Breaking: NCLT stops Byju's attempt to dilute stake in Aakash Educational Services

One quick thing: Karnataka aims to attract $3 bn in space tech investments, support 500 startups

In today’s newsletter:

• Nandini takes dairy wars to national capital
• Infosys sees demand for small language models
• AI safety, semiconductors on India-EU agenda

Event alert: CNBC TV18 & Moneycontrol will be hosting the most definitive summit on Artificial Intelligence with top global and Indian voices on November 22nd in Bengaluru. Click here to register and get access to CNBC-TV18 & Moneycontrol Global AI Conclave'.

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

Karnataka's Nandini is gearing up to storm the national capital. 

Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which markets its dairy products under the Nandini brand, is all set to introduce its fresh milk and curd to Delhi's dairy market, currently dominated by giants like Mother Dairy and Amul.

• Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah will launch Nandini milk and curd products in the national capital on November 21

To support this expansion, KMF recently floated a tender for the transportation of milk through insulated road tankers from the Mandya Milk Union to Delhi.

“We have conducted trial runs that took 54 hours by road. The trials were successful, with the milk quality maintained throughout,” a senior KMF official said.

Alongside its expansion into Delhi, Nandini is also launching a new product in Bengaluru: a ready-to-use idli and dosa batter. 

• Packaged in a blue 900-gram pouch, the batter can make up to 18 idlis or 12–14 dosas

KMF plans to expand distribution to other cities after assessing the response in Bengaluru.

Find out more

While the debate around the efficacy and affordability of Large Language Model (LLM) and Small Language Model (SLM) is ongoing, an Indian IT company seems to have cracked the code.

Many clients of India’s second-largest IT company, Infosys, have approached it to develop Small Language Models (SLM) tailored to their needs, AI head Balakrishna D.R said.

• Last month, the IT giant launched two SLMs built on the Nvidia AI stack

SLMs are machine learning algorithms trained on smaller, more focused datasets tailored to a particular task or domain.

The IT major has plans to make its foundational SLMs available as a service to businesses that can build solutions on top of them.

• Further, Infosys has also developed industry blueprints for 23 different sectors on data strategy, responsible AI adoption, and scalable platforms

Also read: AI hits a speed bump: Why the next big thing isn't coming so fast

Some quarters in the tech world often raise the question of how relevant IT services companies will be in a dynamic landscape. Answering them, Balakrishna said:

• Opportunity is ripe for Infosys to help the entire world in AI, with love from India
  
  
• AI presents a significant opportunity for the Indian IT industry given its enterprise customer base

Dig deeper

What do you get when you mix India’s intention to regulate AI and the EU’s stringent tech rules? 

• A recipe for responsible AI -- or at least, that’s the goal at the next India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) led by secretary S Krishnan will discuss responsible AI, digital public infrastructure, skilling, and semiconductors with EU counterparts next week.  

• The India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was launched in April 2022 following decisions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen

In the bilateral meeting India and the EU are also expected to discuss collaborations in skilling, semiconductors, digital public infrastructure and so on.

• These meetings will take place under the aegis of one of the three TTC working groups --  Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance, and Digital Connectivity

• The other two groups are: Green and Clean Energy Technologies and Resilient Value Chains, Trade, and Investment

A Semiconductor MoU was signed on November 21, 2023, marking a big step in chip collaboration

• A quantum computing workshop took place in June 2023 at C-DAC Pune, focused on cutting-edge computing tech.  

Find out more

• Meta is reportedly lobbying the UK government to integrate its Llama AI model into the country's public health infrastructure.

• The European Central Bank warned about a "bubble" in stocks related to AI, which could burst abruptly if investors' rosy expectations are not met. 

Dive deep into the mind-bending world of technology and AI with Lex Fridman. 

• Join Lex as he engages in thought-provoking conversations, exploring the future of AI, consciousness, and the very nature of intelligence.

Check it out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

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 over a million subscribers.