One Thing Today in Tech
-
India and Singapore UPI-PayNow linkage goes live; Capgemini forecasts slower growth in 2023
India and Singapore have linked their digital payments systems, UPI and PayNow, to support instant and low-cost cross-border payments. The system went live yesterday. Capgemini forecast weaker revenue growth and said it would slow down hiring in 2023 amid a global economic slowdown, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, Wipro is asking some recruits to join at lower pay, according to Economic Times. Also in this brief, the US Supreme court is hearing an important case against Google; and a British trial of four-day work weeks results in many participants sticking with it
-
Tata Group's JLR opens three autonomous-tech hubs in Europe; Infosys names Shaji Mathew HR boss
Tata Group's Jaguar Land Rover said on Tuesday it is opening three new engineering hubs in Europe to develop autonomous vehicle technologies as part of its partnership with Silicon Valley artificial intelligence company Nvidia, Reuters reports. Also in this brief, several countries, last week, agreed on a call to action over the use of AI in warfare; and Freshworks, yesterday, named Sandie Overtveld as the Senior Vice President and general manager for its Asia-Pacific, Japan, and Middle East and Africa markets
-
Microsoft's Bing AI is offering bizarre responses to testers; G20 Digital Innovation Alliance open to startups
Microsoft's announcement of its Bing AI last week was received with much fanfare, which even prompted Google to rush through its botched announcement. The experience of some early testers, however, hasn't been very good, and the whole thing could backfire. Also in this brief, Tesla is recalling more than 360,000 cars over safety concerns related to its driver-assistance software. And scientists in India have developed a non-toxic nanocomposite coating to prevent bacterial infections at the site of surgical wounds that is superior to existing commercial products
-
Salesforce's Marc Benioff took French Polynesia vacation amid layoffs; Stripe burned $500 mln last year — report
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff took a vacation to French Polynesia to "detox" himself from gadgets and other digital distractions, the entrepreneur told The New York Times, Business Insider reports — the original piece is behind a paywall. Benioff took a vacation after firing 10 percent of the cloud-based CRM provider's staff. Meanwhile, fintech darling Stripe burned through half a billion dollars in 2022, The Information reports exclusively, as its revenue rose much more slowly than the previous year's pandemic-driven frenzy that saw every business shifting more work on
-
Blue Origin develops tech to make solar panels on the Moon; Twilio lays off another 17 percent
Blue Origin, the aerospace company started by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has developed the technologies needed to make solar panels on the Moon, with zero carbon emissions and no water, the company said in a blog post on Friday last. Twilio, yesterday, announced plans to cut another 17 percent of its workforce or roughly 1,500 jobs, CNBC reports. Also in this brief, Apple, earlier today, released an update to the iPhone and iPad's operating systems to fix a vulnerability that hackers may already have been exploiting
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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