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xAI, Musk’s Startup, Eyes $1B Funding

This marks the first publicly known fundraising round for Musk’s AI startup…reports Asian Lite News

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, has recently disclosed its intention to secure up to a billion dollars in funding, as indicated in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fox Business reported.

The filing on Tuesday by X.AI Corp (dba xAI) outlined a plan to raise USD 1 billion in an equity offering, with more than USD 134 million already successfully raised. The document revealed that the company had entered into a binding agreement for the sale and purchase of the remaining USD 865 million.

Responding to a post by Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management on the financing, Elon Musk clarified on Wednesday, saying, “We are not raising money right now.” Munster’s post suggested that Musk’s fundraising efforts were aimed at competing with OpenAI and Anthropic.

According to a source cited by the New York Post, xAI is “raising money at a valuation that will likely be between $4 billion and $10 billion,” adding that the revelation is the first known fundraising round for Musk’s start-up.

This marks the first publicly known fundraising round for Musk’s AI startup, according to Fox Business.

Govt goes bullish on startups with ESOP holiday, tax relief.

The filing follows Musk’s announcement a month ago that xAI’s “Grok” chatbot, designed to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, had entered the beta testing phase.

Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and resigned from its board in 2018, launched xAI to compete with ChatGPT and other major players in the AI domain. He has been outspoken about his concerns regarding what he perceives as censorship in Big Tech firms’ AI initiatives and has expressed his intent to develop a truth-seeking AI that seeks to understand the universe.

Since its inception in July, xAI has attracted talent from notable AI research firms such as Google’s DeepMind unit and Microsoft.

Musk, also the CEO of Tesla and the proprietor of the X social media platform, clarified that xAI and the X social media platform are distinct entities, despite working closely together. xAI is actively collaborating with Tesla in addition to its interaction with the X social media platform, Fox Business reported. (ANI)

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Paytm Expands Credit Business

Paytm.

Paytm continues to focus on merchant loans that are lended to MSME as business loans. …reports Asian Lite News

Paytm, India’s leading mobile payments and financial services distribution company, on Wednesday said it will expand its credit distribution business in partnership with large banks and NBFCs by offering higher ticket personal and merchant loans to lower risk and high credit-worthy customers.

Owing to the strong portfolio performance and widespread acceptance of loan distribution, Paytm witnessed encouraging early trends when the company started working in this direction last quarter.

“As the lending distribution business is maturing, we see newer opportunities of expansion to offer high-value personal and merchant loans. We will continue to focus on originating the high portfolio quality for our lending partners, along with strict adherence to risk and compliance. We have seen great scale and acceptance for our loan distribution business, so we believe this expansion will further aid us to grow the business,” said a Paytm spokesperson.

In the light of recent macro development and regulatory guidance and in consultation with lending partners, the company remains focused on driving a healthy portfolio and has recalibrated the portfolio origination of less than Rs 50,000 – prominently the postpaid loan product will now be a smaller part of its loan distribution business moving forward.

Paytm continues to focus on merchant loans that are lended to MSME as business loans. Given that these loans are extended for business purposes to support small merchants, they remain unaffected by the recent regulatory guidance.

The company said it continues to add banks and NBFCs as its lending partners for its loan distribution business.

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Hero, Ather Unveil Fast-Charging Network

Through the collaboration, EV users will be able to seamlessly use both Hero VIDA and Ather Grids across the country….reports Asian Lite News

Hero MotoCorp and electric vehicle manufacturer Ather Energy on Wednesday entered into a partnership for an interoperable fast-charging network in the country, touted as the first-ever interoperable fast-charging network for EV two-wheelers anywhere in the world.

Through the collaboration, EV users will be able to seamlessly use both Hero VIDA and Ather Grids across the country. The combined network will cover 100 cities with over 1,900 fast-charging points.

“This largest charging network in the country will go a long way in providing a seamless and convenient ownership experience to customers. This fastest-growing network utilises the government approved connector-standard, thus ensuring current and future customers will be able to use and charge their vehicles without any hassles in the future,” said Dr Swadesh Srivastava, Chief Business Officer, Emerging Mobility BU, Hero MotoCorp.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) recently approved Light Electric Combined Charging System (LECCS), India’s first-ever indigenously developed AC and DC Combined Charging connector standard for light electric vehicles.

Customers will be able to locate and navigate to the charging stations through the “My VIDA” and Ather App. The interoperability will enable them to discover only compatible locations, locate their nearest charging station, view its availability, and navigate to the station.

