AUTONOMOUS AI PLATFORM
ETtech Deals Digest: Eloelo leads as weekly funding rises to $142 million, down 35% on-year
Eloelo led deal activity with $80 million, followed by Peppermint Robotics at $10.6 million, altM at $10.3 million, Two Point O Capital at $10 million, and PowerUp Money at $10 million. Crane Venture Partners was among the most active investors, backing Peppermint Robotics and Armatrix. Omnivore invested in altM and Two Point O Capital, while Flourish Ventures backed PowerUp Money.
AI will level the playing field for SMBs competing with larger businesses: Oracle NetSuite’s Amit Suxena
Suxena said that a massive technological revolution is underway and these are exciting times for new businesses, start-ups, and companies looking to expand.
AI turns cyber threat into boardroom crisis
In India, State Bank of India disclosed that 375,000 customer records had been leaked on the dark web, while vulnerabilities in eMudhra’s digital certificate keys exposed websites to potential attacks.
AI-based cyber threat executing unauthorised fund transfers from banking firms: Cert-In
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) has named the incident "Crafty Falcon", which uses publicly available AI tools to execute complete attack chains autonomously at machine speed and generate and refine large numbers of tailored attack scripts in rapid succession.
U.S. and Japanese Companies Struggle with Different Parts of AI Adoption—and Offer Different Lessons for Making It Work
Companies in both the U.S. and Japan are struggling to deploy AI, but often in very different ways. In the U.S., deployment is wide but shallow, meaning companies struggle to create real value with AI. In Japan, deployment has moved slowly, but where it has happened, it’s often deep and fruitful. Understanding what’s happening in both contexts offers important lessons for companies trying to develop an AI strategy and demonstrate ROI on their AI investments.
Premji Invest goes big on strategic output & tech
Premji Invest and Singularity AMC are likely to lead a $30-40 million round in Sanlayan at a valuation of about $200 million, according to the people. Separately, Premji Invest is in advanced talks to lead Hical’s first institutional funding round of $30-40 million, alongside TVS Capital.
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China's Baidu launches AI model simulating road environment for robotaxis
Apollo World can generate "up to 100,000 km" (62,000 miles) of simulated driving daily, equivalent to about three years of real-world testing by a safety-driver-equipped autonomous vehicle, Baidu said. The system is capable of producing real-time multimodal data streams, such as camera and lidar observations, enabling self-driving systems to directly sense and navigate simulated environments.

Retailer Zalando launches AI shopping agent as margins squeezed
Zalando has launched its inaugural AI shopping agent, aiming to refine its online retail experience significantly. This innovative platform enables users to shop across various online stores using intelligent AI assistants. Although shares dropped by 5%, the company saw a revenue uptick of 5.1% in Q3. However, the gross profit margin decreased due to heightened investment in technology and infrastructure as competitors embrace AI amid rapid industry transformation.

Deep use cases vault India to ChatGPT’s top global market: OpenAI's India MD
During a visit to India last year, the ChatGPT maker’s cofounder Sam Altman said that India was the fastest growing market for the frontier lab and was already the second largest in terms of users globally. Market estimates had earlier put the India user base at 100 million.

OpenAI’s India user base doubles; Rapido GOV quadruples
Happy Tuesday! India has become ChatGPT’s largest market globally, with its user base doubling. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Fintechs fortify cyber defences; Logistics cos in the speed lane
Happy Monday! Fintechs are stepping up security as AI-powered cyberattacks become more sophisticated. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

When my AI bargains with your AI: The next great bazaar may be where our agents haggle for milliseconds
AI agents are evolving from simple task execution to negotiating on behalf of users in commerce. These agents can analyze data efficiently, enabling faster negotiations and potentially better deals. Businesses are already preparing for AI-to-AI negotiations, which may reshape the landscape of commerce. While this could benefit consumers, it may also create disparities based on the sophistication of agents.

A desi AI kill chain? Indian military steps towards battlefield AI
India's armed forces are working alongside Sarvam AI to establish a unified framework for military operations. The initiative focuses on improving battlefield intelligence, refining target acquisition, and streamlining decision-making across all service branches. Emphasizing a blend of cutting-edge technology and human judgment, this project signifies India’s dedication to enhancing its sovereign AI resources in the defense arena, with promising implications for operational effectiveness and data management.

Pine Labs shares jump 7% as Q2 net profit soars 543% YoY to Rs 39 crore
Pine Labs shares rose sharply on Thursday after the fintech company reported a 543% year-on-year jump in Q2 FY27 net profit to Rs 38.6 crore. Revenue rose 24% to Rs 806.2 crore, while EBITDA increased 67.3%. Growth in payments, UPI transactions and international markets supported performance as the company expands into AI-led commerce.

