One important thing: Hospitality chain Oyo's wait for a public market debut just got longer. Capital markets regulator SEBI has directed the Gurugram-based firm to revise its draft IPO documents with certain updates and resubmit them. 

• Oyo had initially filed preliminary documents with SEBI in October 2021 for a Rs 8,430 crore IPO.

In today’s newsletter:  

• BharatPe CEO steps down, turns investor
• ChatGPT recommends Mumbai's best street food to Satya Nadella
• What startups think of draft online gaming rules

 Was this newsletter forwarded to you? You can sign up for Tech3 here

Chaos has returned to controversy’s favourite child. 

• In the morning, it surfaced that BharatPe chief executive officer Suhail Sameer is stepping down from his position and is planning to set up a VC fund

• By sunset, we learnt that former managing director Ashneer Grover has shot a damning letter to the company’s board members

While the BharatPe board has begun the search for a replacement for Sameer, the company has stated that the outgoing CEO will continue to serve as a strategic advisor.

• Meanwhile, BharatPe CFO Nalin Negi will take over as interim CEO. This means that BharatPe is now led by two former SBI executives, including Chairman Rajnish Kumar

In a letter to the BharatPe board, former managing director Ashneer Grover has alleged that he was threatened by the company's general counsel at the December 31 annual general meeting (AGM).

• Grover says that the absence of Chairman Rajnish Kumar and key investors at the meeting demonstrated their lack of commitment to running the company.

• The letter also questioned how 7,880 equity shares of the company worth Rs 315 crore were majorly allotted to four key managerial personnel of the company

• BharatPe rebutted saying 'these are retaliatory and diversionary tactics' in response to a recent lawsuit against Grover and his family

When Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella asked OpenAI’s now-viral AI chatbot ChatGPT for recommendations on the best street food in Mumbai, the audience at The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai collectively gasped in amazement at the potential of artificial intelligence. What was the result?

• Vada Pav took the debatable first place, followed by Pav Bhaji, Bhel Puri, Dahi Puri, Chaat, Pani, and Mumbai Sandwich!

Taking this further, Nadella tasked the chatbot with creating a play in which Vada Pav fiercely defends its position against the competition.

If you thought Nadella was trying to jump onto the ChatGPT wave that has taken the world by storm, then you should know there is a Microsoft angle to it. 

• Microsoft is an investor in OpenAI and the startup also uses Microsoft Azure as its exclusive cloud partner. The software giant also makes the Sam Altman-led firm's generative AI models available on its Azure platform.

Nadella, who started his four-day India visit today, was speaking at the Microsoft Future Ready Leadership Summit, where he also shared his company's growth mindset checklist. Key takeaways:

• One needs to have a sense of purpose and mission
  
  
• Having a founder’s mindset
  
  
• Taking pride in what one does

In his keynote, Nadella also shared the six imperatives he believes will be critical to unlocking India's economic growth through technology. Some of those include:

• Migrating to cloud
  
  
• Unifying data and applying AI models
  
  
• Re-energising workforce
  
  
• Empowering integrated teams

Indian real money gaming startups have given a thumbs up to the government's proposed new draft gaming rules, terming it as the first step towards legal recognition for the sector.

India's IT ministry proposed a self-regulatory body, mandatory player verification through Know-Your-Customer (KYC) norms, and grievance redressal methods, among other draft rules for the burgeoning online gaming sector.

• The ministry is now inviting public comments on these draft rules until January 17, 2022, with the final rules expected to be ready by next month. 

The draft proposals, according to Nazara Technologies CEO Nitish Mittersain, are a "welcome step" in which the government lays out its preferred approach to regulating the gaming sector, particularly skill-based real money gaming.

Some experts believe that the rules could increase the cost of compliance for companies, which could burden startups.

• The rules also do not distinguish between skill-based and chance-based games played for stakes, besides not defining gambling and betting which is crucial to provide regulatory clarity to the sector, said Jay Sayta, a technology and gaming lawyer.  

Read the story to see how the industry is reacting to the government's draft recommendations.

The lack of policy penetration and legacy artefacts in Indian regulations along with restrictions on operations are pushing Indian innovation overseas argues Siddarth Pai, the founding partner of 3one4 Capital. Pai says India’s rise is an inevitability, but that very few startups are eligible to access available incentives. 

He also advocates for changes to the Income Tax Act, Insurance Act, and provident fund regulations in the 2023 Union Budget to help unlock Indian institutional capital. Read more

On this day fourteen years ago, in 2009, an anonymous developer named Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first bitcoin block, validating the blockchain concept. The block, known as the Genesis block, contained 50 bitcoins.

• Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, has accused Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert of "bad faith stall tactics" as their companies clash over a business disagreement sparked by FTX's multibillion-dollar implosion late last year.
  
  
• SushiSwap, a decentralised exchange, has announced that it will retire two of its offerings, the Kashi lending platform and the MISO token launchpad, due to poor design and a lack of resources, according to Matthew Lilley, its chief technology officer.

Climate change has long been a source of concern for the entire world, and there may be serious consequences down the road.

But is the situation really that bad that we have to start manipulating the atmosphere? One startup thinks so!

In order to reflect more sunlight back into space, Make Sunsets has launched weather balloons that release sulphur particles into the stratosphere. This technique of controlling the climate by reflecting more sunlight into space is known as geoengineering.

In theory, the technique could reduce global warming, but it also has unanticipated risks.

This development deeply disturbs scientists who have long studied the technology. Find out more.

Note: By subscribing to Tech3 you have already made the right choice. Top it up with a premium offering, the Moneycontrol Pro Panorama, a newsletter that gives you a sharp take on macros, markets, business and finance. Sign up for Pro from this link to get this newsletter in your inbox and also a host of content enjoyed by 500,000+ subscribers.