Forbes India Daily Tech Brief Podcast

Google Cloud turns first profits; Microsoft tops estimates; Capria marks first close of new $100 mln fund

Google Cloud turns first profits; Microsoft tops estimates; Capria marks first close of new $100 mln fund

Apple opens second India store today; committed to growth in the country, CEO Tim Cook says

Apple opens second India store today; committed to growth in the country, CEO Tim Cook says

Elon Musk starting an AI venture — reports; SpaceX Super Heavy rocket test as early as today

Elon Musk starting an AI venture — reports; SpaceX Super Heavy rocket test as early as today

TCS Q4 growth hit by negative sentiment among US customers; CEO Rajesh Gopinathan to exit June 1

TCS Q4 growth hit by negative sentiment among US customers; CEO Rajesh Gopinathan to exit June 1

China releases draft rules on generative AI products; Apple, finally, sets dates for stores in India

China releases draft rules on generative AI products; Apple, finally, sets dates for stores in India

  • Gartner raises IT services forecast for 2023 ahead of TCS, Infosys earnings results this week

    Gartner raises IT services forecast for 2023 ahead of TCS, Infosys earnings results this week

    Worldwide IT spending is projected to touch $4.6 trillion in 2023, increasing by 5.5 percent over 2022, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, widely seen as the top IT market forecaster advising enterprise CIOs. While the devices segment is expected to contract the most among the various categories, the IT services segment is now expected to grow faster. Gartner forecasts IT services spending in 2023 to increase by 9.1 percent, compared with its January forecast of 5.5 percent. Capital markets analysts in India are hoping for "front-ended" guidance from Infosys

  • India notifies IT rules to establish fact checker for 'government business' content; Startup funding continues to fall

    India notifies IT rules to establish fact checker for 'government business' content; Startup funding continues to fall

    India yesterday notified changes to its information technology rules that now require all intermediaries — such as social media platform providers and internet services providers — to rely on a government-backed fact check unit concerning any content related to "government business," according to an official statement. Also in this brief, Q1 of calendar 2023 saw startup funding continue to fall, according to data from Tracxn

  • Capillary makes second US acquisition; Speciale raises new growth fund; Infosys wins LexisNexis order

    Capillary makes second US acquisition; Speciale raises new growth fund; Infosys wins LexisNexis order

    Capillary Technologies, one of India's first-generation software-as-a-service companies, earlier this week, announced its second US acquisition as part of a strategy to step up its operations in the world's biggest technology market. Speciale Invest, a Chennai VC firm known for backing deep-tech startups, has raised a fund aimed at series A or higher. And Infosys wins a contract that extends its 15-year relationship with LexisNexis. Also in this brief, Google reveals an AI supercomputer that it says is faster than competing systems from Nvidia, CNBC reports

  • Skyroot Aerospace conducts successful long duration test of cryogenic engine and also advances green fuel tech

    Skyroot Aerospace conducts successful long duration test of cryogenic engine and also advances green fuel tech

    India's Skyroot Aerospace, yesterday announced it had conducted a long-duration test of a 3D-printed cryogenic engine, firing it for 200 seconds — an important milestone in developing the private space venture's higher payload capacity rockets. The test also yielded vital data for advancing the company's use of LNG — a greener alternative to the more widely used fuels today, the company said in a press release. Also in this brief, PhonePe, a Walmart group company in Bengaluru, yesterday launched Pincode, an app built on top of India's Open Network for Digital Co

  • TCS announces surprise CEO change: Rajesh Gopinathan resigns, Krithivasan is the new boss

    TCS announces surprise CEO change: Rajesh Gopinathan resigns, Krithivasan is the new boss

    Tata Consultancy Services, India's biggest technology services and consulting company, announced a surprise change at the top yesterday. CEO Rajesh Gopinathan has resigned to "pursue his other interests," and K Krithivasan, another company veteran will take over in the coming months, the Mumbai-listed IT giant told the stock exchanges after the markets closed. Also in this brief, Xoriant, an engineering services provider in the US, gets a new chief executive; and the UK bans TikTok on government devices

