ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE STARTUP
Andhra Pradesh, Nvidia ink pact for AI varsity
This collaboration is aimed at positioning Andhra Pradesh as a national leader in AI-driven innovation and talent development. "As part of this partnership, the two parties (state & Nvidia) will work together to skill 10,000 engineering students across Andhra Pradesh over the next two years," the release said.
Longevity startup Biopeak raises $3 million from Ranjan Pai's Claypond Capital, Accel’s Prashanth Prakash, others
The company has launched its first longevity clinic in Bengaluru and plans to expand to other metros within a year. Biopeak offers a personalised preventive healthcare service, combining diagnostics, AI, and concierge-style care to predict health risks and craft tailored intervention plans.
Early-stage VC Inflexor eyes Q2 first close of $150-million Fund-III
Early-stage venture fund Inflexor Ventures expects to announce the first close of its $150 million (Rs 1,250 crore) Fund III by the end of the second quarter, partner Murali Krishna Gunturu told ET. Alongside its core interest areas, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the new fund will also invest in companies developing healthcare devices and advanced materials, including those used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Wealthtech platform Syfe closes $80 million funding round, plans to expand tech team in India
Wealth management platform Syfe has raised $53 million, led by UK family offices. The total round reached $80 million, including a previous $27 million raise in August 2024. Founded by Dhruv Arora, Syfe operates in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia, with a tech centre in Gurugram. The funds will be used to support tech hiring.
OpenAI launches Academy in India; to expand access to AI education
According to ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s chief strategy officer, Jason Kwon, the government of India realises that to get the best returns from AI, large investments are needed to set up core infrastructure and develop advanced AI technologies.
OpenAI finds more Chinese groups using ChatGPT for malicious purposes
The release of ChatGPT in 2022 has since raised concerns about the potential consequences of generative AI technology, which can quickly and easily produce human-like text, imagery and audio. In a report on Thursday, the artificial intelligence company said that Chinese groups are using its technology for malicious operations.
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The AI story not many are telling: What India is about to lose by remaining in peacetime mode in a warzone
Accel's Shekhar Kirani and Prayank Swaroop have warned that Indian AI startups risk lagging behind global competitors due to a cautious approach. They have highlighted significant valuation disparities and changing investor expectations, urging Indian founders to adopt a global mindset and pursue aggressive growth strategies to succeed in the fast-evolving AI landscape.
Reddit sues AI startup Anthropic for allegedly using data without permission
According to the complaint, Anthropic has resisted entering a licensing agreement even as it trained its Claude chatbot on Reddit content, despite assuring last July it had blocked its bots from accessing Reddit's platform. Reddit quoted Claude admitting it was "trained on at least some Reddit data" and did not know if that content was deleted.
Amazon racing to roll out AI chatbot Cursor amid employee pressure: Report
This is a notable shift for the US tech major, which has traditionally discouraged its employees from using external AI tools since the company provides its own AI coding assistant called Q and an internal AI chatbot named ‘Cedric’. Last year, Cursor's desktop application gained popularity, particularly for its ability to assist with coding using Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet model. Its features got a further boost when Microsoft added the model to GitHub Copilot.
Bessemer Venture Partners hires Pankaj Mitra to lead AI, enterprise-tech bets in India
Bessemer Venture Partners has appointed Pankaj Mitra as a partner in its India team, focusing on AI, enterprise technology, and cybersecurity investments. This follows the closure of their $350 million India-focused fund. Mitra's experience includes roles at Cisco and Infosys, where he led investments and M&A activities. He aims to support the next wave of tech evolution across industries.
Startups eye insurance pie; Good Glamm’s salary delay
Happy Wednesday! Startups are eyeing a piece of the general insurance market. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
IndiaAI empanelment drives down prices of GPUs in second round
AI startups, developers, researchers and corporations exploring and implementing AI would be able to afford GPU capacity by leasing from the identified providers. “All existing empanelled players will be asked to match new L1 prices,” IndiaAI Mission chief executive Abhishek Singh told ET. “From what we hear from companies, they will mostly match, to retain their priority of allocation of AI workloads.”
Elon Musk’s xAI to raise $5 billion through debt sale
Elon Musk's xAI is seeking $5 billion in debt financing, with Morgan Stanley managing the offering, to fuel its AI infrastructure expansion, including a massive data centre in Memphis. This move comes as Musk shifts focus back to his businesses after a period of political involvement. The debt package has already seen strong investor demand, exceeding $3.5 billion.
Musk's xAI seeks $113 billion valuation in $300 million share sale: Report
The deal would allow employees to sell shares to investors and a larger investment round is expected to follow the secondary stock offer, in which xAI will offer new equity to outside investors, the FT report said.
Reliance only Indian firm in highly valued global technology companies list
Reliance Industries is the only Indian firm among the top 30 global tech companies by market value, ranked 23rd in a report on AI trends. The report highlights AI's rapid global impact, India’s lead in ChatGPT users, and massive investments fueling AI’s integration into products, infrastructure, and everyday life.