“It’s a massive win for Indian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to collaborate on scaling up charging infrastructure. This partnership will pave the way for consumers to access an extensive network of charging stations across the country, alleviating range anxiety,” said Swapnil Jain, Co-founder and CTO, Ather Energy.

Any OEM which adopts the LECCS standard will have access to Ather Grid across India, he added.

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Adventures Unleashed

IBW 2023 offers a plethora of unique and adrenaline-pumping experiences. Whether you’re a Moto Cross fan a Big ADV rider or just curious to experience an EV on our tracks, there’s a track for every rider and motorcycle…reports Asian Lite News

India Bike Week (IBW) 2023, is gearing up for its monumental 10th year, on December 8th and 9th, 2023, in partnership with Gulf Syntrac. The festival is all set to deliver an exhilarating celebration of motorcycling culture, adventure, moto thrills, and unity. Echoing the theme of ‘Everyone as One’, IBW will pave the future of the festival along with guaranteeing unforgettable moments for the new global Indian motorcycling enthusiast!

Martin Da Costa, Festival Director of India Bike Week and CEO of 70 EMG says,” For all on the IBW Team it is sometimes a ‘pinch yourself’ moment to know that in 2023 India Bike Week is celebrating 10 Years of the Festival. It’s 10X in 2023 because that is how the festival and the entire Motorbiking Culture and Community seem to have grown over the past decade. From a few thousand leisure bikers back in 2013, India now has hundreds of thousands of riders using their bikes for travelling, cross-country trips, experiences, and connecting with like-minded souls. We’ve seen motorcycle clubs mushroom across the country, women bikers from across India using their machines to get together and assert their independence and freedom, Indian Motorcycle Racers emerge, whole sub-cultures of motorcycle builders and designers establish businesses.”

Some of the 2023 highlights that one can witness are:

Races and rides: IBW 2023 offers a plethora of unique and adrenaline-pumping experiences. Whether you’re a Moto Cross fan a Big ADV rider or just curious to experience an EV on our tracks, there’s a track for every rider and motorcycle. IBW will offer 6 different tracks, including 3 race tracks by CEAT – the challenging Flat Track, Enduro track, the thrilling Mud Rush, and a one-of-a-kind CEAT Super Cross League preview. The Gulf Syntrac Tivra track features an interesting half-velodrome where one can ride in concentric circles as high as your skill and bravery can take you. The IBW Pentathlon by Gulf Syntrac will be scoring the best times of Pentathlon racers across 5 tracks. Attendees can participate in daring activities such as the Ring of Fire, the thrilling Well Of Death daredevilry, where one can witness an Ola EV scooter in the Well for the first time! Master the art of wheelies at our dedicated Wheelie track, and watch the high-energy somersaults at Gulf Syntrac’s FMX Moto Mayhem by Austrian Thomas Wirnsberger and Sebastian Westberg from Finland. For those seeking the future of biking, dive into the world of electric mobility with a variety of cutting-edge EV motorcycles and scooters. Feel the power and precision as you test ride these electric marvels on our dynamic tracks, alongside an impressive lineup and unveils of ICE bikes from OEM partners like Harley-Davidson, Hero, Triumph, Suzuki, Aprilia, KTM, and Kawasaki. And that’s not all – be part of the excitement as we unveil the revolutionary Orxa Mantis, a game-changer in the world of electric motorcycles.

Adventure Tales of Big Trip Speakers: Prepare for an exhilarating journey through the captivating narratives of esteemed speakers which include distinguished international globetrotters along with Indian trotters, each weaving their tapestry of exploration. With a decade of IBW bringing such explorers to the forefront, this year’s stage is set for captivating stories and exciting throwbacks, reflecting incredible journeys over the last ten years at Ladakh Tent.

•             Simon and Lisa Thomas: Renowned for their awe-inspiring 17-year global journeys over 800,000 km, this dynamic duo embodies the spirit of adventure, resilience, and passion.

•             Juvena Huang (The Wandering Wasp): A fearless traveller on a scooter, Juvena Huang’s Asian adventure breaks stereotypes, celebrating the spirit of women as avid travellers.

•             Karolis Mieliauskas: Hailing from Lithuania, Karolis shares extraordinary experiences from “The world’s coldest bike ride”, igniting the adventurous spirit.

