One Thing Today in Tech
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Infosys raises outlook amid signs of slowdown, as cloud and automation propel both digital and core
Infosys yesterday raised its revenue outlook for FY23 citing strong growth momentum from the first nine of the fiscal year and a record order book, even as a recession looms large in its biggest markets. The company's numbers beat street expectations and CEO Salil Parekh said its strong capabilities in cloud technologies and automation had helped Infosys win the highest number of large contracts in a quarter in the company's history. He also flagged signs of an economic slowdown and delays in decision-making among clients in investment banking, telecom, hi-tech and retail
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US flights resume after nationwide disruption due to 'damaged database file'; ChatGPT paid version coming
Normal air traffic operations are slowly resuming in the US after flights were halted across the country on Wednesday, due to a software glitch in the Federal Aviation Administration's computer systems, BBC reports. Also in this brief, Jio crosses 100 cities with its 5G services; and Maruti Suzuki India expects to launch the eVX, an electric SUV, by 2025 with a range of 550km per charge, the Japanese carmaker said at India's auto show, according to Reuters
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Microsoft in talks for 49 percent stake in ChatGPT owner OpenAI — report; OneWeb closer to global constellation
Microsoft is in talks to invest $10 billion into OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, the AI app that has gone ultra-viral, Semafor reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. OneWeb yesterday confirmed the successful deployment of 40 satellites launched by SpaceX, taking it to a total of 542 low-earth-orbit satellites and a step closer to offering "global" connectivity. Also in this briefing, Infosys Foundation is seeking submissions for its Aarohan Social Innovation Awards 2023
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TCS Q3: revenue crosses $7 bln, staff strength dips for first time since Covid outbreak; Google invests in Cropin
Tata Consultancy Services, India's biggest IT services company, said its quarterly revenue has crossed the $7 billion mark, with sales for its fiscal third quarter, the October-December period, coming in at $7.075 billion. A near-term slowdown in demand is apparent in the staff addition numbers. TCS saw a net reduction in its workforce, for the first time since the Covid pandemic began to fan out across the world. For the rest of the current fiscal year, TCS doesn't expect to add many more people. Infosys, HCL Tech and Wipro will report their Q3 earnings this week
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Apple may not release an iPhone SE in 2024; Infosys Prize for 2022 announced; US FTC proposes non-competes ban
Apple may not be releasing a new iPhone SE in 2024, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who bases his predictions on sources in the supply chain, The Verge reported on Jan. 7. The Infosys Prize for 2022 was announced on Jan. 7, by Infosys Science Foundation. The Prize carries a pure gold medal, a citation, and a cash purse of $100,000 each in categories including science, engineering and humanities. Also in this brief, the US Federal Trade Commission is seeking to eliminate non-compete clauses, which it termed as exploitative
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ISRO, Microsoft team up to support India's space tech startups; Amazon layoffs to affect over 18,000
Indian Space Research Organisation and Microsoft yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to together help space-tech startups in India. They will offer technology tools and platforms, go-to-market support and mentoring to help Indian space startups scale and become enterprise ready. Amazon's layoffs are bigger than originally rumoured. And also in today's briefing, scientists in the US make a small breakthrough in harnessing live cancer cells to fight cancer and prevent its return
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Meta fined 390 mln euros; Salesforce to layoff 10 percent staff; Infosys wins Starhub order
Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta Platforms was fined 390 million euros or $414 million in the EU's latest fine against the social network apps provider, Wall Street Journal reports. In India, Google's appeal seeking an immediate stay against a Competition Commission fine has been declined by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Tech Circle reports. Cloud CRM giant is the latest big tech company to initiate layoffs amid economic gloom. And Infosys has won an order from Singapore's Starhub
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India currently not considering limiting online game duration; Google rivals join hands to fight Maps dominance
India currently doesn't plan to put restrictions on how much time individuals, including youngsters, spend playing games online, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India's minister of state for electronics and information technology, told the lower house of the country's parliament on Dec. 14, according to a government statement. Also in today's brief, Moneycontrol reports that SaaS company Freshworks has laid off about 2 percent of its 5,200-strong workforce, amid the global economic slowdown
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Infosys at 40: 'No Plan B,' but the 3Rs, being in the sweet spot and the power of faith
Infosys turned 40 this year, and the journey has seen many firsts for India—from listing in the US to the distribution of wealth across the rank and file of the enterprise. The story of the company, widely seen as the bellwether of India's IT services industry, includes chapters in which the founders came back from retirement—not once, but twice. In this extended edition of the tech brief, we bring you excerpts of comments from chairman Nandan Nilekani and founder NR Narayana Murthy—looking back and looking ahead
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TCS faces US class action over alleged discrimination; NotCo raises $70 mln; smartphone addiction hurting marriages
Tata Consultancy Services, India's biggest IT services company, is facing a class-action lawsuit in the US, the company's biggest market. TCS has been sued by Shawn Katz, a former employee, who alleges that the IT giant discriminates against non-South Asian and non-Indian applicants and employees, Money Control reports. Also in this episode, Vivo's latest Switch Off report shows smartphone addiction is hurting marriages, and NotCo, backed by Jeff Bezos, has raised $70 million in series D1 funding, led by Princeville Capital
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Google joins Apple in passkey push; Air India in talks for 500 planes; Cropin raises $14 mln
Google, last week, followed Apple, in releasing its version of what's called a passkey, which if widely adopted could take us closer to a passwordless future. Air India is close to placing historic orders for as many as 500 jetliners worth tens of billions of dollars from both Airbus and Boeing, Reuters reported yesterday, citing industry sources. Also in this episode, opposition to Blackrock's ESG investments in the US is spotlighting the travails of climate finance