Group 1: Retail Expansion - Apple plans to open four new retail stores in India, specifically in Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai, building on its previous openings in Mumbai and New Delhi [1] - The company aims to enhance customer engagement and shopping experiences through these new stores, as stated by Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's senior vice president of Retail [1] Group 2: Manufacturing Shift - Apple has started producing its entire iPhone 16 lineup, including Pro models, in India, continuing its manufacturing efforts that began in 2017 with the SE model [2] - The company is diversifying its production away from China to capitalize on India's growing smartphone market, although the transition is slower than previously anticipated [2] - Current estimates suggest that 10-15% of total iPhone production occurs in India, with expectations of reaching 20-25% by 2027, a delay from earlier forecasts of 2025 [2] Group 3: Market Performance - Apple's revenue in India increased by 42% year-on-year in 2023, reaching $8.7 billion, indicating strong market growth [3] - iPhone shipments in India grew by 39% year-on-year in 2023, totaling 9.2 million units, making India the fifth largest smartphone market for iPhones [3] - The iPhone business in India surpassed that of any standalone country in the European Union in 2023 [3]

In Brief In addition to OpenAI’s new $6.6 billion megaround of funding at a post-money valuation of $157 billion, the outfit has secured a $4 billion revolving line of credit, it disclosed in a post Thursday night. The arrangement gives it “access to over $10 billion in liquidity, which gives us the flexibility to invest in new initiatives and operate with full agility,” it said.The debt line was syndicated across nine banks, including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and Santander, according to OpenAI.CNBC is ...

Core Insights - Google is intensifying its artificial intelligence initiatives in India, aiming to integrate AI across its products to cater to the local market, amidst increasing competition from U.S. tech firms [1][3] Group 1: AI Integration and Features - Google is deploying its AI model, Gemini, to enhance search, visual recognition, and language processing, which are crucial for India's diverse linguistic landscape [1] - Over 40% of Gemini's Indian language users utilize voice interactions, prompting Google to launch Gemini Live, an AI assistant capable of natural voice conversations in Hindi, with plans to support eight additional Indian languages [1] - The company plans to expand its generative AI tool, AI Overviews, to include more Indian languages such as Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, and Tamil in the near future [2] Group 2: Visual Search and User Engagement - Google Lens is particularly popular in India, leading the company to experiment with video-based searches that allow users to ask complex questions about moving objects [2] - Google Maps is introducing AI-generated summaries of places and enhanced search capabilities focused on specific experiences, analyzing billions of reviews and images to transform the platform into a discovery tool [3] Group 3: Support for Local Businesses - Google is launching AI-powered tools for Indian merchants to enhance their digital presence, including AI-generated video animations from static product photos [3] - An automated system will convert photos of restaurant menus into formatted online listings, allowing merchants to showcase deals from social media alongside those from popular aggregators [4] - Merchants will also have the option to add chat functionalities using SMS or WhatsApp directly to their search listings [4]

Toyota is doubling down on Joby Aviation with a $500 million investment into the California-based company that's developing electric air taxis. Toyota's total investment in Joby, which includes a $394 million capital injection back in 2020, is now $894 million. The funds will be used to help Joby complete the lengthy Type 2 certification process with the Federal Aviation Administration and support commercial production of its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Joby is in the fourth of five stag ...

Microsoft is going to pay publishers for content that will appear in Copilot Daily, a new feature of its Copilot AI-powered, cross-platform assistant.Copilot Daily, announced on Tuesday alongside other Copilot upgrades, gives users a spoken summary of the weather and current events. Alexa and Google Assistant have long delivered similar daily briefs, but Microsoft describes its take as “an antidote to that familiar feeling of information overload.” “Clean, simple, and easy to digest, Copilot Daily will onl ...

Microsoft has joined an exclusive club of tech giants that are subject to a special abuse control regime in Germany. The country’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) confirmed on Monday that the software giant could face restrictions if the competition authority deems an intervention is necessary.The designation, which lasts for five years, is important, as it lets the German authority take a close interest in how Microsoft wields its influence through its activities around generative AI. However, the regulator s ...

Apple faces a looming deadline to produce what it says are more than 1 million documents related to recent App Store changes. On Friday, Judge Thomas S. Hixson denied the company's attempt to extend that deadline, describing the request as "bad behavior." So Apple's deadline is still Monday, September 30: "It's up to Apple to figure out how to meet the deadline, but Monday is indeed the deadline." This is just the latest chapter in the ongoing legal dispute between Apple and Fortnite-maker Epic Games, which ...

The U.K.s’ antitrust authority has concluded that Amazon’s partnership and equity investment in AI startup Anthropic can’t be investigated under current merger rules due to the size and scope of the deal.The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) announcement comes six months to the day after news emerged that Amazon had completed a $4 billion investment in Anthropic, one of several heavily funded AI-focused startups. The three-year-old firm develops large language models (LLMs) and an associated ch ...

Reset your clocks: Meta has been hit with yet another privacy penalty in Europe. On Friday Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced a reprimand and a €91 million fine — around $101.5M at current exchange rates — after concluding a multi-year investigation into a 2019 security breach by Facebook’s parent company. The DPC opened a statutory inquiry into the incident in question in April 2019 under the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) after Meta, or Facebook as the company was still ...

Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday during Meta Connect 2024 that Meta AI is one of the most used AI assistant across the world with “almost” 500 million monthly active users. Zuckerberg said that Meta AI is on track to become the most used assistant across the world.“We’re almost at 500 million monthly activities, and we haven’t even launched in some of the bigger countries yet,” Zuckerberg said at the event, pointing out that it hasn’t launched in the EU yet. Meta had previously noted that there are more than ...