TECHNOLOGY
Open Source in Tech: What India can learn from China
India and China have embraced open source software for different reasons and with contrasting outcomes. While India focuses on digital public goods like Aadhaar and UPI, China is leveraging open source to build cutting-edge products like the DeepSeek AI model and the C930 chip
BUSINESS
Techno Colonialism: Can India break free from its technology dependence?
China’s rapid strides in chips, AI, and quantum computing are closing the tech gap with the US, while India risks falling further behind due to limited investment in cutting-edge research and development. Without urgent reforms, India’s reliance on imported technology may deepen, leaving it a 'techno colony' instead of a global innovator
BUSINESS
President Trump and the unhappiness of the supply chain strategist
Supply chain managers worldwide have faced multiple disruptions in the past decade, from the COVID-19 pandemic to geopolitical conflicts. However, the unpredictability brought by Donald Trump’s second term, with rapid tariff threats and trade wars, has created unprecedented challenges
BUSINESS
Breaking the Qubit Barrier: The global push for practical quantum computing
Microsoft and Peking University announced Quantum Computing breakthroughs last week. But there is too little information available to say confidently how close we are to the goal of a general purpose quantum computer
BUSINESS
India is late to the LLM party, but can it still make a splash?
What is needed is a clear headed approach to AI research and innovation. Resources are definitely needed, but it may be possible to be competitive with millions, rather than requiring billions
BUSINESS
Why India cannot create a DeepSeek
Successive governments in India have lacked the vision and ambition to be a world leader in science and technology
BUSINESS
The importance of being DeepSeek
Just when the US AI titans thought they had the market cornered, a Chinese startup has managed to build an AI model that is at par with the best at a fraction of the cost, throwing the market wide open
TECHNOLOGY
US’ proposed AI Diffusion Framework poses risk to India’s tech ambitions
While in the short run, the practical impact of this proposal on India will not be significant, it essentially hobbles the country’s future ability to be a major player in the technology
BUSINESS
The brouhaha over poverty reduction
The missing census is putting policymaking on the dodgy ground of guesstimates
BUSINESS
DPDP Draft Rules: Too little, too many issues and too late
The big problem lies in the oversight structure and mechanism for enforcement of the rules. Even the best of laws offers little protection without the ability to enforce them strictly
TECHNOLOGY
Technology: What to watch out for in 2025
The coming year – 2025 – may well see Gen AI become far more useful for corporates. AI Agents is the big hope (or hype) as we prepare to enter the new year
BUSINESS
Google’s Willow: A quantum computing breakthrough, but hold the bubbly -- for now
It represents a big leap in Quantum Computing research but, as even Google admits, this is not likely to lead to even a small practical Quantum Computer by 2030
BUSINESS
Trump 2.0: No big gains for the Indian economy
It would be interesting to see if Trump goes to bat for Musk’s many businesses – from X to Tesla to SpaceX and others and pushes for concessions from the Indian government for his Silicon Valley billionaire friend
BUSINESS
New Search Engine Wars: Can Google hold on to its turf?
Google’s search dominance is now under serious threat for the first time in its life -- from Generative AI-powered search engines as well as specialist, and privacy-focused, new rivals
BUSINESS
Gen AI and the nuclear-powered future -- Connect the dots
Nuclear energy is seeing renewed interest, powered by Gen AI demand
BUSINESS
What Noel Tata’s ascension at Tata Trusts means for the business group’s future
There is certainty on the succession planning front, but on others such as the group’s strategic direction and investments only time will tell
BUSINESS
Ratan Naval Tata: The man who transformed a domestic conglomerate into a global player
Driven by a fire in his belly, he first took on the group’s legendary satraps and overcame them to bring a more coherent strategic approach that led to seeking opportunities everywhere. There were audacious experiments and purchases, not all of which succeeded. His appetite for risk was in sync with the environment created by India’s economic liberalisation when he took over the Tata Group
BUSINESS
Can Intel get its mojo back?
That Qualcomm is planning to take over Intel shows how far the once king of the computer chip market has fallen
BUSINESS
OpenAI previews o1: For governments as well as potential customers, the real work starts now
The new model certainly is a huge step forward from even ChatGPT 4.0. And it has serious capabilities. But the technology publication Vox worries that o1 can reason well enough to deceive humans – and give the kind of answers they would want
BUSINESS
What next for Nvidia?
Investors may be worried by gathering dark clouds. Most importantly for Nvidia, there are worries that the Generative AI hype is dying down
BUSINESS
GenAI, rather than the Anti-Trust verdict, may be the bigger threat to Google
The search industry is on the brink of a radical makeover because of Generative AI models – and Google, while an important player in the technology, has no inherent advantages
BUSINESS
The government has an AI conundrum at hand
The Economic Survey has said that deploying capital-intensive and energy-intensive AI is probably one of the last things a growing, lower-middle-income economy like India needs. But disruption by AI is inevitable—What needs to be done is to prepare for it immediately if the country is not to be left behind
BUSINESS
The day when the world’s computers went on strike
The big cloud platforms bring several advantages to corporations but as the current system crash shows, running the latest software sometimes can also lead to its own set of risks
BUSINESS
Playing catch-up in technology should be priority for the new government
Much needs to be done to ensure that in crucial areas such as AI and semiconductors, India makes progress in terms of research and development as well as adoption of applications
