One Thing Today in Tech
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Pfizer-BioNTech release new efficacy data; Girish Mathrubootham, Manav Garg start 'Together'; and Beerud Sheth on the rise of Gupshup
The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine's protection against severe cases of the disease holds steady after six months, according to new data released by the companies. The vaccine's efficacy against those severe cases stayed high at 97 percent for the entire six-month stretch after people got their shots. And in our tech conversation today, Beerud Sheth talks about building Gupshup into a leader in the conversational AI space
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Apple warns of slowdown despite strong quarter; ShareChat raises more money; and Mayank Tiwari on digitalising sericulture
Apple reported another set of record-breaking earnings results on Tuesday, but warned of supply constraints and that sales could be slowing down in the current quarter. The company had double-digit growth in many markets and "especially strong growth in emerging markets, including India, Latin America and Vietnam" for the June quarter, CEO Tim Cook told investors. And in our tech conversation today, Mayank Tiwari at ReshaMandi talks about digitalising the sericulture supply chain in India
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Biocon Biologics in Covid-19 antibody deal; Byju's mopping up smaller rivals; the promise of India's SaaS companies
Biocon Biologics, a fully integrated biosimilars company and a subsidiary of Biocon, has won an exclusive license from US-based Adagio Therapeutics to manufacture and commercialise an antibody treatment for Covid-19, based on the American company's ADG20 monoclonal antibody, for India and some emerging markets. Byju's is mopping up smaller competitors; and in today's tech conversation, Venkatesh Peddi at Chiratae Ventures and Praveen Bhadada at Zinnov explain how Indian cloud software companies will get to $1 trillion in value
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India plans more power islands; Google updates privacy sandbox timeline; and CynLr's co-founders on robotic automation
India is discussing a plan to create power islanding systems in several cities to protect critical infrastructure from potential attacks on the electricity grid, power minister Raj Kumar Singh said. Bengaluru, India's tech capital, and Jamnagar, which has two of India's largest oil refineries, are among the cities being assessed. And in today's tech conversation, Nikhil Ramaswamy and Gokul NA at CynLr explain computer vision-based robotic automation
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Twitter CEO wants to go big on Bitcoin; RBI's CBDC in the works; and Crayon Data on the choices we make
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey confirmed to investors that bitcoin will be a "big part" of the company's future. Dorsey sees opportunities to integrate cryptocurrency into existing Twitter products and services. Reserve Bank of India is planning the phased implementation of India's digital currency or Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). And in today's tech conversation, Priyanshu Mishra and Vidhyashankar Sriram at Crayon Data explain what AI can do with data on the shopping choices we make
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Instagram testing new 'Collab' in India; Clubhouse no longer invite-only; and Ajit Narayanan on AI in healthcare at Mfine
Instagram is testing a new feature 'Collab' with creators in the UK and India to help them increase audience reach. Wipro announced new partnership with Celonis, an execution management company. Byju's, one of the world's biggest EdTech companies, has acquired Epic Creations for $500 million. And in our tech conversation, CTO Ajit Narayanan talks about bringing AI to consumers at online healthcare services company Mfine
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'Best day ever', Jeff Bezos after space flight; Swiggy raises $1.25 bn; and Sandeep Nailwal explains the basics of Polygon (Part 2)
Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos said it was his 'best day ever' on Tuesday, after he made a historic sub-orbital flight to space in a capsule, carried by a rocket—both built by his company Blue Origin. This was 21-year-old Blue Origin's first human space flight. Swiggy raises $1.25 billion to go beyond food delivery. And in our tech conversation, part 2 of a chat with Sandeep Nailwal on the basics of Polygon's blockchain for Ethereum
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HCL's Shiv Nadar steps down; Pegasus can hack iPhones with no clicks; and Sandeep Nailwal explains Polygon's basics (Part 1)
HCL Technologies founder Shiv Nadar has stepped down from his position as chief strategy officer and managing director, India's third biggest IT services company told the stock exchanges on Monday. The company has named Nadar as chairman emeritus and strategic advisor. CEO C Vijayakumar has been named managing director as well, for a term five years. In today's tech conversation, Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, explains the basics of the rising blockchain protocol
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Lenskart gets $220mn; Captain Fresh raises series A funding; and Sumit Sarawgi at BCG explains the need for 'responsible AI'
Lenskart has raised $220 million in an investment led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek and Falcon Edge Capital, taking its total to $315 million. Peyush Bansal-led Lenskart is now valued at $2.5 billion and will use most of the fresh funds to expand into Southeast Asia and West Asia. In the tech conversation today, Sumit Sarawgi, MD and senior partner at BCG, talks about efforts worldwide to promote 'responsible AI'
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Xiaomi displaces Apple; Wipro's best quarter ever; and Kausambi Manjita of Mason on the promise of 'no code' tech
Xiaomi has displaced Apple to become the world's second-biggest smartphone vendor by the number of handsets sold for the April to June period, according to data from market research company Canalys. Wipro reported its best quarter ever, with sales surging in the April-June quarter. And, in our tech conversation today, Kausambi Manjita—CEO of Mason—explains the promise of 'no code' tech
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Infosys raises revenue forecast; Pratilipi gets $48mn; and Pankhuri Shrivastava on online social commerce for women
Infosys, increased its full-year revenue forecast on Wednesday on the back of its strongest quarterly growth in 10 years, and accelerating demand ahead. India's second biggest IT services company reported that revenues for its fiscal first quarter rose 16.9 percent from the same period a year ago, and 4.8 percent sequentially. And in our tech conversation, Pankhuri Shrivastava talks about online social commerce for women at her eponymous company