One quick thing: RBI forms panel to craft ethical AI framework

In today’s newsletter:

• Canva’s India Canvas 
• Broking apps make merry in a choppy year 
• EVs in 2024: Record sales amid subsidy cut

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It's a tool that most of us have used at some point to design anything from a social media creative to a birthday invitation to a wedding card. We're talking about Australian design firm Canva, which is drawing up big designs for India.

Canva co founder and CPO Cameron Adams spoke to us from Australia. He said while India is currently its fifth biggest market, it could become the top market in the next two years.

A surge in internet users and the creator economy boom could propel Canva's India Canvas (all puns intended), apart from an increasing number of enterprise users! 

"We have a massive team that focuses on all that content, particularly Indian content. And we have started developing a team on the ground there" Adams said.

Adams believes that there will be still a future for graphic design and illustrator roles but the way they are doing will change thanks to AI.

"I think particularly in design, there will be a stronger focus on your role as an editor, as a tastemaker, as someone who understands style and as someone who can direct more than you're on the tools" he said.

Adams, who co-founded Canva with Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht over a decade ago also spoke about the big AI trends in 2025, building trust amid deepfakes and their IPO plans.

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Also, watch the interview here

It has been a great year all through 2024 for the country’s stock brokers.

Most of the top players more than doubled users in 2024 compared to last year.

• “Markets are sentimental, investors are not so much”

To be sure, the markets were hitting new peaks every month built on top of 2023 returns.

Experts told us this phenomenon is a reflection of new players aggressively attracting users with marketing and is not necessarily about returns.

• In 2023, the return was around 20 percent.
• This year the returns were around 9 percent.

The country’s largest stock broker Groww added over 50 lakh new users in 2024 when compared to the 24-lakh-figure last year.

• Other large players Zerodha, Angel One, Upstox, and Dhan also clocked robust growth.

Nonetheless, while the number of demat accounts is around 16 crore, unique users are close to 5 crore.

“There is a lot of room to grow before we reach any saturation point. The economy continues to grow and we will see more investors coming for a couple of decades,” said Ujjwal Jain, CEO of Share.Market.

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The electric two-wheeler (EV 2W) market in India crossed a significant milestone in 2024, surpassing 1 million units in retail sales despite the subsidy headwinds following FAME-II reductions.

The year 2024 was truly a roller coaster ride for India's EV ecosystem with players fighting for market leadership.

• Ola Electric retained its market leadership, bolstered by aggressive discounts and market expansion.  
• TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto diversified offerings, gaining traction in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.

Apart from record numbers, the year 2024 saw Ola Electric’s Rs 6,000 crore IPO which signaled confidence in the sector, followed by Ather Energy’s listing plans. Yet, overall EV investments dropped to $586 million year to date from $808 million in 2023.

Experts say that EV adoption in the B2B sector, driven by quick-commerce fleets, is set to rise. 

• Battery advancements and models like swapping and leasing will enhance affordability.
• Domestic players are also eyeing exports as competition heats up, shaping a pivotal year ahead for India’s EV landscape.

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When Krishnan was nominated as the Senior White House Policy Advisor on AI by US President-elect Donald Trump, most in the tech world knew the name but not the story.

• He started coding when the internet was barely a thing! He worked at Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, and even at a venture capital firm, apart from becoming a popular YouTuber.
• Perhaps the words of a tech titan -“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward”- fits perfectly well for Krishnan.

He would be using all of his previous experiences to help the US hold an edge as the AI capital of the world. Click here to learn more about his journey.

Microsoft is actively incorporating both its own and third-party artificial intelligence models into its flagship product, Microsoft 365 Copilot. This initiative aims to reduce reliance on OpenAI's technology and lower costs.

As AI's energy demands soar, companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are exploring the potential of mini-nuclear plants to power their operations. This shift reflects the tech industry's growing focus on sustainable and scalable energy solutions for AI.

Quick commerce got quicker this year with the fastest delivery in 2024 coming in at just 89 seconds from a user in Kochi for bananas and red amaranthus.

• Meanwhile, a Mumbai resident spent over Rs 15 lakh on pet supplies. 

IT capital Bengaluru led the spending in puja essentials and party supplies. Curios to know more, read here.

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