•             Gaurav Sharma (Wander. da): A storyteller with a super cool Hindi podcast, Gaurav’s series unfolds a 25,000 km motorcycle trip across South America.

•             Yogesh Alekari (roaming_wheeels): An architect turned mountaineer, Yogesh embarks on a 100-day bike journey from Mumbai to London, covering three continents and 24 countries.

•             Noor Bee (Nomadic Hijabi Rider): Conquering thousands of kilometres, Reshma leaves a trail of courage and inspiration, venturing from Bangalore into the enchanting landscapes of Nepal.

•             Claudia Wodarz aka @missridealot – She’s ridden in more than 10 countries on her current solo ride including Central and South East Asia! And she’s ridden everything from Supersports to big ADVs.

Music, Food, Ride Outs & Moto Culture: IBW 2023’s music lineup boasts top artists headlined by Nucleya and features DJ talents like Gurbaxx, Nash Jr, Disco Kid, Aviv Pereira, Aarifah, and the sensational Gully Gang showcase. Vipin Mishra Project’s “FolkRoad” will premier their teaser – a music composer’s adventure on his motorcycle to the far corners of India in search of forgotten nomadic music. With diverse musical styles, the festival promises to be a haven for music enthusiasts for the two days at Hilltop!

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RBI Eyes Status Quo on Rates

According to credit rating agency CARE Ratings, the RBI will continue with its cautious pause with the repo rate at 6.5 per cent….reports Asian Lite News

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to maintain the repo rate at 6.5 per cent and there would be no rate hike this fiscal, said economists at credit rating agencies and Bank of Baroda.

They also said RBI’s MPC at its upcoming meeting would revise upward the gross domestic product (GDP) forecast.

According to credit rating agency CARE Ratings, the RBI will continue with its cautious pause with the repo rate at 6.5 per cent.

The repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow from the RBI.

“The economic outlook has improved significantly with a robust expansion of economic output in H1 led by upward surprise in Q2 GDP growth. The RBI may revise its earlier growth projections for FY24 up by about 20-30 bps,” CARE Ratings said.

Despite the commendable overall economic performance, specific challenges persist in certain pockets, particularly in rural demand. Agricultural growth remains muted amid lower-than-expected kharif output and lower reservoir levels impacting rabi sowing, said CARE Ratings.

Inflation pressures eased but food prices remain a cause of concern. A decline in agricultural production could pose an additional upside risk to inflation figures.

According to CARE Ratings, the RBI will focus on liquidity management and personal credit. While an overall tight liquidity situation is anticipated, the RBI aims to ensure that it does not unduly impede credit growth.

The RBI is likely to continue supporting economic growth, while remaining cautious on inflation.

“Therefore, we anticipate that the RBI will keep its policy rates and stance unchanged. We do not anticipate any further rate hikes by the RBI in this fiscal year,” CARE Ratings said.

“With the GDP data for Q2 FY2024 appreciably higher than the MPC’s last forecast, and continuing concerns on various aspects of food inflation, we expect the MPC to pause in its December 2023 review, amidst a fairly hawkish tone of the policy document,” said Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, Head Research and Outreach, ICRA Ltd

“The high growth witnessed in Q2 in GDP will provide assurance that the economy is on track. The low core inflation numbers in the last few months will provide comfort that there is no need to increase rates even while headline inflation is likely to be volatile in the upward direction,” said Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda.

“Some direction on liquidity will be useful to the market as the system is in deficit for quite some time. There can be some upward revision in the GDP growth numbers though will not be very significant. We believe an upward revision of 0.1-0.2% can be expected here. Inflation forecasts may remain unchanged and, if at all there is a revision, will be upwards,” he added.

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Spotify Strikes a Sour Note

Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek said in a note to staff that right-sizing the workforce is critical for the company to face the “challenges ahead”….reports Asian Lite News

Music streaming giant Spotify on Monday announced to eliminate about 17 per cent of its workforce across the company as it looks to become “both productive and efficient”.

Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek said in a note to staff that right-sizing the workforce is critical for the company to face the “challenges ahead”.

He cited slowing economic growth and increased capital costs as reasons for the layoffs, claiming that the company used lower-cost capital in 2020 and 2021 to invest heavily in the business.

“I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17 per cent across the company. I recognise this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions. To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us,” Ek said.

Spotify employs about 8,800 people, and this job cut move will impact over 1,500 employees, according to TechCrunch.

