Reddit went down yesterday after thousands of 'sub-reddits' went dark to protest a new API policy. Also in this brief, Stellaris and Entrepreneur First...

India’s OTT businesses are pushing back against a government mandate to curtail the glorification of cigarette and tobacco use online. The Internet and Mobile Association of India has flagged “fundamental concerns” and “practical difficulties” in complying with the new rules that the government issued last month, Economic Times reports. Meanwhile, Disney+ Hotstar is looking to win some users back, by offering cricket streaming free to mobile users, TechCrunch reports. Also in this brief, QNu...