One quick thing: Tata Group eyes majority stake in Vivo India unit 

In today’s newsletter: 

• Navi's UPI payments surge 10x in 2 months
• IT majors to join govt's Rs 6K cr quantum mission
• Wipro to invest in AI, Gen AI startups

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Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal's second foray into UPI is going strong!

Bansal-owned Navi's UPI transactions surged 10x in two months, driven by attractive cashback offers.

• The surge has propelled Navi from 27th position to 11th among top UPI apps in May 2024

• Navi controls just 0.2% of the UPI market in the country

While most UPI apps have slashed their cashback offerings, Navi's strategic use of incentives has attracted a significant user base. 

• The company witnessed a jump from 3 million transactions in March to nearly 30 million in May, putting it within striking distance of WhatsApp Pay's 36 million transactions in May

Industry experts, however, caution that maintaining Navi's current growth trajectory will be a challenge. While cashbacks can be effective in attracting new users, building long-term customer loyalty requires a more comprehensive strategy.

This is not Bansal's first foray into the UPI space. He previously attempted to build a UPI platform for Flipkart, eventually acquiring PhonePe, a pioneer in UPI payments.

• PhonePe has a 50% market share in UPI payments 

However, Flipkart's ownership of PhonePe limited its ability to invest in a separate payment product. With PhonePe becoming an independent entity in late 2022, Flipkart launched its own UPI platform earlier this year.

Interestingly, Bansal now finds himself competing with both PhonePe and Flipkart's UPI offerings.

Find out more

The Information Technology (IT) sector keeps adopting new buzzwords. 

If you tuned in to the companies’ calls with analysts in the last few years, you might have heard the language shift rapidly – blockchain, metaverse, generative AI.

Now, the next big trend is likely just around the corner.

The government is looking to enlist the services of IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL and Tech Mahindra to build software for quantum technologies, under a Rs 6,000 crore programme.

“We want them to do research on quantum technologies because there's a huge amount of algorithms required,” said HCL co-founder Ajay Chowdhry who is also helming the National Quantum Mission.

He said that all national assets — from banks to electric grids — need to be made ‘quantum secure’ against attacks from external forces like China.

• For this, the mission will work with different government bodies like the RBI, startups and IT companies

The mission is finalising the selection of four hubs at top research institutes. These hubs will be responsible for funding academic labs and startups working across the spectrum of quantum technology, including hardware, encryption, sensors, and materials.

• While the hubs will be set up as non-profit companies by August, funding disbursements are slated to begin in September

• Chowdhry said that India needs to develop its own quantum technology not just for security reasons, but also because relying on cloud-based access would be very costly

Go deeper

An 80-year-old tech titan is ring-fencing itself against disruption by backing young startups.

Wipro Chief Technology Officer Subha Tatavarti told us the company has stepped up investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (Gen AI) startups.

• She said that the startup ecosystem is evolving into a hub of innovation

Additionally, the company is organising boot camps for very early-stage startups.

Wipro isn't just investing in the future, it's also leveraging it. 

• The company plans to integrate some of these AI and Gen AI solutions into its offerings

The company is also exploring collaborations at multiple levels of the technology stack, including partnership with NVIDIA.

• These include disrupting traditional cloud models with Graphics Processing Unit-based (GPU) infrastructure

Wipro is also working with startups to reduce the high cost associated with high-performance computing.

• For this, the company is creating a unique cloud-as-a-service to disrupt traditional cloud models

Find out more

• Microsoft is delaying the broad release of its new AI feature "Recall" for Windows PCs, which tracks user activity, and will instead test it with a limited group.
  
  
• Amazon Web Services has laid out a commitment of $230 million to support generative AI startups, as part of expansion of its global generative AI accelerator programme.

Feeling like you need a shot of laughter and insightful conversation? Then David Letterman's got your back. 

• His hit show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction is back with fresh episodes featuring iconic names like Miley Cyrus and Charles Barkley. Watch it on Netflix

Feeling the need for a superhero smackdown? The Boys are back with season 4! But this time, things are bleaker than ever.

• The world's teetering on the edge, with Victoria Neuman clawing her way to power under the menacing gaze of Homelander. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video

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