Under Severance pay, the company will start with a baseline for all employees, with the average employee receiving approximately five months of severance. This will be calculated based on local notice period requirements and employee tenure.

The company will continue to cover healthcare for employees during their severance period. All employees will be eligible for outplacement services for two months.

“I realise that for many, a reduction of this size will feel surprisingly large given the recent positive earnings report and our performance. We debated making smaller reductions throughout 2024 and 2025,” the CEO wrote.

This is Spotify’s third round of layoffs this year.

In June, the company sacked 200 employees, or 2 per cent of its workforce, from its podcast division as part of a corporate reorganisation, while in January, it slashed 6 per cent of its workforce, or about 600 staffers, globally.

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Dell Enables 2M Indians in Digital Skills

In partnership with the Common Service Centres Scheme (CSC), Dell and Learning Links Foundation have successfully deployed solar-powered hubs in six aspirational districts as identified by the government….reports Asian Lite News

Dell Technologies on Tuesday announced that it has met its target of positively impacting two million beneficiaries in India through the Mobile Solar Community Hubs launched last year and is set to expand the programme further.

These mobile hubs are technology-enabled and equipped with requisite devices, including laptops, television screens for broadcasting messages, solar panels to power devices, 4G internet hotspot facility and self-paced learning content, to help the community access online services.

“Partnering with the government over the years in various activities has helped drive transformational change and address the digital divide,” Alok Ohrie, president and managing director, Dell Technologies India, said in a statement.

In partnership with the Common Service Centres Scheme (CSC), Dell and Learning Links Foundation have successfully deployed solar-powered hubs in six aspirational districts as identified by the government. Key beneficiaries include students, youth, and women who were supported with training in digital and financial literacy, technical skills, entrepreneurship, career guidance and revenue-generating services.

Dell is now extending the reach of the Mobile Solar Community Hubs to five additional districts — Pauri Garhwal (Uttarakhand), Ramgarh (Jharkhand), Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), Pathankot (Punjab), and Gurugram (Haryana).

“Our collaboration is driven by the goal to support underrepresented communities to achieve digital equity, where they find themselves equipped with the technology capacity needed for full participation in the society and economy,” said Archana Sahay, regional giving manager, Asia Pacific & Japan at Dell Technologies.

Additionally, the programme aims to upskill and digitally empower 200 ex-servicemen/retiring junior-ranked personnel of the Indian Armed Forces.

The hubs will also assist wards of military personnel or 4,000 students at Defence schools, by introducing them to digital skills such as coding and block-programming, the company said.

“The expansion plan will be critical in transforming the lives of rural underrepresented communities, and ex-servicemen and retiring junior-ranked personnel from the Indian Armed Forces,” said Nuriya Ansari of Learning Links Foundation.

“These dedicated individuals face difficulties transitioning to civilian life due to a lack of opportunities for skill acquisition and learning during their military service,” she added.

ALSO READ: Vinod Khosla Backs Murthy’s Work Anthem

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Vinod Khosla Backs Murthy’s Work Anthem

The 68-year-old billionaire had said in the past that he works 80-hour weeks, and that the “grind doesn’t appear to stop anytime soon”…reports Asian Lite News

Indian-American businessman and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Vinod Khosla has backed Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy’s suggestion that India’s youth must work 70 hours every week to improve the country’s overall work productivity.

Responding to a question by a user on X, Khosla, the ace venture capitalist, said those who felt “attacked” by Murthy’s opinion needed mental health therapy.

“For people who ‘felt attacked’ by this they need mental health therapy. They should learn to ‘toughen up’ and not feel attacked. OK to not work 70 hrs/wk and live with the consequences of the choices you make. He is speaking to ‘career ambitious’ young people but there are other ways to live with different choices,” his post read.

The 68-year-old billionaire had said in the past that he works 80-hour weeks, and that the “grind doesn’t appear to stop anytime soon”.

Further, Khosla said that one should be internally-driven as bigger titles, bigger houses don’t make everyone happy.

Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy(twitter)

“Not working 70 hrs/wk may not get you the biggest house or car to show to your neighbors, but you can make that choice. Lots of other things make people happy. Be internally driven and not externally driven by what others expect of success: bigger titles, bigger house don’t make everyone happy,” the Silicon Valley veteran said.

In a recent episode of the “The Cerebral Valley Podcast”, Khosla said he plans on investing for the next 25 years if his health permits.