Social media norms, AI, deepfakes, chips among others on review list of parliamentary panel in 2026-27
The development comes as several incidents of age-inappropriate content, circulation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and alleged censorship on social media have been reported widely.

Nevada unions, politicians caught between AI job creation and destruction
Nevada unions' soul-searching reflects the national debate underway over whether regulation should slow down AI development amid conflicting projections of job destruction and creation - and whether AI will ultimately lift humanity or harm it.
AI kids need adult eyes in the lab
Satya Nadella and Sam Altman call for a crucial reassessment of AI safety frameworks. Advanced artificial intelligence presents significant existential threats that necessitate immediate global governance. Investors are encouraged to proceed with caution, while tech creators are urged to voluntarily practice restraint for public safety. Thoughtful development of AI could facilitate societal adaptation to its transformative potential over time.

Anthropic takes AI test with filing for Wall Street debut
Anthropic PBC has filed for an IPO, becoming a potential leader in AI technology. The company anticipates trading under the symbol ANT on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Despite significant revenue growth, Anthropic warns future growth may slow due to market maturity and competition. The filing emphasizes the existential risks associated with advanced AI technologies, raising public safety concerns.

inDrive taps Pony.ai and Nvidia to test robotaxis in one of the world's coldest capitals
The ride-hailing company will explore driverless rides in Kazakhstan without building its own self-driving technology, as platforms increasingly leave the technology to partners and focus on connecting riders with cars.

Scaling AI agents a bottleneck for Indian enterprises: Dynatrace’s Rafi Katanasho
Katanasho believes autonomous agents can fail silently, delivering poor business outcomes without triggering system alerts.

China's Moonshot AI launches Kimi K3.1 Pro; plans full model weights release by November
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company Moonshot AI has unveiled Kimi K3.1 Pro, a 3-trillion-parameter open-weight AI model featuring a 1-million-token context window, alongside a high-speed variant, Kimi K3.1 Pro Highspeed, according to a company statement.

Deftech startup Paar Autonomy raises Rs 10 crore from AdvantEdge Founders
Founded in June 2024 by Vignesh Sivaram Jayaraman, the company builds camera systems and AI software for drones and other unmanned defence platforms. Its technology helps these systems identify objects, understand their surroundings, and continue operating when GPS signals or communication links are disrupted.

Cognizant to buy Australia's DyFlex in its 3rd deal of 2026
Cognizant Technology Solutions has signed an agreement to acquire DyFlex Solutions, enhancing its AI and SAP capabilities. This acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. DyFlex specializes in SAP transformation and is based in Australia and New Zealand. The deal marks Cognizant’s third acquisition in 2026 as it seeks to expand its services.

From eMudhra to PHP: Breach spree hits tech infrastructure, AI emerges as threat multiplier
Recent cybersecurity incidents have raised concerns among companies and government agencies regarding digital certificates and critical software vulnerabilities. A security breach at eMudhra impacted its global digital certificate business but was managed promptly. Additionally, critical vulnerabilities in PHP temporarily led to the shutdown of various websites for security updates. A supply-chain attack compromised the LiteLLM Python package, affecting its users significantly.

Nvidia launches OpenShell Reference Architecture to contain AI agents
Nvidia said this architecture combines computing hardware, software and security tools to keep agents within defined boundaries aiming to address a part of the problem.

Vulnerable keys were created but never put to commercial use, investigation on: eMudhra cofounder
eMudhra issues digital signature and website security certificates to enable them securely connect to browsers for public access. "There's no impact to subscribers because we have done all the actions. We are also working with our customers to notify them that there is no impact because no certificates were issued. This does not affect our other lines of business, which is the India digital signature and our enterprise solutions business," eMudhra co-founder Kaushik Srinivasan told PTI.

Einride expands Nvidia partnership to deploy AI reasoning model for self-driving trucks
Self-driving truck company Einride said on Wednesday it would broaden its partnership with Nvidia by testing the chipmaker's AI reasoning model, Alpamayo, in its self-driving vehicles, aiming to speed up the expansion of autonomous freight services while lowering development costs

Cognizant, Google Cloud expand partnership to drive agentic AI adoption
The group brings together a dedicated global workforce that pairs Google's full-stack, enterprise-ready AI platform with Cognizant's domain, industry and engineering expertise as an AI-builder, according to a release.

How one hacker used AI agents and a few thousand dollars to break into scores of sites
A cybersecurity researcher observed a Chinese-speaking hacker employing AI to compromise various companies' websites. The hacker utilised an AI platform called Cairn, automating complex intrusion activities without human supervision. This hacking campaign targeted over 1,200 sites, with successful intrusions taking around 23 hours on average.
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