India Data Protection 🔒, Telecom Declines 📉, Apple Joins Threads 🤝

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 NextBigWhat Daily News! Today's top stories include India's data protection bill, Telecom industry declines, and Apple joining Threads. 📰 Help us reach your your friends and colleagues! Share the NextBigWhat newsletter. [Tweet it]( [Whatsapp]( Upcoming Indian Data Protection Bill may lower age of consent, exempt certain firms from kids’ privacy norms 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - The upcoming Bill is expected to enable the government to lower the data-processing consent age from 18 and exempt companies from additional child-protection obligations if they handle data verifiably safely. - These changes align with western regulations and respond to long-standing industry requests to mitigate disruption triggered by obtaining parental consent for users under 18. Apple Joins Rapidly Growing Threads Social Platform, Accelerating User Growth 🌎 GlobalTech - Apple has joined the new Twitter-like platform, Threads, which is on the verge of crossing 100 million users in just four days. - Apple’s presence on Threads started with Apple News and has since expanded to include accounts for Apple Books, Apple Music, Shazam, and Beats by Dre. - The move demonstrates Apple’s commitment to the new platform, marking its mainstream emergence and distinguishing it from Mastodon, a platform Apple has yet to endorse. The Surprising Science Of Meetings [NBW Newsletter Ad]( Many managers view ineffective, fruitless, or boring meetings as an inevitable flaw in the way business is conducted. Don't reject meetings, just be smart. Here is a quick guide [Get it]( TRAI: Telecom industry witnesses 80% decline in voice calls in 10 years amid rise of online communication services 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Telecom industry sees 80% decline in voice calls and a 94% drop in SMS in the past decade due to growth of apps such as WhatsApp and Google Meet. - Data usage, instead of voice and SMS, has become primary revenue source for telecoms with revenue share per user growing over 10 times from June 2013 to December 2022. - Trai examines regulatory frameworks for OTT services and explores selective ban on certain apps during internet shutdowns or periods of unrest. Apple’s 32-Inch iMac in Early Development Stage 🌎 GlobalTech - Apple is reportedly testing larger iMacs, including a 32-inch display model. - Currently, the 24-inch iMac with the M1 chip is the only all-in-one computer sold by Apple. - An update of the current model with a faster M3 chip, enhancing performance and power efficiency, is expected to be launched early next year. Get NBW News: The short news app for busy professionals. [App Store]( [Google Play]( Evernote Shifts Operations to Europe Amid US Layoffs 🌎 GlobalTech - After extensive US and Chilean workforce layoffs, Evernote’s owner Bending Spoons plans to relocate most operations to Europe. - The layoffs follow another significant reduction of 129 positions less than six months ago, driven by Evernote’s longstanding unprofitability. - While future plans are unclear, affected employees will be given 16 weeks of salary, a prorated bonus, and up to a year of health insurance. Comedian Sarah Silverman and Authors Sue Meta and OpenAI for Copyright Violation 🤖 AI - Sarah Silverman, Richard Kadrey, and Christopher Golden claim Meta Platforms and AI company OpenAI used their copyrighted content without consent to train AI programs. - The lawsuits raise concerns about legal implications for chat bot developers using copyrighted material. - Meta and Microsoft-backed OpenAI have not yet responded to the allegations. Paytm Founder Voices Concerns about Superintelligent AI, OpenAI Seeks Ways to Control It 🤖 AI - Paytm founder, Sharma, voiced concerns on Twitter about the potential ‘disempowerment of humanity’ due to rapidly advancing superintelligent AI technology. - OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, is investing extensively in a new research team focusing on ‘alignment research’ to ensure AI remains beneficial, dedicating 20% of its compute power over the next 4 years to this initiative. July sees 10% increase in IT recruiting mandates following a slowdown 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - With a 10% increase in total hiring requirements in July compared to the previous month, tech hiring in India’s IT sector has exhibited signs of demand. - Companies with stronger demand visibility are driving the uptick in demand, with GCC and ER&D demand flow maintaining steady. The increase in headcount will be visible in the quarter from October to December. US couple mistakenly charged $29,994 USD for Uber ride due to currency conversion error 🌎 GlobalTech - A US couple got charged almost $30,000 USD for their Uber ride in Costa Rica instead of the correct rate in Costa Rican Colón, equivalent to around $55 USD. - The error resulted due to a wrong conversion of the fare by the bank, leading to a negative balance in the couple’s account. - After four days of dispute between the couple’s bank (Altura Credit Union) and Uber, the situation was finally resolved and the amount adjusted back to the original fare. H1 CY23 Sees Lowest Indian Startup Investment in Four Years: PwC India Survey 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Indian startups experienced the lowest six-month funding in four years (H1 CY23), with USD 3.8 billion secured over 298 deals. - 57% of total funding was from early-stage deals, while growth and late-stage deals contributed 84% funding value: fintech, SAAS, and D2C leading sectors. - M&A activity remained unchanged from H2 CY22 with 80 deals, majority were domestic; top sectors for M&A were SaaS, Fintech, and D2C. Alibaba launches AI-powered image generator Tongyi Wanxiang to rival DALL-E 🤖 AI - The tool, Tongyi Wanxiang, generates a range of stylistic images from user inputs in either Chinese or English. - Tongyi Wanxiang also offers image translation capabilities, altering existing images into new styles whilst retaining original content. - Alibaba Cloud’s technologies power the generator, leveraging knowledge arrangement, visual AI, and natural language processing for contextually relevant image generation. YouTube Trials AI-Generated Quizzes to Enhance Learning from Educational Videos 🤖 AI - YouTube is exploring the use of AI to generate quizzes related to educational video content for better learning experiences. - These quizzes will help YouTube to understand the effectiveness of its videos on certain topics, and are presently tested on a small global user base viewing a limited selection of English-language content. © 2023 Zakti Techmedia Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. | [Unsubscribe](