One Thing Today in Tech
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Special briefing: Mark Papermaster—CTO at AMD—on high-performance computing, AI, India, and his passion for engineering
Mark Papermaster wears multiple hats within AMD—where he is chief technology officer and executive vice president—and in the semiconductor industry and forums such as the IEEE. Papermaster is one of the people credited with AMD's turnaround over the last decade—a turnaround for which CEO Lisa Su became a widely acclaimed business leader. In conversation with Forbes India, Papermaster talks about what helped AMD, the future of semiconductors, the company's work in India, and his advice to aspiring engineers
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India says don't preorder Starlink yet; Australia mulling 'anti-trolling' law; and Prakash Ramamurthy on staying true to the customer at Freshworks
India's telecom ministry has advised people to not buy Starlink connections because the company doesn't have a license yet to sell its satellite internet connections in the country. Australia's prime minister has proposed an 'anti-trolling' law for social media. Plus, Prakash Ramamurthy—CPO at Freshworks—talks about never losing sight of what customers want in product development
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US blocks Chinese quantum computing companies; Spotify testing video feed; and Lava Kumar unpacks emotion AI at Entropik Tech
America has blocked more Chinese firms from accessing US technology, adding the names of eight tech firms to a list called the 'entity list', BBC reports. The companies were helping the Chinese military's quantum computing efforts, according to the report. Spotify is taking on TikTok. Plus, Lava Kumar, co-founder and CPO at Entropik Tech, unpacks the power of emotion AI
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Instagram's Mosseri to appear before US Senate; BigBasket to open 800 stores; and a chat with the co-founders of Bizongo
Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, will testify before America's top lawmakers in a senate subcommittee hearing in early December about the platform's harmful impact on young users, CNN reports. BigBasket is planning to open 800 offline stores by 2026. Plus, a chat with Ankit Tomar and Sachin Agrawal on plans to make Bizongo an exports facilitating platform
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India may ban private cryptocurrency, launch CBDC; Apple sues Israeli spyware group NSO; plus, Hemant Mohapatra at Lightspeed on the promise of crypto
India may ban private cryptocurrencies and launch a central bank digital currency, according to a parliament bulletin released on Tuesday. Apple is going after the Israeli spyware group NSO which makes the Pegasus software. Plus, Hemanta Mohapatra at Lightspeed discusses why the VC firm is very bullish about the prospects of the crypto sector in India
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UK's EV chargers mandate; Niantic's metaverse plan; plus, Karnataka's IT minister on 'Beyond Bengaluru'
Britain has passed a law requiring new houses and buildings in the country to install electric vehicle charging points from next year, BBC reports. Niantic, the maker of Pokémon GO, has hit $9 billion in value after raising $300 million to build out its version of the metaverse. Plus, an interview with Ashwathnarayan CN, Karnataka's minister for science and tech, higher education, information tech, biotech, and skill development
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Space data on Brazil's rainforests; Adele commands, Spotify says 'anything for you'; plus, Sateesh Andra on investing in deep tech
Brazil's president Jair Messias Bolsonaro has allowed the country's precious rainforests to be destroyed at an accelerated pace, data from the country's National Institute for Space Research shows, scientists say, according to a Deutsche Welle report. Meanwhile, singer Adele has coaxed Spotify to drop the default 'shuffle' button while listening to albums. Plus, a chat with Sateesh Andra, managing partner at Endiya Partners, on his hopes for an Indian deep tech ecosystem
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US justice officials probe Instagram harming children; new Google features for India; plus, a chat with Rahul Nanwani, CEO of ImageKit
A coalition of America's top justice officials—comprising several state attorney generals—is leading a nationwide investigation into how Instagram knowingly harms children. Google has released more features on its products and platforms for users in India. Plus, a conversation with Rahul Nanwani at ImageKit on staying profitably bootstrapped and focused on the product
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US to fund 1 billion more Covid-19 vaccines; ex-Googlers' Arbo Works gets Sequoia funding; plus, Sri Ambati on his open-source AI movement
US President Joe Biden's administration is offering funding to drug companies including Pfizer and Moderna to expand Covid-19 vaccine capacity by a billion doses next year, Bloomberg reports. Arbo Works, a fintech company started by eight former Google executives, has found backing in Sequoia Capital India and more than 120 angel investors. Plus, Sri Ambati, an open-source AI icon, reflects on the next steps at his company H2O.ai
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Covid-19 vaccine profits at $1000 per second; UK to probe Nvidia-Arm deal; Plus, Sabeer Bhatia on his latest venture
Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna—three of the world's biggest Covid-19 vaccine makers are earning an estimated $1000 every second in profits even as the world's poorest go unvaccinated, according to a press release from Oxfam, a UK-based non-profit development organisation. Britain is probing deeper into the Nvidia-Arm $54 billion deal. Plus, a chat with Sabeer Bhatia on his latest venture
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Paradigm's $2.5 billion crypto fund; Microsoft's Edge update for Windows 11 criticised; and a chat with Sanjay Nekkanti of Dhruva Space
Paradigm, a crypto-focused VC firm, has raised a $2.5 billion venture fund, the industry's largest to date. There is no consensus yet on cryptocurrency regulations in India as investors continue to pour money into crypto startups. Microsoft will soon update Windows 11 to block redirection of taskbar search results to browsers other than its Edge browser. Plus, a chat with Sanjay Nekkanti, founder and CEO of Dhruva Space