“I have this saying ‘You grow old when you retire, you don’t retire when you grow old,'” the investor continued. “I’ve seen too many people retire and grow old. So I clearly plan to do — health permitting — this for the next 25 years. And then I’ll be Warren Buffet’s age and he’s still doing it.”

Khosla’s investing career began after he became a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 1986. In 2004, he started his own VC firm he called Khosla Ventures, which backed companies like Instacart, Impossible Foods, and DoorDash.

SoftBank-backed Unicommerce to hire over 150 people in next 2-3 months.

Murthy had sparked a debate after he said in a YouTube podcast that if India wants to compete with developed economies that have made remarkable progress in recent decades, young people should work for 70 hours a week.

In a recent interaction with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath at the Bengaluru Tech Summit, he also advised infrastructure sector employees to work in three shifts instead of one.

While some people agreed with Murthy, the majority were sceptical and worried about the health implications of such a demanding work schedule.

Prior to Khosla, Chairman of JSW Group Sajjan Jindal and Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty, backed Murthy’s views.

CRED founder Kunal Shah said that “no big achievement can come with work-life balance” while mentioning that choosing “work-life balance is a personal choice”.

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Muted Hiring Ahead in Indian IT Industry

This led to negative employee net addition during this period, as companies reduced hiring and focused on improving overall utilisation levels….reports Asian Lite News

Hiring in the Indian IT services industry is expected to remain muted over the next two-three quarters amid slowdown in demand, with companies focusing on maintaining their profitability in the backdrop of lower revenue growth, a new report showed on Monday.

The Indian IT services companies hired extensively over the second quarter of FY2021 to the second quarter of FY2023, as demand for digitalisation accelerated following the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the report by credit rating agency ICRA.

Simultaneously, the attrition rate in the industry also intensified to 22-23 per cent due to the increased demand for talent. This led to a record hiring of 273,000 employees in FY2022 and another 94,400 employees in H1 FY2023 by the top five companies in the industry.

“However, from Q3 FY2023 onwards, the overall demand environment for IT services weakened due to uncertainty in the global macroeconomic environment,” according to the report.

This led to negative employee net addition during this period, as companies reduced hiring and focused on improving overall utilisation levels.

This has helped companies maintain their employee cost and profit margins in the recent quarters.

ICRA expects the revenue growth of the Indian IT services industry to moderate to 3-5 per cent in FY2024 in USD terms versus 10 per cent in FY2023 owing to the uncertain macroeconomic environment in key markets i.e the US and Europe.

“The slowdown is expected to persist for another couple of quarters, leading to overall slowdown in hiring in the industry,” said the report.

The attrition rate has declined in recent quarters, which has helped reduce the demand-supply mismatch in the industry, it added.

“Indian IT services companies continue to utilise the excess capacity added in FY2022 and H1 FY2023. The freshers recruited then are now getting utilised, leading the company to not backfill the attrition to an extent,” the report added.

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Doubtnut Joins Forces with Allen

Doubtnut’s team will continue their focus on building a world-class doubt resolution experience for students of Allen and Doubtnut,…reports Asian Lite News

Allen Career Institute on Monday announced the acquisition of AI-led doubts-solving platform, Doubtnut.

Doubtnut’s team will continue their focus on building a world-class doubt resolution experience for students of Allen and Doubtnut, the company said.

“Timely and effective resolution of doubts is a core consumer need in education. Doubtnut’s platform will allow us to greatly enhance the learning experience for our students. We are also excited by the prospects of offering Allen’s high-quality academic products to a wider audience,” Nitin Kukreja, CEO of Allen, said in a statement.

Moreover, the institute mentioned that Allen will bring its enriched curriculum and academic offerings to Doubtnut’s student base and cater to their needs for a better education.

“Doubtnut’s mission is to bring education to every student across India using technology and high-quality content. We have worked towards this vision over the last six years, gaining immense consumer love during this journey. We resonate with Allen’s vision of creating technology products that are focused on improving learning outcomes,” said Aditya Shankar, co-founder of Doubtnut.

EY acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Allen and Trilegal acted as the legal advisor. TTA acted as the legal advisor to Doubtnut, Aeka Advisors acted as Tax advisor to Doubtnut, the institute shared.

In order to strengthen its focus on building a world-class technology team, Allen has hired professionals from leading global and Indian consumer tech companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Flipkart, Samsung, Twitter, and others, taking its technology and product teams based in Bengaluru to more than 120.

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