  • Early-stage startup funding shored up deal volume in India in 2022, but funding fell 33 pct — Bain-IVCA report

    Early-stage startup funding shored up deal volume in India in 2022, but funding fell 33 pct — Bain-IVCA report

    Venture capital funding for India's startups fell from $38.5 billion in 2021 to $25.7 billion in 2022, according to the latest report on the sector by Bain and Company, a consultancy, and Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association. However, more early-stage deals were struck in 2022, helping the overall deal volume to be marginally higher, according to the report, released yesterday. Also in this brief, the Indian IT services sector has become a less significant recruiter, according to a staffing company

  • Meta lays off another 10,000 employees; India investigating crypto startups for money laundering

    Meta lays off another 10,000 employees; India investigating crypto startups for money laundering

    Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms will lay off 10,000 more workers and incur restructuring costs ranging from $3 billion to $5 billion, the company announced Tuesday, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg warning economic instability could continue for "many years," CNBC reports. Also in this brief, OpenAI releases GPT-4, the latest version of its large language model AI; and Infosys sees a second big exit in 2023, as Mohit Joshi, a president and 22-year veteran at the Bengaluru company, is named CEO-designate at smaller rival Tech Mahindra

  • Women-led startups outperformed the overall startup ecosystem in India — Tracxn report

    Women-led startups outperformed the overall startup ecosystem in India — Tracxn report

    The year 2022 saw women-led startups in India increase their share of venture capital investments and do better than the overall startup ecosystem in the country, even as the so-called funding winter descended on the sector amid worsening global macroeconomic conditions. Marquee investors such as Sequoia Capital and Accel as well as accelerators and incubators such as CIIE backed more women entrepreneurs, according to data from Tracxn, a Mumbai-listed private markets intelligence provider. Also in this brief, Spotify hit half a billion active users, the Swedish company said at its Stream On ev

  • Foxconn says 'no definitive agreement' after news of $700 mln Apple iPhone factory in Bengaluru

    Foxconn says 'no definitive agreement' after news of $700 mln Apple iPhone factory in Bengaluru

    Foxconn, one of Apple's largest contract manufacturers, said on Saturday that there was no definitive agreement about investment in India, the French news agency AFP reported. This came after a report from Bloomberg on Friday last that Foxconn will invest about $700 million to build a new plant near India's tech capital Bengaluru. Also in this brief, Universal Hydrogen, a hydrogen fuel cell technologies company, last week, conducted the first test of a 40-passenger regional airliner aircraft, using hydrogen fuel cell propulsion

  • Amazon to integrate logistics network, SmartCommerce with ONDC; Ericsson lays off 8,500 staff

    Amazon to integrate logistics network, SmartCommerce with ONDC; Ericsson lays off 8,500 staff

    Amazon announced on February 24 that it will integrate its logistics network and SmartCommerce, a suite of SaaS products built on Amazon Web Services, with the government of India-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Ericsson has announced the largest layoff in the telecom sector in the current economic slowdown, Reuters reports. Also in this brief, Nokia has announced the G22 — a smartphone with a backplate made from recycled plastic that can be removed easily for DIY repairs; and the latest on how India is stepping up its semiconductor efforts

  • Google offers a 4 percent cut to comply with India's competition order; MapMyIndia launches hardware devices

    Google offers a 4 percent cut to comply with India's competition order; MapMyIndia launches hardware devices

    Google has started to support third-party billing for Google Play Store purchases in India as the Android maker begins to comply with local rules, after its challenge to a diktat from India's Competition Commission was initially rejected by the country's top courts, but remains pending, TechCrunch reports. Meanwhile, C.E. Info Systems, better known for its geospatial software tech products under the brand MapMyIndia, which competes with Google Maps, for example, yesterday launched a new line of navigation and entertainment hardware products for cars and two-wheelers