Category TechnologyTrends

Cybercriminals are using plain-language prompts on ‘Evil LLMs’ built for fraud, tricking them to sidestep safety curbs, to launch attacks.

In a letter from last week, Disney said that its concern is not only financial, but that Character.AI’s platform weaponizes the media giant’s characters in a way that could damage its brand in the long term, according to Axios.

Happy Wednesday! In an exclusive interview, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas details the AI company’s India push, competition with Google and more.

OET is Ola Electric’s manufacturing and technology arm driving Ola’s EV ecosystem, from vehicle platforms to battery technology. It has secured approval from its board and shareholders to raise up to Rs 877.6 crore by issuing 87.76 crore preference shares…

Regulatory filings seen by ET show the four cofounders of Billionbrains Garage Ventures, Groww’s parent entity, increased their combined stake to 29.01% on a paid-up basis as on June 30, having raised it to 27.93% in 2024-25 from 23.89% in…

Startup’s CEO backs sovereign AI and says Comet agentic, not a tool. In discussions with PM Narendra Modi, the emphasis was on curiosity-driven use, not just ‘cheat codes’ for work, says the Chennai-born entrepreneur

Happy Tuesday! Payment firms may have to weather storms in near term, but there may also be a silver lining. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

A double whammy of regulatory shifts — the real money gaming (RMG) ban and new central bank norms for payment aggregators — is set to reshape the payments landscape. While some see a threat to revenue and margins, others spot…

Deepak Agarwal, global chief AI officer at LinkedIn, told ET that in job search, AI no longer offers passive assistance. AI is reshaping work, with 70% of jobs expected to involve it by 2030. LinkedIn urges upskilling and highlights India’s…

Firms such as NuVentures, 247VC, and Wyser have a significant and growing share of investments from professionals who have spent over a decade in the sector in India and the US, looking to ride the startup wave. Technology professionals wanting…

Cloned Identity itself is now an asset that can be bought, stolen or retained through AI. Legal brains call for a framework to tackle the risks, writes Tanya Pandey.

After kicking off their flagship festive sales with a bang, etailers are now seeing demand cool off, according to industry executives, brand founders and analysts. However, most expect momentum to return as Diwali approaches.

The Trump administration’s steep hike in H-1B visa fees may have rattled the US tech industry, but identity and access management player Okta is looking to India for both talent and growth, chief executive Todd McKinnon told ET in an…

Outcome-based pricing in IT deals is a promising approach but presents challenges in benchmarking outcomes, especially for long-term projects, as success metrics can be ambiguous and vary across industries, said Biswajeet Mahapatra, principal analyst, Forrester. He added that clients often…

This festive season, the spike in cyber fraud activities has been fuelled by AI-generated tools, making the attacks more personal and contextualised. Cybersecurity companies report a nearly 40% rise in attacks during festivals, with up to 15% of them behaviour…

​India is at an early stage, with ten approved projects covering two fabs, rest assembly (OSAT), and compound semiconductor units, amounting to a total investment commitment of about Rs 1.6 lakh crore in six Indian states. ET compares global chip…

An unsecured cloud server exposed hundreds of thousands of bank transfer records, revealing names, bank account details, and contact information. Cybersecurity firm UpGuard found over 2.73 lakh files on the Amazon server on August 26, each showing unmasked account numbers,…

OpenAI’s new CEO of Applications, Fidji Simo, is looking to hire a senior leader to head its monetisation strategy, which may include ads on ChatGPT. Simo, who joined last month, has been meeting candidates, some from her Facebook days, for…

Amazon received the highest number of H-1B visa approvals in the first half of 2025, with 10,044 approvals by June 30, according to USCIS. Tech companies are the main users of the programme. TCS came second, followed by Microsoft, Meta,…

At a recent education conference, experts stressed that technology, including AI, should be seen as a tool, not a teacher. They warned of the risks if children use it without guidance. Biswajit Saha from CBSE said technology must be used…

The job cuts are part of an $865 million restructuring programme, said the CEO. However, the global consulting firm is also upskilling over 70,000 of its employees in agentic AI.

