One quick thing: HCLTech CEO C Vijayakumar's remuneration falls 79% in FY23

In today’s newsletter:

• AMD's big bet on India's chip sector
• Big Tech hiring in India slows to a crawl
• IT committee divided on clean chit to DPDP bill

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AMD is betting big on India. The semiconductor major today revealed its plans to invest a whopping $400 million in India over the next five years.

The company's new investment aims to establish its largest R&D centre in Bengaluru, scheduled to open its doors by the end of this year.

• AMD also plans to hire 3,000 engineers by the end of 2028

The company's new R&D centre in Bengaluru will focus on artificial intelligence, networking, and 6G communications.

The investment by AMD is also a boost for the government’s vision of making India a global semiconductor hub. 

• The government has set a target of creating a $300 billion electronics industry by 2025, with semiconductors being the most important cog in the wheel

Also Read | Vedanta's made-in-India semiconductor chip will be ready in 2.5 years: Anil Agarwal

AMD's investment is a win-win for both India and AMD. The investment will create jobs and boost the Indian economy, while also helping AMD to expand its presence in a key market.

• The investment will also help AMD to tap into the pool of talent in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed India's commitment to becoming a preferred partner for the semiconductor industry. 

• The government has identified over 300 colleges to offer semiconductor courses, which will create over 1 lakh semiconductor design engineers in the next five years, Modi said

Go deeper

The once-coveted Big Tech companies have seen their hiring numbers plummet as of July 2023, indicating the state of the industry as it seeks to chase efficiency. 

• Big Tech companies, collectively known as FAAMNG, namely Facebook (Meta), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, and Google (Alphabet), have witnessed a significant decline in job openings

As of July 2023, there were just 1,400 jobs across these companies in India.

Compared to July last year, there has been an 86% drop in the number of job openings in these companies.

• This trend began in November 2022, when these companies began laying off employees
  
  
• Companies have been talking about focussing more on efficiency and slowing down hiring

The current active numbers are down 97% from the typical hiring volume for these companies.

Of the 1,400 openings, opportunities are available in Operations, Engineering, Sales, Quality Assurance, Program and Project Management.

• The available job roles include Team Lead, Compliance Associate, Program Manager, Software Engineer, Engineering Manager, Cloud Engineer, etc.

More on this here

The Monsoon Session of Parliament is underway, and the government is still determined to introduce the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) bill (Although no date has been announced yet).

As we wait, there have been considerable developments surrounding the DPDP Bill in the last couple of days, which have angered Opposition members and sent many back to their Civics books.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT and Communications has “adopted” a report that endorses the DPDP Bill. 

• The committee did not recommend any changes to the bill, giving it a clean chit

• The report recommends that the bill should be enacted into a law "without any undue delay," sources said

Not all IT committee members are on the same page. A few opposition party members of the committee say that they were not aware of the adoption of such a report.

Secondly, Parliamentary procedure mandates that a bill can be recommended to a committee only after its introduction in the Parliament. It is only then that the committee formally studies the bill and adopts a report.

(If you have a feeling of déjà vu, then it’s not entirely misplaced. A few months back, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had claimed that the IT committee had “approved the bill,” following which many of the committee members dismissed the minister’s claim.)

One Opposition MP, who disagrees with the views adopted in the committee’s report, has expressed their criticism of the data protection bill in a dissent note.

• The MP has raised concerns about the blanket exemptions from the provisions of the bill for certain government entities

Find out more

• Indian startup Karya wants to help millions of people whose languages are marginalized online gain better access to AI tools.
  
  
• Carnegie Mellon University and the Center for AI Safety researchers have found a way to bypass the safety measures of Google's Bard and OpenAI's ChatGPT AI chatbots.

Looking for something to watch this weekend? We've got you covered!

If you enjoy realistic crime dramas, then you should check out Kaalkoot. The series follows the life of a devoted police officer who must balance his personal and professional worlds while delving into a string of horrifying acid attacks. Stream it on JioCinema

But if you're seeking a thrilling horror experience, Knock at the Cabin might be just what you need. The film follows a couple and their adopted young daughter on a tranquil retreat. However, their peaceful getaway takes a terrifying turn when they become captives of four strangers. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video

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