AI/ML hiring powers ahead as demand for senior talent grows: Naukri JobSpeak Report
In May, the job landscape for white-collar professionals in India remained steady. The Naukri JobSpeak Index indicated a modest uptick, signaling positive trends. Roles in AI and machine learning surged, particularly in urban centers like Delhi NCR and Chennai. There was a strong demand for experienced professionals, especially within the oil and gas and real estate sectors.
Samsung nears wide-ranging deal with Perplexity for AI features
Samsung is close to a major deal with Perplexity AI to integrate its search technology into future devices, including the Galaxy S26. The partnership may reduce Samsung’s reliance on Google, while Perplexity gains its largest mobile collaboration yet. Talks include preloading apps and enhancing Bixby with Perplexity’s AI features.
Perplexity Labs: AI giant's new tool creates tables, graphs, and simple web apps
Labs can generate reports, spreadsheets, dashboards, and simple web applications. The company states that Labs performs 10 minutes or more of self-supervised work, leveraging a suite of tools including deep web browse, code execution, and chart and image creation, to transform users' ideas into tangible output.
VerSe Innovation allegedly billed Builder.ai without services; Indian company denies claims
VerSe Innovation, parent of Dailyhunt, and Builder.ai allegedly inflated revenue through reciprocal invoicing without actual services rendered. London-based Builder.ai, which is under legal scrutiny in the US, reportedly gained $60 million from VerSe over four years. VerSe CEO Umang Bedi denies these claims, stating all transactions were for legitimate services, including cloud computing and advertising.
Silicon Valley VCs navigate uncertain AI future
The stakes have grown so high that even major venture capital firms -- the same ones that helped birth the internet revolution -- can no longer compete. Mostly, only the deepest pockets remain in the game: big tech companies, Japan's SoftBank, and Middle Eastern investment funds betting big on a post-fossil fuel future.
Builder.ai-Dailyhunt fake sales: All you need to know about the “round-tripping” scandal
Round-tripping involves transferring money between companies without any genuine exchange of goods or services — the only aim being to inflate revenue figures for investor consumption. Between 2021 and 2024, Builder.ai and VerSe Innovation reportedly exchanged invoices in round-tripping. Last month, Builder.ai said it planned to file for bankruptcy after one of its key lenders, Viola Credit, seized $37 million from its accounts.
AI security startup Unbound raises $4 million in round led by Race Capital
Wayfinder Ventures, Y Combinator, Massive Tech Ventures, and angel investors like Alpha Square Group and Northside Ventures participated in the oversubscribed seed funding round of the startup. Unbound, which helps organisations safely integrate GenAI into their workflows, plans to use over $1 million for hiring and expanding its R&D efforts.
Google, Justice Department face off in climactic showdown in search monopoly case
Google lawyers are expected to assert only minor concessions are needed, especially as the upheaval triggered by advances in artificial intelligence already are reshaping the search landscape, as alternative, conversational search options are rolling out from AI startups that are hoping to use the Department of Justice's four-and-half-year-old case to gain the upper hand in the next technological frontier.
Generative AI's most prominent skeptic doubles down
Many believe humanity stands on the cusp of achieving super intelligence or artificial general intelligence (AGI) technology that could match and even surpass human capability. That optimism has driven OpenAI's valuation to $300 billion, unprecedented levels for a startup, with billionaire Elon Musk's xAI racing to keep pace.
The Times and Amazon announce an AI licensing deal
Amazon's use of editorial content from the Times could extend to the Alexa software found on its smart speakers. In some instances, excerpts from Times reporting will include attribution and a link back to the Times' website. Material from the Times will also be used to train Amazon's proprietary AI models, the company said.
Retired. World’s 10th richest. But why is Google cofounder Sergey Brin back to a full-time job?
After retiring in 2019, Sergey Brin has resumed full-time work at Google, focusing on advancing artificial intelligence. Spurred by OpenAI’s ChatGPT impact, Brin is spearheading the development of Google’s Gemini AI model, targeting artificial general intelligence. His return underscores AI’s unparalleled promise and the intense competition to build the future of computing at one of the world’s largest tech giants.
China's DeepSeek releases an update to its R1 reasoning model
DeepSeek earlier this year upended beliefs that U.S. export controls were holding back China's AI advancements after the startup released AI models that were on a par or better than industry-leading models in the United States at a fraction of the cost.
Elon Musk-owned xAI, Telegram ink new deal, users to get new features. Details here
Telegram has entered into a deal with Elon Musk's company. XAI has signed several tie-ups this year to bolster its position in both AI infrastructure and financial services.
DeepSeek unveils update to R1 model
DeepSeek has announced a minor upgrade to its R1 AI model, which previously stunned the tech world by outperforming Western competitors at a fraction of the cost. This news arrives shortly before Nvidia's latest financial report, whose shares were impacted by the initial R1 release. The upgrade follows founder Liang Wenfeng's rise to prominence and recognition from President Xi Jinping.
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