Headquartered in San Francisco’s South Park, Touring’s Fund I will back early-growth, AI-powered software startups globally, according to the report. The $330 million fund was raised from a mix of global institutional limited partners (LPs), family offices, and over 30…

In a statement released Friday, Rep. John Moolenaar, the chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, praised the proposed deal as “an important step” in transitioning ownership of the TikTok platform to American hands but he emphasized…

Tether is seeking between $15 billion and $20 billion for about a 3% stake through a private placement, Bloomberg News had reported on Tuesday.

Nearly 80% of consumer usage for Claude comes from outside the United States, with per-person usage in countries like South Korea, Australia and Singapore outpacing that of America, the company said.

Ramakrishnan worked on the first iteration of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and the associated Echo devices. He began his career at Netscape before moving to Tellme Networks, which was acquired by Microsoft, according to his LinkedIn profile.

India is considering easing foreign investment rules to let ecommerce firms like Amazon buy directly from Indian sellers for exports. The draft DGFT proposal introduces a third-party export entity to handle compliance. The move, amid trade deal talks with the…

Google and Flo Health agreed to a $56 million settlement over allegations they shared sensitive menstrual and pregnancy data from Flo app users for targeted ads, violating privacy promises. Google will pay $48 million, Flo $8 million.

Accenture expects about $250 million in charges in the November quarter, on top of $615 million recorded in the fourth quarter, for a total of $865 million. The restructuring program highlights the broader trend of companies adapting their workforce and…

The European Commission is preparing to issue preliminary findings saying that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram lack an adequate “notice and action mechanism” that would let users flag illegal posts for removal, according to two people familiar with the plans, who…

Microsoft disabled certain cloud and AI services used by Israel’s Ministry of Defense after finding preliminary evidence of their role in surveillance in Gaza and the West Bank.

Earlier this week, the White House said Trump will declare that a deal to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations from its Chinese owner ByteDance will meet requirements set out in a 2024 law, and investors will include Oracle, and private equity…

In a social media blog post, Google explained that the two key additions: more robust function calling and more natural conversations.

Meta, previously known as Facebook, bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, a move that had raised questions about the company’s strategy as the social media app had begun with just photo-sharing without significant revenue.

The investigation into the operations of the 1xBet betting app is part of the ED’s wider probe against such platforms on allegations of duping numerous people of crores of rupees and reportedly evading a huge amount of direct and indirect…

The creator of Tamil Nadu’s startup reality show Startup Singam has onboarded top business leaders and investors to Baanhem. Season 2 is expected to raise Rs 100 crore in fresh investor commitments.

The fund house serves over seven lakh investors across more than 16,000 pincodes, according to its website. Earlier this January, it had reported an AUM of Rs 4,287 crore, with over four lakh unique investors.

TikTok will strengthen safeguards to keep children off its platform after a Canadian probe found its protections for minors and personal data insufficient, privacy officials said.

Structured as a combination of secondary investment and company-sponsored buyback, it provides liquidity to Axtria’s current and former employees, it said. Founded in 2010, Axtria enables AI-led solutions that help life sciences organizations globally, across the commercial and clinical spectrum.

The fantasy sports platform, part of Dream Sports, with over 250 million registered users, moved to a free-to-play model following the ban on real money gaming in India. The move seeks to help brands connect better with Dream11’s largely young…

The translations will initially be available in six languages on Android devices and 19 languages on iPhones, with more languages to follow. Users can long-press on a message and tap “Translate” to see any message in another language. The feature…

Zoho Sheet, a product by the SaaS major, offers AI-powered tools through its assistant Zia to analyse data effectively, with nearly 40 different chart types. Reposting Union Minister Vaishnaw’s post, its former chief executive Sridhar Vembu said this would inspire…

Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, deploying 10 gigawatts of compute under a new strategic partnership. Analysts say the tie-up secures demand for GPUs, validates Nvidia’s growth, and accelerates next-gen AI model development.

