One Thing Today in Tech
-
EU a step closer to AI Act; IBM acquires Agyla in France; Zoho sees 65 percent growth with larger customers
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 Chennai software company's overall business
-
After Infosys Topaz, Accenture announces $3 bln plan, to double AI workforce to 80,000
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 allegations of bullying by the Indian government, including during the farmer protests in 2021
-
India's CERT-In to investigate alleged CoWIN breach; Reddit crashes as users protest API policy
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 ran a hackathon around generative AI
-
WhatsApp launches channels, but not in India yet; OTT players push back on govt's tobacco warnings mandate
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 Labs wins an Indian Navy contract; Capillary makes another buy; and Tiki shuts
-
Infosys on track to meet FY24 guidance; Catamaran may invest in Ola Electric — ET
Infosys expects to achieve its revenue growth target of 4-7 percent in constant currency terms for the financial year 2024, company executives told investors in a conference with Morgan Stanley yesterday in Mumbai, CNBC TV18 reports. Also in this report, Germany's ThyssenKrupp is close to a multi-billion-dollar deal to build six submarines for the Indian Navy, offering the engineering and tech knowhow for India's Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to execute the construction; Meta Verified comes to India; And US-based Digibee, a low-code software integration platform provider, has raised $60
-
Apple's mixed reality Vision Pro, to cost $3,500; Kerala brings high-speed internet to the poor
Apple yesterday revealed its long-anticipated mixed reality headset, called Vision Pro, which the company describes as a spatial computer that merges digital content with the physical world. The pricey device will only be available next year in the US. Apple also announced a slew of other updates, including the M2 Ultra chip, new Mac computers and iOS 17. Meanwhile, Kerala has kicked off a project to bring free internet connections to the poor in the state, and at affordable rates to everyone else. A thousand households got connections upon inauguration yesterday, Manorama reports
-
Apple's WWDC day one today will likely reveal XR headset; Google joins $36 mln funding at Pixxel
Apple's annual flagship meet, the worldwide developer conference starts today at 10:30 p.m. India time. On day one of the week-long events, almost everyone is expecting the iPhone maker to finally reveal its version of an extended reality headset. Apple is also widely expected to release the next iterations of its Mac computers as well as the beta version of iOS 17 operating software for its iPhones. Also in this brief, Puneet Chandok, head of AWS in India and South Asia has quit; and Venture Intelligence on how startups are faring in India at the series A level
-
GE set to make engines for LCA in India — Reuters; India reopens window for semicon fab proposals
US President Joe Biden's administration is preparing to approve a deal that would allow General Electric (GE) to manufacture jet engines for Indian military aircraft in India, Reuters reports exclusively. Meanwhile, after setbacks to two major proposed projects, The India Semiconductor Mission is reopening its application window for semiconductor fab proposals starting today, Mint reports. Also in this report, the US is funding eight pilot projects aimed at developing nuclear fusion; and Capillary Technologies has raised $45 million in fresh funding
-
ONGC to invest $12.1 bln in green energy; Top AI experts warn of 'extinction risk'; Blackrock slashes BYJU'S value
Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) has announced plans to invest Rs1 trillion ($12.1 billion) by 2030 to increase its renewable energy capacity and reduce direct emissions. The company aims to scale up its renewable energy capacity to 10 gigawatts by 2030, a significant increase from the current 189 megawatts. The world's biggest AI experts have captured in one sentence the risk of AI. Blackrock, the world's biggest money manager, has slashed the valuation of BYJU'S by 62 percent. Also in this brief, the C919, China's challenge to Airbus-Boeing takes flight
