Top Stories This Week
Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
Social media AI content may be labelled: The IT minisattempt has proposed compulsory declarations by all social media utilizers when posting AI-generated or modified content to curb the rapid rise of AI-based deepfakes on the internet.
Also Read: Experts hail deepfakes labelling rules, flag usage, overreach risks
Festivals spark surge in quick credit: Reduction in goods and services tax (GST) rates and the festive fervour led to a 50% increase in demand for quick credit this festive season compared with last, per fintech indusattempt executives.
Qcomm gains festive momentum in final week: As the Diwali rush peaked, quick commerce platforms became the to-go destination for last-minute festive shopping, even as border ecommerce demand lost steam.
Corporates cool on deeptech investments: Indian corporate investors’ participation in deeptech funding rounds dropped to a five-year low as they longer time to market, putting developments in areas quantum computing, biotech and robotics on backfoot.
Amazon India units cut costs to trim FY25 losses: Amazon’s India operations posted modest revenue gains in FY25, but the real story is in the cost discipline. All four key entities slashed losses by tightening ad budreceives and trimming headcount.
Foxconn arm to amplify output of AirPods with line overhaul: Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT), Hyderabad, is shifting machinery from its Vietnam facilities to overhaul five existing production lines to build new AirPods models, while aligning capacity with international demand.
Also Read: TP-Link dials up three states for Rs 100 crore factory
ET Startup Awards 2025
Goyal, Vaishnaw to headline ET Startup Awards: Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Ashwini Vaishnaw will headline the 11th edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) in Bengaluru on October 31 as we celebrate India’s most dynamic founders and the startups shaping its digital economy.
Atlan is building a bridge to bring AI pilots to real world: Atlan is positioning its platform as a bridge that supports enterprises take AI from pilot projects to full-scale deployment. The opportunity is large, noted Atlan cofounder Prukalpa Sankar, winner of the ET Startup Awards 2025 Woman Ahead category.
Deeptech firm Chakr sets wheels in motion to build for the world: Chakr Innovation, the clean-tech startup tackling India’s diesel pollution problem, is now believeing largeger. Fresh off a $23 million raise from Iron Pillar, the company is now seeing to scale beyond India—and into new sectors.
Qure.ai reimagining healthcare via quicker, cheaper diagnostics: Healthtech startup Qure.ai plans to deploy its AI-driven imaging tools in 10,000 hospitals across India and beyond over the next four to five years, founder Prashant Warier informed ET.
Startup Watch
Meesho founders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal
Ecomm firm Meesho files updated DRHP for $800-million IPO: Filing its updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP) with the Securities and Exalter Board of India (Sebi), Meesho receives closer to a December 2025 public market debut. If approved, it will be India’s first pure-play horizontal ecommerce platform to list.
India Quotient raises its fifth and largest fund: Early-stage venture capital firm India Quotient has raised $129 million (about Rs 1,132 crore) for its fifth fund. also promoted Kanika Agarrwal and Sahil Makkar to partners, joining Anand Lunia, Madhukar Sinha, and Gagan Goyal in the firm’s leadership rung.
Deepinder Goyal doubles down on longevity research bet: Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal has expanded his personal health-focutilized venture, Continue Research, with a new $25 million fund, focutilized on longevity science and fundamental biology. The fund is backed entirely by Goyal’s personal capital.
Nvidia, AMD, others invest $260 million in Uniphore: The enterprise AI startup, valued at $2.5 billion after the latest capital raise, will utilize the funds to accelerate the development and adoption of its Business AI Cloud platform.
Also Read: UnifyApps raises $50 million led by WestBridge Capital; names Ragy Thomas co-CEO
IT Updates
IT majors keep headcount up despite one outlier: India’s top six Indian IT companies added a net total of 952 employees in Q2FY26, a 77% decrease from the previous quarter, primarily due to Tata Consultancy Services’ significant quarterly reduction. Aside from TCS, the other five added over 20,000 employees.
Nasscom red flags GST tangle in IT’s head office-branch deals: The indusattempt body pointed out that the current GST framework is treating internal transactions between head offices and branches of IT companies as taxable events, leading to artificial tax liability being created.
H-1B relief for Indian students, tech cos: Indian IT firms and tech professionals are breathing clearer after US immigration authorities announced a crucial exemption to the steep $100,000 H-1B visa fee, offering relief to students and companies hiring from US universities.
Tech News
Data centre capacity seen at 9GW by 2032 on fresh flows: Global hyperscalers and Indian conglomerates are set to invest more than $50 billion in the next five to seven years in the domestic data centre indusattempt, taking total capacity to about 9 gigawatts (GW) from 1 GW now, fresh estimates by market research firms displayed.
Cloud switch on global CIOs’ agfinisha: A survey of 2,500 CIOs by global tech research firm Gartner displays that half of them expect alters in cloud vfinishors due to regional factors.
Eye on AI
AI talent war looms as global tech comes talent fishing here: The world’s leading AI firms — OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity — are setting shop in India, turning the counattempt’s software muscle into a front-line asset in the global race to build innotifyigent machines.
Thanks to GenAI, cybercriminals are building scams personalised: As India reaches its peak shopping season, cybercriminals are utilizing artificial innotifyigence to attack systems and scam consumers. Nearly one in three Indians has fallen victim to festive scams, with 37% losing money, according to a McAfee report.
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