Swiggy Strike 🚨, GST On Gaming 🤔, Meta Avatars 🤖, Discord Family 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Catch up on the latest in tech, business and startups - all in 5 minutes. [Newsletter Banner] Daily News Roundup Welcome to the NextBigWhat Daily News! Today's top stories include a Swiggy delivery personnel strike, 28% GST on online gaming, Meta's animated avatar video calling, and Discord's family center. 📰 Help us reach your your friends and colleagues! Share the NextBigWhat newsletter. [Tweet it]( [Whatsapp]( Meta Unveils Animated Avatar Video Calling for Messenger and Instagram 🌎 GlobalTech - The social networking giant introduces ‘third option’, where people can use an animated avatar instead of their face for video calls. - This feature is now accessible to Messenger and Instagram users, allowing them to make video calls from the comfort of a messy apartment or while wearing a face mask. - Meta plans to enhance the avatar creation system with more realistic and detailed animations, providing freedom to represent oneself in any form, even as a speaking llama. Instagram to Offer Branded Content Tools in Threads, Anticipating Future Monetization 🌎 GlobalTech - Branded content tools will permit collaborations between marketers and influencers on Meta’s platform Threads. - While still not monetizing Threads, Meta CEO hinting at potential revenues once the platform hits one billion users mark. - Despite the absence of advertising on Threads, several companies have started creating organic content, though limited hashtag and keyword search may restrict its appeal. Power: Why Some People Have It―and Others Don't [NBW Newsletter Ad]( Power is the Currency of the Workplace. Learn how to use it! AtomicIdeas from the book Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer. [Get it]( Discord Announces Updated Policies on Child Safety, Banning AI-Generated Abuse Images and Teen Dating 🌎 GlobalTech - Discord is strengthening its child safety policies, including the ban of AI-generated child sexual abuse material and teen dating, following an investigation into child safety on the platform. - Discord’s updated policies will prohibit any content that sexualizes children, including AI-created images and explicit text chats, while also taking steps against the potential for ‘teen grooming’ by older individuals. Swiggy delivery personnel strike in Ahmedabad over alleged exploitation 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Approximately 200 Swiggy delivery partners protested at GMDC Ground in Ahmedabad. They demanded an end to regional rate cards, uniform payments across areas, and changes to the rigid work slot system. - Penalties for missing a slot currently impact a whole day’s earning, causing additional grievance to the delivery partners. Get NBW News: The short news app for busy professionals. [App Store]( [Google Play]( AI startup Anthropic rolls out Claude 2, an enhanced iteration of its text-generating AI model 🤖 AI - Anthropic has released Claude 2, an improved version of its commercial text-generating AI model, offering superior performance and notably higher scores in multiple areas. - Claude 2, available in the U.S. and U.K., has enhanced reasoning abilities and self-awareness compared to its predecessor, Claude 1.3, and is trained with more recent data. Shutterstock and OpenAI Enhance Partnership for Generative AI Tool Development 🤖 AI - Shutterstock plans to expand its partnership with OpenAI to provide training data for the latter’s AI models, including a six-year licensure of images, videos, and music. - In return, Shutterstock will have priority access to OpenAI’s latest technologies and newly-developed editing tools to transform images in their content library. Discord Launches Opt-In Family Center for Parental Control 🌎 GlobalTech - Discord announces the launch of Family Center, a tool aimed to ensure transparency for parents concerning who their teenagers correspond with on the platform. The Family Center includes an activity dashboard and a weekly email report summarizing teens’ Discord activities. - Together, parents and teens complete the app’s setup process; the teens’ consent is necessitated in sharing the account’s activity in the Family Center. Sapphire Ventures to Pour $1B into AI-Focused Enterprise Startups 🤖 AI - Sapphire Ventures plan to invest over $1 billion in AI-based enterprise start-ups, using its existing funds that hold $10 billion, with $3 billion ready for investment. - The company’s focus will lie on business-to-business software companies that make AI easily accessible and can predict better outcomes, along with startups that leverage AI and machine learning to boost sector-specific income streams. - As part of this initiative, Sapphire also plans to create an ‘AI Community’ on its Sapphire Communities platform for portfolio CEOs and executives, and incorporate AI tools to ‘drive efficiencies’. Indian Startup Community Fumes Over 28% GST Levy on Online Gaming 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Ashneer Grover criticizes new 28% GST tax on online gaming, arguing it will kill the real money gaming industry in India. - Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended decision, stating taxation is based on the value each game generates, not whether it’s skill-based or chance-based. - Industry stakeholders express concern over diminished ability to invest in new technology and reach broader markets due to new taxation, while Grover predicts $10bn loss for the fantasy gaming industry. eBay Completes Acquisition of AI-based Authentication Company Certilogo 🤖 AI - eBay has announced the acquisition of Certilogo, an AI-powered authentication firm specializing in fashion goods. - The move suggests eBay’s intent to increase trust and improve secondhand fashion authentication on its marketplace, aligning with its previous business strategies focusing on fraud detection capabilities. Indian Multibillion-dollar Chip Venture with Foxconn, Vedanta Terminates Due to Internal Problems 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn Technology’s chip venture with Vedanta terminated due to ‘internal issues’. - India’s technology minister expresses confidence in national plans for a role in the global semiconductor supply chain. - Despite the setback, Foxconn states its anticipation for growth alongside India’s budding semiconductor industry. India’s GST Council imposes 28% tax on online gaming, horse racing, and casinos 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - The Goods and Services Tax Council in India has ruled to levy a 28% tax on online gaming, horse racing, and casinos. - The Council also approved the tax exemption on the import of cancer drug Dinutuximab and food for special medical purposes used in rare disease treatment. - The tax adjustment sees criticism as it puts Indian gaming companies at a disadvantage compared to global competitors taxed around 18%. © 2023 Zakti Techmedia Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. | [Unsubscribe](