Forbes India Daily Tech Brief Podcast
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Shell directors sued over climate strategy; TCS wins $726 mln Phoenix order; Sequoia Surge backs Hatica
Shell's board of directors are being personally sued over their alleged failure to properly manage risks associated with the climate crisis, Euronews reports. The lawsuit, brought by Environmental law charity ClientEarth says the British oil giant's 11 directors have breached their legal duties under the UK's Companies Act by failing to bring their climate strategy in line with the Paris Agreement. Also in this brief, a US lawmaker wants children to be 16 before they can access social media, and how some strange words are breaking ChatGPT
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Microsoft sees 'a new day in search' with ChatGPT-powered Bing, Google offers Bard
Microsoft has re-launched its search engine Bing with artificial intelligence features, the company said in a blog post yesterday. The new search engine is available for preview at bing.com. Microsoft is a large investor in Open AI, the research lab and company whose ChatGPT bot has taken the tech world by storm for its ability to deliver human-like responses. After losing the mobile operating system race to Google and Apple, Microsoft may now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get ahead in search
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Indian Navy conducts successful landing test of LCA on INS Vikrant; EV startups raised $1.66 bln in 2022
The naval version of India's light combat aircraft made a successful landing on the INS Vikrant, India's indigenous aircraft carrier, the ministry of defence said in a press release yesterday. Separately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, yesterday, opened India's largest helicopter factory at Tumakuru, near Bengaluru. The facility, established by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, will initially make light utility helicopters. Also in this brief, India is cracking down on gambling apps and unauthorised loan apps
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Budget expectations: What India's tech startups and VC investors are asking
As India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the country's budget today for the coming fiscal year that starts April 1, expectations are high on all fronts, especially as India is widely seen as the one major economy that will grow strongly during a period when the global economy is expected to slow down. Here's what some of India's tech startups and VC investors have on their wish list for the budget
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IMF revises 2023 growth upward; Apple working on a foldable iPad — report; ChatGPT can fix software bugs
The International Monetary Fund yesterday revised upward its global growth projections for the year, after better-than-expected data on spending by American households and businesses, and in other countries, and Europe's handling of its energy crisis, CNBC reports. Also in this report, pet fish apparently changed their owner's Nintendo username, downloaded a new avatar, set up a PayPal account and even charged his credit card, CNN reports. And, after getting an MBA, ChatGPT is now fixing software bugs
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Google should sell ad manager suite — US; Startup funding in India fell 38 pct in 2022; Indian SaaS projected at $35 bln in 2027
The US Justice Department yesterday accused Google of abusing its dominance in digital advertising, and said the internet giant should be forced to sell its ad manager suite, Reuters reports. Venture capital funding of startups fell more than 38 percent in 2022 versus 2021, GlobalData finds. Indian software-as-a-service companies, however, were a relative bright spot, according to a separate report, by Bain & Company, a consultancy, which estimates the sector is maturing and will continue to grow. And Pune startup Ecozen has raised $25 million in equity funding and loans
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Amazon launches air cargo service in India; Salesforce in Elliott's crosshairs — report; Log9 raises $40 mln
Amazon has launched Amazon Air, its dedicated air cargo fleet in India, partnering with Quickjet, the ecommerce giant said in a press release yesterday. It will start with Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Activist investor Elliott Management's next target is Salesforce, Wall Street Journal reports. Also in this brief, Microsoft invests more money in OpenAI, and GPT3, the AI chatbot, just passed an MBA exam at the prestigious Wharton School, NBC News reports
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India's Supreme Court rejects Google's appeal to block Competition Commission order; PhonePe raises $350 mln
India's Supreme Court yesterday rejected Google's ask that an order by the Competition Commission imposing a fine and changes to its market practices with respect to Android software be stayed. Google had approached the top court after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, earlier this month, had refused to stay the Competition Commission's order while it heard the matter. Also in this brief, TCS wins an order from Bombardier. And PhonePe is now privately valued at $12 billion, after a new investment from General Atlantic
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GoMechanic, Sequoia-backed venture, to cut 70% staff, after SoftBank walks away over irregularities
GoMechanic, a car service startup backed by VC investors including Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management and Chiratae, will cut 70 percent of its staff and undergo an independent audit of its books, the company's co-founder Amit Bhasin said in a post on LinkedIn yesterday. Also in this brief, Microsoft yesterday confirmed the 10,000 job cuts that had previously been reported in the news, and a TIME investigation reveals how OpenAI used lowly paid workers in Kenya to remove toxic content from ChatGPT
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Microsoft may cut 5% workforce, announce 10,000 layoffs — reports; Mad Street Den raises $30 mln
Microsoft will likely announce thousands of job cuts soon resulting from a decision to cut 5 percent of its global workforce, Sky News reported yesterday. With more than 220,000 employees at Microsoft, that could mean more than 10,000 layoffs, The Verge pointed out. Also in this brief, Apple's new MacBook Pro laptops with the M2 chips, Google's plan for an Airtag-like tracker, and investors take IBM to court for alleged misleading information on its cloud and AI revenue
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ShareChat latest unicorn to lay off staff with 20 pct cut; Amazon's open software jobs plummet — report
ShareChat, yesterday, joined a growing list of Indian startup unicorns that have laid off employees amid a funding winter. The company has laid off 20 percent of its workforce to conserve cash, as the current global economic slowdown has made it harder to raise funding, according to multiple reports. The desi social media venture is among the most funded startups in India. Also in this brief, a Swiss entrepreneur is launching a privacy-first smartphone operating system based on a version of Android, and a Chinese company has built the world's biggest wind turbine