Byju's Profitability 💰, Chandrayaan-3 Launch 🚀, Virgin Galactic Historic Flight 🌏

Catch up on the latest in tech, business and startups - all in 5 minutes. [Newsletter Banner] Daily News Roundup Welcome to today's edition of the NextBigWhat Daily News! Today's top stories include Byju's close to profitability, ISRO Chief's announcement for Chandrayaan-3, and Virgin Galactic's historic spaceflight. 🚀 Help us reach your your friends and colleagues! Share the NextBigWhat newsletter. [Tweet it]( [Whatsapp]( Minecraft creators leave Reddit amid platform’s billing and rule changes 🌎 GlobalTech - Mojang Studios, the Microsoft-owned company behind Minecraft, quit Reddit following the platform’s controversial billing changes that have altered rules across several subreddits. - The company will cease posting changelogs relating to Minecraft game versions, citing that Reddit no longer feels like an appropriate platform to share official content. - This exit forms part of a wider protest against Reddit, with over 8,000 communities taking part in a ‘blackout’ by setting their subreddits to private, following an increase in prices for third-party developers using the company’s API. Startup Speakeasy automates API creation and distribution using AI 🤖 AI - Speakeasy co-founder, Sagar Batchu, aims to simplify and speed up API shipping for developers with an AI-powered infrastructure. - The company has introduced two main tools: Managed SDKs, which build a complete API with necessary documentation in minutes; and a tool that helps users implement the API using HashiCorp’s Terraform tool. - After securing $7.6 million in seed funding, led by GV, the startup is looking to expand its team and develop more platform features. By Ashish Sinha [NBW Newsletter Ad]( Indian startup ecosystem feels a lot scammy these days. And yet, it’s time to BUILD! [Read]( Harvard Turns to AI for Teaching Intro-Level Coding Class 🤖 AI - Harvard’s intro-level coding course, CS50, will be taught by an AI instructor from this fall. - The goal is to approximate a 1:1 teacher-student ratio, using software-based tools to support individualized learning round-the-clock. - Despite the acknowledged risks with early versions of AI underperforming or erring, the move is seen as an evolution of incorporating new software into teaching. Windows 11 launches AI Copilot for tester preview 🤖 AI - Windows 11’s AI assistant, Copilot, has been rolled out in the latest Dev Channel build for preview. - Accessed from the Taskbar with a UI that docks to one side of the screen, Copilot is similar to Bing Chat and also includes some Windows-specific commands. - The first preview lacks third-party support and needs Microsoft Edge updated to version 115 or higher as it’s an extension of this platform. Get NBW News: The short news app for busy professionals. [App Store]( [Google Play]( AI Startup Inflection Receives $1.3B for Development of Personal Assistant Pi 🤖 AI - Inflection AI, backed by Microsoft, Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, and Nvidia, has received $1.3 billion funding, with a total valuation of $4 billion. - Inflection aims to develop Pi, an AI-powered assistant designed to provide user-specific knowledge. - Despite competitive challenges, the firm plans to collaborate with Nvidia and CoreWeave to build a large scale AI training cluster with 22,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs. Virgin Galactic Achieves Historic First Commercial Spaceflight 🌎 GlobalTech - After over a decade of preparation, Virgin Galactic has successfully completed its first commercial flight with the VSS Unity spaceship and its customers from the Italian government, achieving an altitude of about 52 miles. - This commercial flight comes after the company’s multiple crewed test flights and unfortunate incidents, including the crash of the VSS Enterprise in 2014. - This commercial service launch marks a crucial financial moment for Virgin Galactic, which, with no paying customers until now, has been losing money for years, including a loss of more than $500 million in 2022. CEO states Byju’s close to profitability, positive resolution for loan issue expected without legal proceedings 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Though facing challenges, Byju’s is showing commitment to financial management and operational optimization as it nears group level profitability. - CEO Raveendran indicates $1.2 billion Term Loan B discussions are hoped to resolve positively in coming weeks, avoiding court intervention. - Raveendran addresses employee concerns in town hall meeting about company growth, auditor resignations, debt burdens, and the future of edtech industry. NASA Plans Lunar Mining Mission for Resources by 2032 🌎 GlobalTech - NASA aims to commence large-scale lunar regolith mining by 2032, leveraging a pilot processing plant for potential extraction of resources like water, iron, and rare metals. - This initiative could help in the development of a lunar economy and enhance NASA’s lunar exploration, attracting commercial investments from rocket companies for fuel or oxygen production. - NASA’s Artemis program plans to establish a sustainable presence on the moon beginning in 2025, utilizing commercialization of lunar resources as part of its strategy. Razer Introduces the New Cobra Pro, a Highly Customizable Gaming Mouse 🌎 GlobalTech - The new Razer’s Cobra Pro features ten customizable buttons, and stores five memory profiles for easy game swapping. - The mouse boasts 11 individually addressable Chroma RGB zones with nearly 17 million color options, and integrates with Razer’s Hypershift feature and Mouse Dock Pro. - The Cobra Pro operates for 100 hours wirelessly and 170 hours via Bluetooth and costs $120, with a bare-bones version, the standard Cobra, also announced at $40. Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Mission Slated for Mid-July Launch, announces ISRO Chief 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Chandrayaan-3, India’s third moon mission, is set to launch between July 12 to 19 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. - The spacecraft includes an indigenous Lander Module, a Propulsion Module, a rover, and the new Spectro-polarimetry of the Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload. - The mission’s objectives include a safe moon landing, demonstrating the rover’s capabilities, and conducting in-situ scientific observations. Indian Startups Face 68% Drop in Funding as Key Investors Tiger Global and Softbank Pull Back 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Indian startups raised $5.46 billion in the first half of 2023, a 68% decline from the same period in 2022, marking a significant contraction due to major backers reducing new investments. - There were no fresh Indian unicorns in 2023, contrasting to the 18 and 16 new entrants in 2022 and 2021 respectively. The funding squeeze affected startups of various stages, from seed funding to early and late-stage funding rounds. - Despite contraction, there is potential for resurgence from considerable ‘dry powder’— untapped capital reserves held by venture capital firms like Peak XV Partners, Lightspeed, and Accel—which could lead to more investments in the coming months. Xiaomi Reduces Workforce in India Amid Operational Rejig and Decreased Market Share 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Xiaomi India laid off about 30 employees, from a total staff of 1,400-1,500 at the start of 2023, with more terminations expected in upcoming months. - The company aims to boost operational efficiency, streamline its structure, and optimize resources; measures include a performance improvement plan for the potential dismissal of underperforming employees. - Xiaomi’s India shipments dropped from 7-8 million to 5 million in Q1 2023 and the company is facing allegations of foreign exchange violations totaling over ₹5,551 crore. © 2023 Zakti Techmedia Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. | [Unsubscribe](