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In today’s newsletter: 

• Dream11's second innings 
• Uber, Ola algos trip up Govt probe 
• Incoming: Full-scale cybersecurity audit

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If Dream11's first innings was about daily fantasy sports, its second aims to be the place where you hang out with friends while watching the match. 

Dream11 unveiled a revamped mobile app focused on sports entertainment built around creators and live streamers, drawing inspiration from Amazon-owned Twitch.

• CEO Harsh Jain pitched the new platform as a "second-screen" platform that complements live sports broadcasts. "Dream11 will always be the popcorn to your movie," he said

Users can follow matches through creator-led "watch along" livestreams and engage via chats and reactions. Twenty-five creators have been onboarded so far, with more to follow, Jain said. 

• Viewers can buy DreamBucks (Dream11's virtual currency) or earn them by watching streams, then use them to send shoutouts to creators or keep their chats pinned

• Free-to-play fantasy sports remains on the app but will be a small part of the overall experience

This creator-focused update will help Dream11 tackle the crucial drop-off in user activity during matches. 

• By bringing in-match conversations onto the platform, the platform would be able to keep the fans involved throughout the entire fixture

Dream11 had halted all paid contests, which contributed 95% of its revenue and all of its profits, in August after the government banned real-money games. 

• The platform shifted to a free-to-play model, supported by ads and sponsorships. With DreamBucks, Dream11 also brings in-app purchases to the mix 

• Dream11 also began its international expansion in October by launching its free-to-play platform in 11 countries, including the US, the UK, Australia and the UAE

In recent months, Dream Sports has moved beyond its flagship platform Dream11, aiming to build a diversified portfolio of brands. 

This includes sports content platform FanCode, sports experiences platform DreamSetGo, mobile game development unit Dream Game Studios, AI-focused unit Dream Sports AI, fixed deposits and gold investment app Dream Money, sports performance analytics app Dream Play, and open-source software unit Horizon.

Go deeper

India’s regulators are trying to open the black box of ride-hailing platforms, and discovering that the algorithm is a tougher ride than expected.  

For months, regulators have been trying to crack open the algorithms of Ola and Uber’s pricing systems.

• What began as a push for greater transparency has slowed considerably as investigators confront the complexity of dynamic pricing systems that few outside these companies fully understand

Unlike the swift penalty issued to Rapido earlier this year, the probe into fare-setting practices has run into technical hurdles.

Ride-hailing platforms use dynamic pricing models that change minute by minute based on demand, supply, location, and user behaviour. Establishing whether these systems cross into “unfair trade practices” requires detailed technical evidence...not just suspicion.

“The Director General (Investigation) is now likely to bring in domain experts to examine whether the ride-hailing majors have engaged in unfair trade practices,” a senior government official said.

The probe team is convinced “there are lapses,” the official added, but any quasi-judicial move must rest on “robust technical findings.”

The contrast is stark. In August, Rapido was fined Rs 10 lakh for misleading cashback and guarantee claims like “Guaranteed Auto” and “Auto in 5 mins or get Rs 50.”

• Regulators found the promises were not adequately substantiated, a far simpler case compared to evaluating dynamic algorithms

Regulatory scrutiny of ride-hailing platforms has been building. In May 2025, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued a notice to Uber over its “advance tip” feature, a move Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi called “unethical” and “exploitative.”

• Our research showed that most major mobility platforms had introduced similar incentive add-ons, especially during peak hours and bad weather

By October, Ola was directed to make a series of consumer-friendly changes, including enabling bank-account refunds and issuing proper receipts for auto rides.

Find out more

The government's next big audit isn't related to tax…it’s about cybersecurity. 

The Union government is gearing up for one of its largest-ever cybersecurity exercises: a nationwide audit of critical IT systems across central ministries, state departments and the National and State Data Centres.

• The sweep will examine everything from hardware configurations to cloud controls

• Routers, switches, firewalls, intrusion-prevention systems and VPN gateways
  
  
• Servers, virtual machines, endpoint devices and security operations centres
  
  
• Network traffic flows and the configuration health of security appliances
  
  
• Cloud components, orchestration systems and API permissions

Cyber threats targeting public-sector systems have grown in frequency and sophistication.

• The audit aims to tighten security before breaches exploit weak configuration or identity gaps

Find out more

India remains a critical growth area with vital strategic importance to Google despite tensions around trade and tariffs, Google India head Preeti Lobana told us in an interview. 

• She highlighted the company’s landmark $15-billion data-centre investment in Visakhapatnam and its push to build local AI models incorporating Indic languages and cultural contexts

Lobana also outlined Google's approach on its India push, the shift to AI, the challenges of deploying AI responsibly, concerns of publishers amid a steady decline in clicks and how the tech giant's business model is evolving from ads to Cloud and subscriptions. 

Read the interview (Prefer video? Watch it here)

• OpenAI has agreed to acquire Neptune, a startup that provides tools that help companies track their AI model training.

• The European Commission is set to launch an investigation into Meta’s integration of its “Meta AI” system into WhatsApp.

Apple is rolling out hypertension notifications in India, using machine learning to detect blood pressure patterns we often miss.

• Given how underdiagnosed high BP is, this everyday wearable could prompt earlier care for over a million people

But the Watch isn’t a doctor. If you get pinged, track BP for a week with a certified cuff and share it with your doctor. Find out more

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