DSM Fresh Foods Limited, the parent company of Zappfresh, is seeking greater penetration in Bengaluru and Mumbai and will invest in working with the local meat shops and hotels and restaurants. Per founder Deepanshu Manchanda, offline will play a critical…

Determining next steps for the algorithm, currently owned by the Beijing-based ByteDance, has been one of the most closely watched issues during negotiations over TikTok’s future.

The companies unveiled a letter of intent for a landmark strategic partnership to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia chips for OpenAI’s AI infrastructure.

A cyberattack disrupted check-in systems at several European airports for a second day, causing numerous flight delays and cancellations. Brussels Airport was worst affected, cancelling nearly 140 Monday departures. The issue stemmed from a US software provider’s failure to deliver…

The other biggies who entered the US on H-1B include Eric Yuan, founder of Zoom; Thierry Cruanes, cofounder of Snowflake; and Raj Sardana, founder of Innova Solutions. Sergey Brin, cofounder of Google; Pierre Omidyar of eBay; and Jan Koum of…

A Genius HRTech report reveals 72% of professionals believe human validation is crucial in hiring decisions despite AI’s growing role. Only 15% support fully AI-driven hiring if well-calibrated, while over 10% favour AI for junior or fresher roles. The report…

Following the widespread adoption of quick commerce, ‘Instant Home Services’ is emerging as the next frontier in India’s digital economy, aiming to create a new habit loop for time-pressed urban consumers, says consultant firm Redseer.

Heathrow and Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany’s third-largest, said the problem was with Collins Aerospace, a U.S. company that provides check-in and boarding systems there and at other airports, causing longer waiting times for passengers.

US President Donald Trump is trying to close a final deal to keep the popular platform from closing. Congress had ordered the app shut down for US users by January 2025 if its US assets were not sold by Chinese…

Congress passed legislation calling for a TikTok ban to go into effect in January, but President Donald Trump has repeatedly signed orders that have allowed TikTok to keep operating in the United States as his administration tries to reach agreement…

A US official announced Washington and Beijing agreed TikTok must store all American user data on US-based Oracle cloud infrastructure, aiming to address security concerns while ensuring compliance with US oversight of the popular short-video app.

The president on Friday signed a proclamation that will require a $100,000 annual fee for H-1B visas – meant for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find hard to fill. He also rolled out a $1 million “gold card” visa for…

Strong demand for Apple smartphones offers a sign that consumer demand for popular products has yet to falter in line with a wider economic slowdown in Russia. The country has seen 20-year-high interest rates and a budget deficit of over…

Apple has told at least two suppliers to boost production of the entry-level model iPhone 17 by at least 30% after strong pre-orders last weekend, the Information reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Pattern and some of its existing shareholders raised $300 million by selling 21.4 million shares, compared with its marketed price range of $13 to $15 apiece. The debut came against the backdrop of a busy IPO window, where Swedish fintech…

Elon Musk’s AI firm xAI has raised $10 billion at a $200 billion valuation, CNBC reported on Friday, citing sources.

Several online platforms, including Chinese retailers AliExpress and Temu and social media giants Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, are being probed under the European Union’s landmark Digital Services Act (DSA).

The number of deals during the week was also down to 22 transactions, compared to 37 in the corresponding week last year.

The Santa Clara, California-based company’s shares opened at $23 apiece, well above the $19 offer price. Netskope raised $908.2 million in its IPO by selling 47.8 million shares at the top end of its bumped-up range of $17 to $19…

Germany’s culture minister Wolfram Weimer called for breaking up Google, accusing it of tax avoidance and failing society. His remarks follow a €2.95 billion EU fine against Google, adding to nearly €10 billion in penalties.

Microsoft said the initial data center remains on track to open next year and will employ about 500 people at its peak, expanding to about 800 once the second data center is complete.

The group, which includes Flipkart, Myntra, Flipkart Wholesale, and Cleartrip, affirmed its commitment to ensuring that its customers are treated with fairness and transparency. The comprehensive self-audit completion declaration has been submitted to the Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare, the…

This follows reports that the trucking aggregator has decided to move its operations out of Bangalore, as the deteriorating infrastructure has made it difficult for its employees working on the Bellandur location to continue functioning.